Latest articles by Arika Okrent
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How the U.S. made war with the language of peace
feature Poor, poor Esperanto
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7 fun facts about the Dothraki language from Game of Thrones
feature The words that the characters on the HBO speak aren't mere gibberish. Someone created a whole Dothraki dictionary
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9 extremely pretentious Latin and Greek plurals
feature What do you do when you're talking about more than one octopus?
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5 pairs of countries that Americans confuse
feature Newsflash: The Czech Republic is not the same as the Russia region of Chechnya
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4 crazy, early foreign language versions of Beatles songs
feature Spoiler: The Russian interpretation of "Let it Be" is not exactly inspirational
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11 places to visit on a tour of the English language
feature Experience the places where our ancestors recorded the first English word, sentence, and conversation
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How Philadelphia's neighborhoods got their names
feature Philadelphia is a city of American history, and that history is reflected in its various neighborhoods
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Impress your friends with these 18 fancy words for specific shapes
feature There's even a word for horseshoe-shaped (though it takes just as long to say as "shaped like a horseshoe")
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5 boring subjects translated into clickbait headlines
feature "You NEED to see this hot model (NSFW) of ethnic politics and foreign policy"
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Where do U.S. coin names come from?
feature It's all about fractions, raw materials, and history
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9 fascinating facts about the schwa
feature You probably don't realize it, but schwa is the most common vowel sound in English
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Why does 'terrible' mean bad and 'terrific' mean good?
feature These crossover words often require a bit of ironic slang in order to evolve
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Why does Q almost always go with a U?
feature Good question
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The true origin story of the football huddle
feature It was first invented by deaf players
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What's the correct pronunciation of February?
feature Hint: There's more than one answer
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How do you pronounce 'Sochi'?
feature So-shee? Sah-chee? So-chee?
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The evolution of Facebook's pronoun problem
feature "Arika has changed their profile picture."
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Fun with the interactive Algonquian language map
feature If you don't know your Plains Cree from your Innu, this map can help
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How to write the sound of a kiss
feature Muah!
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9 words created by spelling other words backwards
feature Fancy some "semordnilaps"?
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21 wonderful words for wind
feature Do you know a willy-willy from a williwaw?
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What most people get wrong about 'o' vs 'oh'
feature O reader, we're here to help!
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11 beautiful alphabets from ancient and medieval times
feature Go way beyond Helvetica
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16 characters from other languages that make great emoticons
feature Pro tip: Obscure Indian alphabets can really step up your game
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