brand names

What’s in a Brand Name: the Sounds of Persuasion

The mere letters and sounds used in a brand name can have a curious impact on its reception by the public.
Black and white headshot of Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath’s “Ariel,” 50 Years Later

Published in 1965, Ariel was published after Sylvia Plath herself had already been dead for two years.
Blurred figures of people walking

What Price Fast Fashion?

Fast fashion is a phenomenon that transcends the runway, crosses borders, and cuts across barriers of class, culture, and emerging economies
By Unknown; distributed by Epoch Film Co. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

“Birth of a Nation”: 100 Years Later

The Birth of a Nation—1915's blockbuster hit and the most popular movie of its day—was released 100 years ago this month.
The car token at the starting square of the Monopoly board game

What’s in a Game? Monopoly at 80

The real-estate game Monopoly turns 80 in 2015
Harper Lee smoking a cigarette in black and white

Harper Lee to Publish a New Novel at age 88

55 years after the publication of her first, only, and very successful debut novel reclusive American author Harper Lee ...
Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. set to shake hands

Getting Historical Movies Right: Hollywood vs. Historians

Does the movie industry owe it to the public to get the facts right in historical movies?
Lingua Obscura

Lingua Obscura: Young Women’s Language Patterns at the Forefront of Linguistic Change

Linguists observe that young women's language patterns invite negative reactions, comments, and suggestions to change.
picture of a woman's mouth

Lingua Obscura: A New Linguistics Column

A linguistics column that will uncover curious stories of language use from all around the world--written by a linguist.