Fifty Words For Snow

Ep. 1 Dutch Delights: Gezellig and Niksen

Maggie and Emily explore the Dutch words gezellig and niksen with Dutch native speaker Natanel Bohmer. They put the word “lazy” on trial with judge Matt Vern, coin the word “sacred flakery,” and learn how long it takes it the average human being Jim Vallely to eat a banana. Poem by Maggie: Pilgrim! Stop your Progress!

A linguistic expedition into brave new words. Maggie Rowe and Emily John Garcés hunt for words that lack an English equivalent. They like to think of themselves as Dora the Explorers of language, with their rucksacks and hats and notebooks and magnifying glasses, embarking on a cultural adventure, hunting and gathering useful new word specimens from far flung continents, and holding them up to see what new light they shine on old ideas.