# What the way we pronounce Iran says about us. Odorous or malodorous? When smell words stink.

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700/what-the-way-we-pronounce-iran-says-about-us-odorous-or-malodorous-when-smell-words-stink
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700/what-the-way-we-pronounce-iran-says-about-us-odorous-or-malodorous-when-smell-words-stink.md
Podcast: [Grammar Girl: For Writers and Language Lovers.](https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700)
Published: 2026-04-07T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/grammar-girl/episodes/1174
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/69c1476c007cdcf83fc0964b/e/69caeb76e8519e977f09365f/media.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700/episodes/what-the-way-we-pronounce-iran-says-about-us-odorous-or-malodorous-when-smell-words-stink
Duration seconds: 971

## Resource

1174. This week, we look at why we pronounce "Iran" and "Iraq" differently and what those pronunciations reveal about our political beliefs. Then, we look at the "smelly" words that confuse people, including "odorous," which started out meaning "fragrant" but now mostly describes bad smells. The "Iran" segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and author of the soon-to-be-released book " Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents." A version of it originally appeared in The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license . And you can find Valerie at valeriefridland.com . 🔗  Join the Grammar Girl Patreon. 🔗  Share your familect recording in  Speakpipe   or by leaving a voicemail at   833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗  Watch my  LinkedIn Learning writing courses . 🔗  Subscribe to the  newsletter . 🔗  Take  our advertising survey .  🔗  Transcript available on QuickandDirtyTips.com . 🔗  Get  Grammar Girl books .  | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of  the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network . Audio Engineer:  Castria Communications Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb | 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.

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