All Verbal Energy
Let鈥檚. Bring. This. To. A. Full. Stop.You know those periods people leave off their text messages? The Monitor鈥檚 language columnist has an idea of where they are ending up.
Punctuation that maybe packs more punchThe ordinary period, which for centuries has been simply ending sentences, has lately acquired a reputation for real aggression.
Architects redux and the case for jargonThe Monitor鈥檚 language columnist surprises herself by making the case for jargon.
Architects鈥� more concrete vocabularyPart of the magic of language is finding just the right word for a particular need, and architecture is full of such specialized terms.
Architects and their peculiar vernacularAn architecture website asked, What are the weirdest words that only architects use?
Droning on about those things in the skyA look at why unmanned aerial vehicles take their common name from a type of bee.
FIFA, 鈥榙isloyal鈥� fees, and false friendsIn the world soccer scandal, the dubious translation of a Swiss-French legal term highlights the confusions caused by 鈥榝alse friends.鈥�
Feeling conflicted about deconflictionA Pentagon term for efforts to keep US and Russian forces out of each other鈥檚 way in Syria falls abruptly from favor.
Mea culpa 鈥� a cautionary taleAn alert reader鈥檚 correction of a factual error prompts some thoughts on collective memory in the age of the Web, and on what to make of people whose achievements may be offset by the repugnant ideas they embrace.
A tale of taxes, tailles, and tenorsA lexicographical mystery is resolved.
Undisturbed amid what we know of turmoilA look at turmoil, turbulence, and tumult and other words for 鈥榯rouble鈥�: Do they share common roots 鈥� or just closely related meanings?
Pointing our way to clear communicationA look at the surprisingly fascinating history of punctuation.
We finally pahk the cah on Hahvahd YahdAs incoming freshmen move into their dorms, new light is shed on a famous Boston 鈥榓ccent test.鈥�
Office of the future, offices of the pastAn article on the 鈥榦ffice of the future鈥� prompts some research on the history of the word office.
鈥楧riverless鈥� cars: a law unto themselves?Self-driving cars may be on their way in, but do we really want to call them 鈥榓utonomous鈥�?
Relics: What鈥檚 given up, what鈥檚 left behindNow that the Confederate flag crisis in South Carolina is resolved, just what is a 鈥榬elic,鈥� anyway?
Three new words of the summer 鈥� so farA word that鈥檚 suddenly hot among kids, a word that gives us a name for something we鈥檝e done for thousands of years, and a word just made up from scratch, so there.
Astronomers, designers, etc., and moreWhy editors don鈥檛 like 鈥榚tc.,鈥� or its Gen-X variant 鈥榓nd more.鈥�
鈥極wning鈥� Hillary鈥檚 fashion senseA blog post on Hillary Clinton鈥檚 campaign-trail jokes about personal style and illustrates some grammar points, too.
Getting restless over native advertisingOK, we understand that news organizations need the money, but can鈥檛 they call this stuff something else?
