A way with words: How do we explain our world?

We check in with The Daily Circuit linguists for the latest trends in language. What words have become especially popular given the cultural climate? Why is "austere" one of the most-searched words on the web? What are some holes in our language and how can we fill them?

Martha Barnette, co-host of public radio show "A Way with Words," will join The Daily Circuit Monday to talk about words.

"We're forever hearing from listeners who want a word for this or that phenomenon, as in, 'Shouldn't there be a term for that little shuffle you do on the sidewalk when you and someone who's approaching try to dodge each other but you both step the same way?'" Barnette said. Or they have a word that they think may be their family's own invention."

Ben Zimmer, linguist, lexicographer and language columnist, will also join the discussion.

"I ought to make a sweeping statement about the meta-ness of our current culture, where everything, it seems, can instantly become self-referential, self-conscious, and self-parodying," he wrote in The Boston Globe. "Observing the frenzied feedback loop of social networking and electronic communication can feel like looking through a dizzying hall of mirrors."

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