"Word Nerds" is the creation of Bob Nowatzki and Pat Collier, associate professors of English at Ball State, and is produced by Marcus Jackman, interim director of IPR.

The tongue-in-cheek educational show's king word nerd, Nowatzki, has read the dictionary from cover to cover. Ideas for the show are generated by some of the strange words that stick with them, he said.

Origins and definitions are given, then they punch it up with clever uses of the words.

"The show is meant to be informative and humorous," Nowatzki said. "Corny jokes play along with the title of our show."

The self-proclaimed nerdy duo met at Ball State and would casually discuss unusual words and joke about them at happy hour. Nowatzki took the idea to Jackman, and a weekly five-minute program is now on the air.

"The show would be impossible without the assistance of Jackman," Collier said. "He is truly our third nerd."

Nowatzki has been teaching at Ball State since 1995. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and master's and doctorate from the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Collier has been teaching at Ball State since 2000 and earned his bachelor's degree from Temple University and master's and doctorate from the University of Delaware.

By Jody Kress