Why Is English Spelling So Weird?
Ever wonder why 'knight' has a 'k' or 'island' has an 's'? The answer isn't that English is illogical, but that its spelling is a fossil record of its turbulent…
Unlocking the Universe of Languages
Ever wonder why 'knight' has a 'k' or 'island' has an 's'? The answer isn't that English is illogical, but that its spelling is a fossil record of its turbulent…
What do you get when you combine a question mark and an exclamation point? In the 1960s, frustrated ad man Martin K. Speckter answered that question by inventing the interrobang…
Deep in a remote California valley, a community invented its own secret lingo called Boontling to gossip and joke in plain sight. This unique American argot, with colorful phrases like…
That familiar red squiggle under a misspelled word isn't magic; it's a marvel of computational linguistics. This post explores the hidden science behind your spell checker, from how it calculates…
Ever wonder how "Google" went from a company name to a common verb in our dictionary? This article explores the fascinating linguistic journey of brands that become household words, from…
We do it without thinking: a thumbs-up for a job well done, a wave to say hello. But these hand signs are more than simple movements; they are 'emblematic gestures,'…
Have you ever felt a longing for a place you've never been, or the bittersweetness of a fleeting moment you couldn't describe? This post explores "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows,"…
The invention of the printing press was a revolution not just for knowledge, but for language itself. Before Gutenberg, language was a fluid, evolving entity, but the press acted as…
Ever wonder how words like "rizz" become official while others fade away into obscurity? This post goes behind the scenes of lexicography, revealing the data-driven process that determines when a…
Ever wonder how new words like 'rizz' make it into the dictionary or why grammar rules seem to change over time? The answer lies in corpus linguistics, a fascinating field…
Imagine trying to learn a language with no textbook, no translator, and no shared vocabulary. The monolingual fieldwork method is a raw, challenging process where linguists build a language from…
In the shadowy corners of Renaissance England, a secret language was born out of desperation and defiance. Known as Thieves' Cant, this "anti-language" was more than just criminal slang; it…
From "tannic" to "terroir," the world of wine has invented a specialized language to describe complex sensory experiences that are otherwise difficult to articulate. This deep dive explores how and…
For every new word that enters the dictionary, thousands of others fall into disuse and disappear into the graveyard of language. This linguistic culling isn't decided by a single authority,…
For nearly 400 years, the forty "immortals" of the Académie Française have stood as the official guardians of the French language. But in a modern world dominated by English loanwords…
The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary relied on thousands of volunteers, but none were as brilliant or enigmatic as Dr. W.C. Minor. From his cell in the Broadmoor Asylum…