Latest articles by Arika Okrent
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17 town welcome signs you won't see anywhere else
feature "Welcome to Earth, Est. 1924"
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21 creative TV edits of naughty movie lines
feature Movies feature a whole lot of language that can't be used on TV
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9 scientific experiments that used '90s TV shows to manipulate subjects
feature Power Rangers really can make you want to punch things
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4 changes to English so subtle we hardly notice they're happening
feature Among them: The rise of the "get-passive"
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Car-a-mel or car-mel? 3 reasons for syllabically ambiguous words
feature The wild world of diphthongs and epentheses
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Tips for keeping your tenement tidy (in 1911)
feature The Martha Stewart of early 20th century tenement living has some advice for young ladies
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How Kongar ol-Ondar sang two notes at once
feature He helped us hear the world a little better
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Don't Ask, Don't Tell: The end of a policy, the beginning of an idiom
feature It's been two years since the repeal of the policy, but the phrase seems here to stay
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16 simple concepts made simpler on Simple Wikipedia
feature Wikipedia is great for getting a quick overview of a subject. But did you know you can get it boiled down even further?
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The letter O: Made complex by 17th century calligraphy
feature In the hands of master calligraphers, the humble O can shed its simplicity, its symmetry, and even its bounded borders
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Fun with The Great Language Game
feature How's your Tagalog?
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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
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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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How a deaf couple had their baby officially registered with a sign name
feature It's formed by a change from a closed to open index and thumb handshape near the chin
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How well does Mark Zuckerberg speak Chinese?
feature It helps that he gets such a positive, almost thrilled reaction to everything he says
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How many spaces should there be at the end of a sentence?
feature Grammar nerds, sharpen your swords!
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7 ways to maximize your online dating profile with the power of words
feature Men who used the word "whom" get 31 percent more contacts
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Why does Q almost always go with a U?
feature Good question
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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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15 tricky words — and how to pronounce them hilariously wrong
feature Beware of YouTube videos bearing pronunciation advice
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How do you pronounce 'Sochi'?
feature So-shee? Sah-chee? So-chee?
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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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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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4 good reasons why people say 'I could care less'
feature No, you couldn't
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