Latest articles by James Harbeck
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Why it's difficult to tell a Canadian accent from a Californian one
feature Not so easy, eh?
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11 words whose meanings have completely changed over time
feature Remember when cloud meant "mass of rock?"
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How do you pronounce 'in excelsis'?
The Explainer The complicated answer to one of Christmas caroling's most vexing questions
The Explainer -
How the Thanksgiving turkey was named after the country Turkey
feature Don't feel bad, English speakers: Almost every language has a perplexing name for the delicious fowl
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4 annoying sounds you need to stop making
feature You need to stop making these noises, even if you don't realize it
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Singular or plural? It's complicated.
feature Welcome to the weird world of quantity words!
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Was there ever an actual train that carried gravy?
The Explainer On the history and meaning of 'gravy train'
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'I know, right?': The anatomy of a wonderfully nonsensical phrase
feature And why we insist on saying things that make no literal sense
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However: Everything you need to know about a commonly abused word
The Explainer Sometimes you should just use "but"
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This is how old languages add new words
feature How do you say 'laptop' in Lakota?
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How to identify Asian, African, and Middle Eastern alphabets at a glance
feature You can't be expected to memorize all these beautiful alphabets, but you can get wise to their signature looks
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How to identify any language at a glance
feature A handy guide for amateur linguists
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10 commonly abused psychology words — and what they really mean
feature Many of the psychology terms we use in causal conversation don't mean what we think they do
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Almost every language has a word for 'Christmas.' Few reference Christ.
The Explainer A linguistic tour of holiday sayings, from Feliz Navidad to Mele Kalikimaka...
The Explainer -
How the Thanksgiving turkey was named after the country Turkey
feature But don't feel bad, English speakers: Almost every language has a perplexing name for the delicious fowl
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The wacky world of apostrophes, explained
The Explainer Why is there apostrophe in O'Hara? Is it tai chi or t'ai chi? And what's up with Hallowe'en?
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Hillary Clinton, and the surprising history of elder statesmen writing like tweens
feature What year do you think this was written? "I wish you wd tell me how u.r. when u. write."
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The curious linguistic histories of ump, imp, amp, omp, and empt
feature One of those words is not like the others...
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The subtle sounds that English speakers have trouble catching
feature The "p" in pit, is not the same as the one in spit
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Stop calling possessives 'possessive'
feature For accuracy's sake, perhaps we should call them 'connectives' instead
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Why there's no such thing as a 'bicep': A tour of words that sound like plurals but aren't
feature No kudo for clamping the forcep on your bicep
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What Americans will sound like in 2050
feature Part of our ongoing series on America in 2050
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What we talk about when we talk about (word) copulation
feature Not to mention resultatives and substantives
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What the English of Shakespeare, Beowulf, and King Arthur actually sounded like
feature Shakespeare in Love it ain't
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