Latest articles by Arika Okrent
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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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Can y'all be used to refer to a single person?
feature The singular y'all is the Loch Ness Monster of dialect study
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11 places to visit on a tour of the English language
feature Experience the places where our ancestors recorded the first English word, sentence, and conversation
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18 academic papers about '90s TV shows
feature If we can learn about the ancient Romans by studying their drinking songs, surely we can learn about ourselves by studying our TV shows
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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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9 common words that come from words for heat
feature Temperature has a surprising effect on language
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29 adorable slang terms for sex (from the last 600 years)
feature When it comes to the ol' houghmagandy, a little mystery goes a long way
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Here's how crazy-long German words are made
feature An animated guide to creating Rhababerbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbierbarbärbel
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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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How eavesdropping was punished in medieval times
feature The problem of eavesdropping dates back to the 1370s, according to one historian
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18 complicated scientific ideas explained simply
feature Using a custom-made text editor, scientists describe complicated ideas using only the 1,000 most frequently used words in English
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14 fascinating language facts from the U.S. Census bureau
feature Americans speak more than 300 languages
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The grammar rules behind 3 commonly disparaged dialects
feature 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
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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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6 grammar points to watch out for in Christmas songs
feature What does "round yon virgin" mean, anyway?
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3 fascinating facts about English's most adorable suffix, -ling
feature Surely you've heard of ducklings. But what about viperlings, frumberdlings, and deathlings?
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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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7 fun facts about the Dothraki language from Game of Thrones
feature The words that the characters on the HBO speak aren't mere gibberish. Someone created a whole Dothraki dictionary
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Where do U.S. coin names come from?
feature It's all about fractions, raw materials, and history
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7 words that came about from people getting them wrong
feature The word "pea" was originally "pease" and it was singular but confused for a plural
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Why do people say 'um'?
feature It's not because they're nervous
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6 creative uses of sentence diagramming
feature The architecture of sentences can be quite beautiful
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Argle bargle: 5 meanings of word reduplication
feature You may have a hoity toity degree from a fancy schmancy school, but blowing a gasket over certain kinds of hanky panky makes you an old fuddy duddy
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