Merriam-Webster
Publishing companywww.merriam-webster.com
334
MENTIONS
265
EPISODES
228
PODCASTS
Search complete. 334 mentions across 265 episodes found for "Merriam-Webster".
Sep 13, 2026
Peter SokolowskiHOST
[music] It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September thirteenth.
Peter SokolowskiHOST
Today's word is shofar, spelled S-H-O-F-A-R. Shofar is a noun.
Peter SokolowskiHOST
A shofar is the horn of an animal, usually a ram, blown as a trumpet by the ancient Hebrews in battle and during religious observances.
Ross BryantPANELIST
In any case, we-
Troy LavalleeHOST
Can I tell you Merriam-Webster's definition of edifice?
Ross BryantPANELIST
Please.
Troy LavalleeHOST
It refers to a large, imposing, or massive building.
Troy LavalleeHOST
...
Troy LavalleeHOST
the fancier shack
Ross BryantPANELIST
... seeing there's a recent edit to, uh, Merriam-Webster.
Ross BryantPANELIST
It refers to a cathedral, grand structure-
Jim CummingsHOST
[laughs] Because it was.
Gary Anthony WilliamsGUEST
Yeah, you should look at Merriam-Webster's dictionary.
Gary Anthony WilliamsGUEST
[laughs]
ChrisHOST
[laughs] What, not the word hilarious?
Anthony SteinHOST
In a world of video games, farming means collecting points towards a goal.
Anthony SteinHOST
Under the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, slang and trending category.
Anthony SteinHOST
Aura farming means the act of doing something to look cool, impressive, stylish.
Anthony SteinHOST
To farm aura, the dictionary further explains, means to do something in order to enhance one's coolness.
Kathy PetrasGUEST
Because I don't think it's one of those words that you just sort of toss out casually.
Kathy PetrasGUEST
You don't usually think about it, do you? I mean, in fact, I got to say that Merriam-Webster doesn't even have it as a common enough word to be in their dictionary.
Ross PetrasGUEST
I mean, we all instantly figured out what it was.
Ross PetrasGUEST
But I don't think I've ever used the word, was aware of the word, knew the word, anything.
8 MINS LATER
Fletcher PowellHOST
Is it like a river, river names? Yes.
Fletcher PowellHOST
Yeah.
Ross PetrasGUEST
This was a weird one because we found it in the Wiktionary, but we didn't find it in Merriam-Webster.
Ross PetrasGUEST
But again, I mean, these are
Blanca Michael WardNARRATOR
Your reader for today is Blanca Michael-Ward.
Blanca Michael WardNARRATOR
we begin with merriam-webster's word of the day patina patina a noun spelled p a t i n a what it means a patina is a usually green film that forms on copper and bronze that is exposed to moist air for an extended time the word patina can also refer to a shiny or dark surface that over time forms naturally on something such as wood or leather, or to a literal or figurative thin layer.
Blanca Michael WardNARRATOR
Examples The town erected a statue in her honor which over the years developed a seafoam green patina.
Blanca Michael WardNARRATOR
Although the winery is brand new, it has been constructed and decorated to give it a patina of old world quaintness.
Simple JoeHOST
The Reuben Sandwich has two competing origin stories, and I know this has kept you up at night.
Simple JoeHOST
You've been wondering, what is the origin of the Reuben Sandwich, and why are there two separate stories? One points to an Omaha poker game, while another credits a New York restaurant, and Merriam-Webster finds the Omaha story more plausible.
Simple JoeHOST
Even corned beef, sauerkraut, and rye bread can have a historical dispute.
Simple JoeHOST
This is Simple Joe for Saturday, September 12th, 2026.
Dave WestHOST
But to me, that's just fun, especially considering the later era of Real American Hero and how they defined ninjas.
Dave WestHOST
But according to Merriam-Webster, a ninja is defined as a person trained in ancient Japanese martial arts and employed especially for espionage and assassinations.
Dave WestHOST
So that, and again, it's Merriam-Webster, it's whatever, it's debatable, but the specific assassinations in there really does bring a whole new light to G.I. Joe's definition of ninja, because I don't think we think of maybe Storm Shadow? Yeah, Storm Shadow is specifically,
Noel WoodHOST
I think,
Dave WestHOST
in his bio listed.
Kimmy KarubaHOST
If you see that on social media, that's what's going on.
Kimmy KarubaHOST
And then finally, there are 370 new words that were added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Kimmy KarubaHOST
Yeet.
Kimmy KarubaHOST
One of them, dumb phone.
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