Latest articles by Arika Okrent
-
11 tragic emotions and how to properly act them out on stage (according to an 1889 guide)feature "Silent sorrow" could be your ticket to stardom
feature -
These fascinating maps show countries as named in their own languagesfeature We hear Magyarország is lovely this time of year
feature -
Why English spelling is so messed upfeature The explanation may not comfort you, but it may at least make you see the language as less arbitrarily maddening
feature -
14 Swedish words that conflict with the Ikea products they namefeature Some of these make absolutely no sense
feature -
11 words from a 1940s song about slangfeature Betty Hutton sings about how hard it is to understand her boyfriend, who uses too much slang
feature -
What's the difference between in- and un-?feature Germanic vs Latin roots only provide some help
feature -
16 words that are much older than they seemfeature Every generation likes to think it invented slang anew, but often the latest words are actually very old
feature -
Why have baby-names become increasingly female-sounding?feature Since 1950, both boys' and girls' names have been taking on more feminine characteristics
feature -
16 characters from other languages that make great emoticonsfeature Pro tip: Obscure Indian alphabets can really step up your game
feature -
9 little translation mistakes that caused big problemsfeature The importance of good translation is most obvious when things go wrong
feature -
9 fascinating facts about the schwafeature You probably don't realize it, but schwa is the most common vowel sound in English
feature -
11 versions of 'Average Joe' from other countriesfeature Morten Menigmand sounds anything but normal. And yet...
feature -
Why is 'Weiner' sometimes 'weener' and sometimes 'whiner'?feature Anthony Weiner's name is not Wiener!
feature -
15 words you didn't realize were named after peoplefeature The hidden history of eponyms, revealed
feature -
3 fascinating facts about English's most adorable suffix, -lingfeature Surely you've heard of ducklings. But what about viperlings, frumberdlings, and deathlings?
feature -
What the spelling bee loses by adding definitionsfeature Scripps is turning its National Spelling Bee into a vocabulary quiz. B-A-D D-E-C-I-S-I-O-N.
feature -
The grammar rules behind 3 commonly disparaged dialectsfeature All dialects, from the very fanciest to the ones held in lowest esteem, are rule-governed systems. That includes Appalachian English, Southern American English, and Ebonics
feature -
14 fascinating language facts from the U.S. Census bureaufeature Americans speak more than 300 languages
feature -
17 town welcome signs you won't see anywhere elsefeature "Welcome to Earth, Est. 1924"
feature -
21 creative TV edits of naughty movie linesfeature Movies feature a whole lot of language that can't be used on TV
feature -
Here's how crazy-long German words are madefeature An animated guide to creating Rhababerbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbierbarbärbel
feature -
Where do U.S. coin names come from?feature It's all about fractions, raw materials, and history
feature -
10 words with difficult-to-remember meaningsfeature It's okay. We're confused, too.
feature -
Rules shmules: 5 phonetic pitfalls of shm- reduplicationfeature With shm- you can be simultaneously grumpy and cute. But it's not always easy to figure out where to put the shm-
feature
