{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgrammar-girl.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2F1141-ql7DDqEA","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"The 'sheeple' incident, with Stefan Fatsis","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/6e27cc4d-f23d-4983-b80a-3f34562d91a7/43508f65-a6d5-498c-ab5d-ad4f27156e8c/gg-20interview-20show-20mock-20up-20art-20-51.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/389ed505-efcd-4fe0-b18b-f80e805f9769\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"The &apos;sheeple&apos; incident, with Stefan Fatsis\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"1141. We look at the controversy that caught Stefan Fatsis by surprise when he defined the word \"sheeple\" for Merriam-Webster, leading to public complaints. We also look at the origin and purpose of the obscure \"Backward Index\" invented by Webster's Third editor Philip Gove and how quickly Merriam added COVID-related words to the dictionary."}