All In a Word
Stars and canines collide in 鈥榙og days鈥�We鈥檙e in the聽dog days聽of summer, at least where I live 鈥� over 90 degrees and humid. According to ancient Greeks, it's thanks to聽Sirius, the Dog Star.
Super-duper reduplicative wordsThe first words we speak are reduplicative. Around the world, babies refer to their parents by simple, repeating syllables:聽mama,聽tata, and so on.聽
The psalm says 鈥榓pple,鈥� but it was 鈥榩upil鈥� of the eyeA fruit-related idiom was produced when the Psalms were first translated into Old English in the 10th century.
The odd origins of some familiar idiomsWhen the idiom 鈥渟mall potatoes鈥� first appeared in 1836, its meaning was clear. Today, some children haven鈥檛 even heard it before.
We鈥檙e in a 鈥榣iminal鈥� moment, rather than 鈥榠n limbo鈥�The news right now is full of words like limbo. Perhaps it would be more optimistic to look at this summer as 鈥渓iminal,鈥� not 鈥渋n limbo.鈥�
There are a zillion different names for big numbersAs astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson points out, large numbers like googols 鈥渄on鈥檛 count things, but instead count the ways things can happen.鈥�
Some numbers are less certain than they appearWe think English words for numbers are precise. But language is slippery, and a hundred is not always 100, nor is a billion always 1,000,000,000.
Animal noises sound different in other languagesAnimals vocalize more or less the same way, whether they're in France or America 鈥� so why do they 鈥渟peak鈥� so differently in human languages?
Cute canines on the web inspire DoggoLingoThis 鈥渓anguage鈥� is characterized by simple phrases and inventive spellings (smol聽for 鈥渟mall,鈥澛燽ork聽for 鈥渂ark鈥�). For example: 鈥淧upperino did a blep!鈥�
Venturing into the land of social media acronyms鈥淭l;dr鈥� is the only internet abbreviation I know of that boasts a perfectly used semicolon. Where did the acronym originate?
Self-isolation has its roots in ancient timesPeople have been using various kinds of isolation to protect themselves and others, and to inspire moral and spiritual growth, for centuries.
Sayings that uncover the silver liningsIn English we say 鈥淎pril showers bring May flowers鈥� or 鈥淚f life gives you lemons, make lemonade.鈥� How are these ideas expressed in other languages?
A(n) historical take on the evolving use of a/anEnglish speakers disagree 鈥� sometimes vehemently 鈥� about how to use 鈥渉istoric鈥� and 鈥渉istorical鈥� with the indefinite articles聽a/an.聽
Ugly-sounding words can describe beautiful thingsThe meanings and negative associations of moist make it ugly, just as positive associations can make other words seem lovely.
Beautiful-sounding words float like gossamerIt turns out that the words that English speakers find pleasing are more like聽papillon聽and less like聽Aschenputtel, according to phonaesthetics.
Need a point person? Appoint a czar.How did czar, royal title of the rulers of Russia until 1917, become so prevalent in the United States?
Which came first, the apple or the nickname?It turns out that apples and the Empire State are indeed closely connected, though interestingly, the 鈥淏ig Apple鈥� nickname came first.
How 鈥榮now鈥� words started a linguistic kerfuffleDoes the language you speak determine what thoughts are possible and what things cannot be thought because your language lacks the words?
鈥楽now鈥� by any other name would feel as coldThe question of how many words for snow a language has depends on which one you鈥檙e talking about.聽Then there鈥檚 the issue of what counts as a word.
A-maying, a-hunting 鈥� what is that 鈥榓鈥� a-doing?Today, this construction can be celebrated as poetic, or stigmatized as incorrect and 鈥渦neducated,鈥� depending on who is doing the a-ing.
