Latest articles by Arika Okrent
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Should U.K. schools shame students who use regional slang?
The Explainer One campus in Northeast England wants to zap phrases like "gizit ere" and "he was sat there"
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Why English spelling is so messed up
feature The explanation may not comfort you, but it may at least make you see the language as less arbitrarily maddening
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8 fun facts about the Irish language
feature Happy St. Patrick's Day!
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50 actual shades of gray
feature A 1912 book by Robert Ridgway named 1,115 colors, including dozens of shades of gray
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24 Canadianisms way more interesting than 'eh?'
feature Toronto is nicknamed Hogtown, and if you're ever in the mood for a mixture of tomato juice and beer, ask for a Calgary Redeye
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10 old-fashioned swears to spice up your cussin'
feature People just don't swear like they used to
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What online dictionaries are learning about us
feature They've been tracking your word lookups for nearly two decades. And the results are striking
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18 academic papers about '90s TV shows
feature If we can learn about the ancient Romans by studying their drinking songs, surely we can learn about ourselves by studying our TV shows
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Google vs. Sweden: The linguistic war over the word 'ogooglebar'
feature The lovely, bouncy word means "something unable to be found on a search engine." And Google doesn't like it
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LISTEN: Singing the ABCs in 8 different languages
feature Not every country learns their ABCs to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
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How many words do Eskimos really have for snow?
feature Depending on whom you ask, anywhere from 2 to 99
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18 complicated scientific ideas explained simply
feature Using a custom-made text editor, scientists describe complicated ideas using only the 1,000 most frequently used words in English
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The best shots fired in the Oxford comma wars
feature A look at the strongest points on each side of the great grammar debate
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Why the government should never, ever meddle with language
feature The fluidity of language is a testament to democratic values
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17 overly optimistic book titles
feature Despite the names of many how-to guides, you actually can't make a Stradivarius violin, master life, or be happy with dental plates
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7 book dedications that basically say 'screw you'
feature "I do not dedicate my book to any body; for I know nobody worth dedicating it to. I have no friends, no children, no wife, no home; — no relations, no well-wishers; — nobody to love, and nobody to care for"
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7 sentences that sound crazy but are still grammatical
feature Believe it or not, this sentence is grammatical: "The rat the cat the dog chased killed ate the malt."
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How many languages is it possible to know?
feature It depends on whom you ask
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7 geeky-cool translations of Hamlet
feature Hamlet has been translated into hundreds of languages. But normal human languages can be so boring...
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11 words from a 1940s song about slang
feature Betty Hutton sings about how hard it is to understand her boyfriend, who uses too much slang
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Bella, Cha Cha Man, Boogles, Fido, Mopsulus: Dog-naming trends through the ages
feature Forget naming your pup Max. Pets in the middle ages were named things like Zaphyro and Smylfeste
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7 words that came about from people getting them wrong
feature The word "pea" was originally "pease" and it was singular but confused for a plural
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How ABC gave viewers a taste of what it's like to be deaf
feature Switched at Birth took a big risk — and it paid off
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Do your texts make you sound old?
feature Younger generations are far more adept at textspeak, a rich and subtle form of communication
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