On Thursday, October 17th, writer and humorist, Roy Blount, Jr., was the speaker for this year's Harry C. Howard Jr. lecture, titled "Through Is Thoroughly Throughsome, Go Is Wide Open, and Wince Makes You Wince: On the Non-Arbitrariness of Words." The Harry C. Howard, Jr. annual lecture is given every year at Vanderbilt in order to aid in the enrichment of the humanities. As a Vanderbilt alumni, Blount, Jr. was the editor of The Hustler; his interest in reading and writing came early, as evident when Blount, Jr. states, "I was always very conscious of the nature of words." He later attended graduate school at Harvard, where he jokingly states, "I learned that I was Southern." He went on to become a writer for Sports Illustrated magazine, an author, a panelist on National Public Radio's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me", as well as a plethora of other accomplishments. Along with sharing some of his life experiences, Blount, Jr.'s lecture focused on the various ways that word play is incorporated into our spoken language, a spin off of his book Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists and Spirits of Letters, Words and Combinations Thereof. While many scientific theories of linguistics present language as a non-arbitrary entity, Blount Jr. discusses how the nature of words is more than a science. By using examples of literary devices, ranging from onomatopoeia, evaluating individual word sounds cross-culturally, and looking at the evolution of certain our words over generations, Blount, Jr. shows that language is the direct reflection of us and our identity rather than just inherently scientific. This makes preserving its value within the humanities important. "Reporting on athletes for Sports Illustrated was great. What I like about them is that they live in a very physical world, but I don't exactly want language to get out into the physical world too much," states Blount, Jr, referring to the importance of embracing language and preserving its within our lives.