The Ethical Life of Euphemisms
Euphemisms can hide facts that need to be confronted. How do they work from a linguist's point of view?
The Linguistic Evolution of Taylor Swift
If Taylor Swift shifts her accent in her transition from country to pop, does she lose the personal authenticity important to country music?
How to Meme What You Say
The linguistic theories behind what we're trying to say when we adapt and share internet memes.
The Sorry State of Apologies
"Sorry" can be more than a mere word when it has real-world consequences.
When the Telephone Was Considered Feminine
Being difficult to understand on the other end of the line was a badge of masculinity.
The Linguistic Case for Sh*t Hitting the Fan
Idioms have a special power to draw people together in a way that plain speech doesn't.
The Linguistics of Cooties (and Other Weird Things Kids Say)
The game of cooties lets children learn about the idea of contagion, but kid culture and wordplay aren't meant for adults.
When Language Goes Viral
How do innocuous words become insidious in the face of a public health emergency?
How Do We Know That Epic Poems Were Recited from Memory?
Scholars once doubted that pre-literate peoples could ever have composed and recited poems as long as the Odyssey. Milman Parry changed that.
Black English Matters
People who criticize African American Vernacular English don't see that it shares grammatical structures with more "prestigious" languages.