Light-hearted conversation with callers from all over about new words, old sayings, slang, family ex
Astronauts returning from space say they experience what's called the overview effect, a new underst
The autocomplete function on your phone comes in handy, of course. But is it changing the way we wri
How do actors bring Shakespeare's lines to life so that modern audiences immediately understand the
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use
We asked for your thoughts about whether cursive writing should be taught in schools — and many of y
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey t
If someone urges you to spill the tea, they probably don’t want you tipping over a hot beverage. Ori
Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous studen
When you had sleepovers as a child, what did you call the makeshift beds you made on the floor? In s
Jacuzzi and silhouette are eponyms — that is, they derive from the names of people. An Italian immig
The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be t
Some TV commercials launch catchphrases that stick around long after the original ads. The exclamati
If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a
How does social context shape our perception of language? When hiking the Appalachian Trail, a young
Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and root of all evil as phrases from the Bibl
What happens in a classroom of refugee and immigrant youngsters learning English? Their fresh approa
We have books for language-lovers and recommendations for history buffs. • How did the word boondogg
Are there words and phrases that you misunderstood for an embarrassingly long time? Maybe you though
An ornithologist says there’s a growing movement to change the name of a pink-footed bird currently