The 'sheeple' incident, with Stefan Fatsis
The 'sheeple' incident, with Stefan Fatsis  
Podcast: Grammar Girl: For Writers and Language Lovers.
Published On: Thu Dec 11 2025
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.Find Stefan Fatsis on his website, Bluesky or Facebook. Get the book, Unabridged.🔗 Share your familect recording via Speakpipe or by calling 833-214-4475🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.🔗 Take our advertising survey. 🔗 Get the edited transcript.🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. 🔗 Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio Engineer: Dan FeierabendDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook.Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.