Mysterious Goings On with Alex Greenwood
Mysterious Goings On with Alex Greenwood
J. Alexander Greenwood
The Vocabulary Gap and the Best "No" I Ever Got
8 minutes Posted Jul 22, 2026 at 5:46 pm.
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Two essays this week.

First: polysemy sounds like a skin condition, but it's why one word can mean several things without anyone getting confused. Usually. An essay about the word "asylum" and the lowest bar in public discourse.

Then, a serious publisher called my book proposal "true and valid and in our wheelhouse," and said no anyway. Why that rejection was worth more than most acceptances, and what it says about an industry courting authors who no longer need it.

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    This Mysterious Goings On Podcast episode was recorded and mixed at Green Shebeen Studios in beautiful Kansas City, Missouri. Copyright 2026 all rights reserved. No reproduction, excerpting, or other use without written permission.