
James Harbeck
James Harbeck is a professional word taster and sentence sommelier (an editor trained in linguistics). He is the author of the blog Sesquiotica and the book Songs of Love and Grammar.
Latest articles by James Harbeck
-
How languages are like food
The Explainer You've had gumbo, but have you tried Bislama?
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
In defense of 'anyways'
The Explainer This is not a bit of backwater American slang. In fact, it's a word with nearly 1,000 years of history.
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
9 confusing ways to pluralize words
The Explainer Why must we make everything so complicated?
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
What language is your baby speaking?
The Explainer Your linguistic guide to baby babbling
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
10 words that are badly broken
The Explainer Some words are born from strange splits that were never meant to happen
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
Why pain is expressed differently in different languages
The Explainer Pain is universal. Its expression is not.
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
The science of making a guitar sound like a human voice
feature Or what puts the "wah" in the wah-wah
By James Harbeck Last updated
feature -
10 annoying sounds you need to stop making
The Explainer You definitely make some of these noises, even if you don't realize it
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
The perplexing pronunciations of words with X's and Q's
The Explainer Blame the Romans
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
Linguistic invasion! The foreign influence of English's political and military words
The Explainer It might seem like our language is under attack. But in reality, we're the ones taking linguistic prisoners
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
Capital letters: FTW or WTF?
The Explainer Your comprehensive, unassailable guide on when and where to capitalize
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
14 exotic city names that sound boring when translated
The Explainer Kuala Lumpur just doesn't sound as magical when you translate it to Muddy Confluence
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
Quiz: Drug brand or sci-fi name?
The Explainer No Google cheating!
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
A linguist's guide to HULK SMASH
The Explainer Dissecting the strange, wonderful grammar of Hulkspeak
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
It's all right to spell it 'alright'
The Explainer Relax, language peevers
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
A brief history of African click words
The Explainer In much of southern Africa, it can be more polite to click
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
'You and I' vs. 'You and me'
The Explainer Figuring out when to use which is actually very simple
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
9 compellingly strange letters you don't know about
The Explainer Meet eng, thorn, hwair, and more
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
The curious linguistic history of pineapples and butterflies
The Explainer One word is a historical outlier; the other a descendant of mythology
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
Why linguists freak out about 'absofreakinglutely'
The Explainer They don't even really know what to call it
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
A linguistic tour of a 'night out' around the world
The Explainer And how to tell if it's a Canadian or an Australian asking you out
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
How to be a champagne snob
The Explainer Warning: This might require a saber
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer -
A herstory (or mansplanation) of portpersonteau words
The Explainer From broceries to guybrarian to Galentine's Day, we often employ wordplay to poke at differences between the sexes
By James Harbeck Last updated
The Explainer