The Most Complicated Word in the English Language
WIth only three letters, “run” has over 645 different meanings.
Marketing and the Origins of Food Names
Where do common food names come from, and how does changing the name of a food reflect marketing and sales?
The Genetic Drift of Baby Names
Why do some names fall out of fashion, and how is the study of names like the study of genetics?
Why Are English Language Spellings So Weird?
Why are English spellings so inconsistent and weird?
A Cetacean Alphabet
A new paper uses AI to decipher sperm whale vocalizations.
The Evolution of Pronunciation
Which words do you mispronounce? Or rather, which words that you mispronounce today will eventually be “correct”?
The Stories Behind English Letters
If you’re reading this, odds are you know the 26 letters in the English alphabet. But do you know how they came to their current forms?
AI, Translations, and the Dominance of the English Language
AI’s potential for translation makes science fiction gadgets an increasingly likely reality. But how did English become the dominant global language, and just what do we mean by “English”?
When Contractions Don’t Work
Why do some contractions work and others don’t?
A Primer on Logical Fallacies
Sure to come in handy this year, a primer on logical fallacies.
Fun with Toponyms
Place names tell us all sorts of interesting things about history and people. Also, what is the longest one word place name in the world?
Having the Courage to Explain Research in Plain Language
The Curse of Knowledge is when we assume everyone else understands what we’re talking about, when they don’t. Good communication happens when we have the courage to make it simple.
What is Slang and How Does it Die?
Why are companies so effective at ruining slang?
Off for the US Holiday — More Grammar
We are off today and tomorrow for the US Independence Day holiday. Also included, a song that hews carefully to archaic rules about prepositions at the end of sentences.
The Power Imbalances of Language Policing
Is there a “right” way to speak, or is language policing more revealing about the anxiety of the scolder than the expression of the speaker?