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"Eww" argues Roy Blount Jr., is the universal sound of disgust. So how does that affect our reaction to words that contain that sound, like "cutie" and "beautiful?"

Blount's recent talk at the Hennepin County library is filled with such questions and interesting tidbits, which break words down into their component parts.

The humorist and word lover talks about everything from Mark Twain's friendship with Helen Keller (brought about by the sound "MMM"), to stepping on a friend's hamster and how the experience revealed so much about the word "squelch."

Midday recently rebroadcast Blount's talk

, which you can listen to by clicking on the audio link below.

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Marianne Combs

Author

Blount describes himself as a "close reader" which means he gives a lot of thought to such words as "itch" and "scratch" and "squelch."

Roy Blount Jr. on words, their sounds and their meanings

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