Latest articles by Arika Okrent
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11 teeny units of measurement for tiny things
feature When someone says they'll be "back in two shakes!" they're probably overpromising...
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15 words etymologically inspired by animals
feature Animals have always been important to the lives and livelihoods of humans, so it's no wonder they've left a mark on language
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'Tis and 10 other fun proclitic words
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The strange evolution of 'because'
feature Because reasons
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The right way to quit your job in Klingon
feature You're probably doing it wrong
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9 reasons we adore this little girl's sign language version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'
feature We dare you not to say, "Awwww"
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13 words of the year from other countries
feature 'Selfie' still reigns supreme
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11 little-known words for specific family members
feature Share this with your niblings
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11 inscriptions on old buildings that tell it like it is
feature "We shall die all"
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Why are 'ghost,' 'ghastly,' and ' ghoul' spelled with 'gh'?
feature It's a really strange way for an English word to start
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6 grammar points to watch out for in Christmas songs
feature What does "round yon virgin" mean, anyway?
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Watch the Surf Punks explain the latest slang in this 1980s news report
feature Radical, dude
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What makes a word the word of the year?
feature A brief examination of how "science" topped Merriam-Webster's 2013 list
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Here's how crazy-long German words are made
feature An animated guide to creating Rhababerbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbierbarbärbel
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Was the sign-language interpreter at the Mandela memorial faking it?
feature The interpreter on stage with Obama was signing nonsense, according to South Africa's deaf community
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The least popular American baby names (from 1880 to 1932)
feature Handy, Spurgeon, Icy, Flem, Sister, and more
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Now you can Rickroll your friends (or enemies) in Klingon
feature "I am certainly considering a blood oath with you."
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Where did the word 'dude' come from?
feature A massive, decade-long "dude" research project has finally yielded convincing results
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26 of Noah Webster's spelling changes that didn't catch on
feature Really, shouldn't machine be spelled "masheen"?
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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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17 town welcome signs you won't see anywhere else
feature "Welcome to Earth, Est. 1924"
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Listen to Frozen's 'Let It Go' in 25 languages
feature English, French, German, Dutch, Mandarin, Swedish, Japanese, Polish, Hungarian...
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11 brand names with plural problems
feature We're looking at you, LEGO
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Why 'the' is so difficult to define
feature Why do we say "I love the ballet," but not "I love the cable TV"?
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