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Linguistics

  1. linguistics
    How Do You Pronounce Candidate?The most pressing question this political season.
    By Edith Zimmerman
  2. linguistics
    What Is a Tinkling Contest and Why Must It End With One Covered in Skunk Tinkle?A linguist explains what Nancy Pelosi meant when she warned against getting in a “tinkle contest with a skunk.”
    By Amanda Arnold
  3. science of us
    Linguists Explain Meghan Markle’s Apparent New British AccentAn investigation.
    By Cari Romm
  4. science of us
    The Strict, Subtle Rules of a Hey Ladies! EmailAnalyzing the unspoken subtext of the bridal party group email.
    By Ashley Fetters
  5. word search
    A Brief, Convoluted History of the Word ‘Intersectionality’How an academic term morphed into a buzzword.
    By Kory Stamper
  6. science of us
    The 300-Year History of Using ‘Literally’ FigurativelyWomen have always been much quicker than men to move ahead into new linguistic territory.
    By Kory Stamper
  7. To Understand Why We Have So Many Languages, Look Way, Way Back in Human HistoryRainfall and warfare are just two of the many factors.
    By Michael Gavin
  8. Why the Internet Tilde Is the Most Perfect Piece of Snark We HaveIs there any punctuation mark more of the times?
    By Jess Kimball Leslie
  9. The Real Purpose of Uptalk Is to Get You to Shut Up and ListenLinguists argue that the much-maligned habit is a way of holding a listener’s attention.
    By Cari Romm
  10. Why Astronauts Speak in ‘Space Creole’Hint: There are cosmonauts involved.
    By Drake Baer
  11. linguistics
    Women Use Singsong Smarts to Talk to Their DogsIt’s a matter of using “all the resources available to them as language users, with their nonhuman social partners.”
    By Drake Baer
  12. linguistics
    The Best Way to Write a Protest Sign, According to LinguisticsIt doesn’t need to be original, just memorable.
    By Cari Romm
  13. The More You Swear, the More Honest You AreWhat transparency sounds like.
    By Drake Baer
  14. linguistics
    Emoji Have a Dual NatureDepending on what they’re describing, people write with emoji using one of two logics.
    By Drake Baer
  15. linguistics
    Why So Many Words Are Really ‘Obsolete Expressions’It’ll really spur your thinking.
    By Drake Baer
  16. The Possessive Your Guys’ Is American English at Its Rough-Spun BestThe language evolves.
    By Drake Baer
  17. The Reason Ghosts Say ‘Boo’ Is Downright AdorableIt’s also a good defense against geese, evidently.
    By Drake Baer
  18. Why You Hear Trump’s ‘Big League’ As ‘Bigly’The candidate, and your brain, is making shortcuts.
    By Drake Baer
  19. Locker-Room Talk Is the Glue of the ‘Fratriarchy’It’s the lingua franca of the old boys’ club.
    By Drake Baer
  20. Languages Around the World Use the Same Sounds for the Same ThingsIf you’re talking about sand, you’re likely going to use an “s.”
    By Drake Baer
  21. science of us
    Blind People Gesture Like Sighted PeopleWhether or not you can see, you talk with your hands.
    By Drake Baer
  22. A Data Scientist Discovered the Most Metal Word in the English LanguageSpoiler alert: It’s not committee.
    By Drake Baer
  23. election
    Linguists: Trump Uses a Lot of ‘Words That Don’t Carry Any Information’But how much of a candidate’s true self is contained in his or her speeches?
    By Jesse Singal
  24. A Linguist Has Some Tips for Choosing Your Future Band NameWhat the Who, Slayer, and Guns N’ Roses all have in common.
    By Cari Romm
  25. Girls’ and Boys’ Names Literally Sound DifferentDoes yours vibrate the vocal cords?
    By Drake Baer
  26. A Linguist Attempts to Explain Why Donald Trump Often Sounds IncoherentIt’s about the use (and misuse) of something called “discourse markers.”
    By Melissa Dahl
  27. accents
    Hillary Clinton Mimics Accents — But So Do You, ProbablyThe psychology behind speech imitation. 
    By Melissa Dahl
  28. lol
    Important French Linguists Say STFU With Your LOLsA decree. 
    By Maggie Lange
  29. the lexicon of modern love
    Must We Call It a ‘Serious’ Relationship? What’s wrong with good, nice, fun, or even solid?
    By Jen Doll
  30. the lexicon of modern love
    I Got You, Sweetikin: Why We Call Each Other BabeIf Sonny and Cher had lived in the 16th century …
    By Jen Doll
  31. misheard lyrics
    Why You Keep Mishearing That Taylor Swift LyricExpectations are powerful.
    By Melissa Dahl
  32. the lexicon of modern love
    The Long Linguistic Life of It’s ComplicatedIt’s been complicated for more than a century.
    By Jen Doll
  33. linguistics
    Repeating a Word Until It Loses Its Meaning: It’s a ThingIt’s called semantic satiation.
    By Melissa Dahl
  34. writing
    Steven Pinker on Why It’s Okay to Dangle Your ParticipleIn a new book about how to write clearly, the Harvard cognitive scientist has some harsh words for the “gotcha squad’s” enforcement of bogus language rules.
    By Jesse Singal
  35. Dudes Say ‘Uh’; Ladies Say ‘Um’Investigating an odd linguistic gender divide.
    By Melissa Dahl
  36. linguistics
    Why Can’t We Stop Talking About ‘Bikini Bodies’?The staying power of a troubling term.
    By Alice Robb
  37. Sorry I’m Not Sorry I’m SorryThe word isn’t automatically a sign of weakness.
    By Melissa Dahl
  38. Women Get Punished More Than Men for a Common Speech MannerismIt’s the new uptalk, and people with it are taken less seriously.
    By Julia Reinstein
  39. gender studies
    Uptalk Is for Everyone, at Least in CaliforniaIt’s a new study?
    By Maggie Lange
  40. taxonomy
    The 7 Types of Hashtag AbusersUsing it out loud, using it as a crutch, and five other ways we should stop using them.
    By Jeff Wilser
  41. mating behavior
    The 10 Ways That Men Text WomenA taxonomy of textual communication, some of which you probably recognize.
    By Jeff Wilser
  42. linguistics
    What Should We Say Instead of ‘Pro-Choice’?As Planned Parenthood moves away from the term, feminists offer up new options.
    By Ann Friedman