Latest articles by Arika Okrent
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Our favorite regional words from waaaay Northern Michigan
feature Holy wah! To make it in the U.P., you've gotta have sisu.
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24 Canadianisms way more interesting than 'eh?'
feature Toronto is nicknamed Hogtown, and if you're ever in the mood for a mixture of tomato juice and beer, ask for a Calgary Redeye
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11 facts yü should know about the umlaut
feature Ever wonder why the plural of "mouse" is "mice"? Blame umlaut.
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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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18 famous literary lines perfectly paired with rap lyrics
feature "Turning and turning in the widening gyre/ I won't stop rockin' till I retire"
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Why does 'will not' become 'won't'?
feature Shouldn't it be "willn't"?
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11 beautiful alphabets from ancient and medieval times
feature Go way beyond Helvetica
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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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11 mots merveilleux recently added to the French dictionary
feature The term "French kiss" is finally being captured in the eponymous language with a single word: galoche
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How the U.S. made war with the language of peace
feature Poor, poor Esperanto
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How many words do Eskimos really have for snow?
feature Depending on whom you ask, anywhere from 2 to 99
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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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Check out these fascinating experiments in Ngram art
feature Words are strange creatures that do not necessarily behave as you would expect when graphed over time
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17 overly optimistic book titles
feature Despite the names of many how-to guides, you actually can't make a Stradivarius violin, master life, or be happy with dental plates
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Why is 'Weiner' sometimes 'weener' and sometimes 'whiner'?
feature Anthony Weiner's name is not Wiener!
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The language Isaac Newton invented
feature Newton is credited with many, many scientific innovations. His linguistic creations, on the other hand, never really took off.
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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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17 words that describe themselves
feature Autological words are a self-centered, self-referential bunch
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The best shots fired in the Oxford comma wars
feature A look at the strongest points on each side of the great grammar debate
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These fascinating maps show countries as named in their own languages
feature We hear Magyarország is lovely this time of year
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14 Swedish words that conflict with the Ikea products they name
feature Some of these make absolutely no sense
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What's the difference between in- and un-?
feature Germanic vs Latin roots only provide some help
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The evolution of Facebook's pronoun problem
feature "Arika has changed their profile picture."
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11 inscriptions on old buildings that tell it like it is
feature "We shall die all"
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