language change

The Logic of Back-Formation: From ‘Editor’ to ‘Edit’

Which came first: the editor or the edit? The answer reveals a fascinating linguistic process called back-formation, where we reverse-engineer…

8 hours ago

Linguistic Taphonomy: Word Decay

Just as paleontologists study fossils to understand ancient life, we can explore the fossils in our own language. Linguistic taphonomy…

1 week ago

The Word-Eating Glitch: What is Haplology?

Ever wonder why so many people say 'probly' instead of 'probably' or 'libry' instead of 'library'? This common linguistic shortcut…

3 months ago

Killing the Verb: How the Telegraph Changed Writing

The telegraph, with its per-word cost, forced writers to perform linguistic surgery, stripping sentences down to their bare essentials. This…

3 months ago

Reclaiming the Slur: The Linguistics of Reappropriation

How does a word forged in hate become a banner of pride? The process, known as reappropriation, is a powerful…

3 months ago

The Red Squiggle: Linguistics of Spell Check

That familiar red squiggle under a misspelled word isn't magic; it's a marvel of computational linguistics. This post explores the…

3 months ago

The Politics of Dictionaries

Ever wonder who decides when a word like 'rizz' is official? This post delves into the surprisingly political world of…

3 months ago

The Secret Code of Scribes

Before the printing press, scribes used a secret code of symbols and shortcuts to write faster and save precious parchment.…

3 months ago

Hey Siri: The Unwritten Grammar of Voice Commands

Have you ever noticed you talk to Siri differently than you talk to a person? We've developed a unique "Machine…

3 months ago

English Doublets: Words That Deceive

** Have you ever wondered why *shirt* and *skirt* sound so similar? They are "etymological doublets"—words from the same root…

3 months ago

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