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Kerri Miller and Jeyca Maldonado-Medina

How we know where words come from

Where do words come from?
Etymologist Anatoly Liberman will join MPR News host Kerri Miller to talk about the origin of words.
MPR News Illustration

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Think about your favorite word. Maybe it's kerfuffle or shenanigans or hullabaloo. Where in the world do such words come from?

Etymologist Anatoly Liberman's new book "Word Origins and How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone" aims to help readers understand how people in his field study the origins of words and what we can learn from them.

Liberman joined MPR News host Kerri Miller to talk about the origin of words.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Have a word you'd like to learn about? Submit it here