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Awakening to all kinds of possibilitiesWhy English has so many forms for the verbs referring to coming out of sleep
Putting the 鈥榬oar鈥 into extraordinaryMaking the case for a go-to term for journalists who want to signal newsworthiness.
鈥楥ollusion鈥 and its playful rootsA look at the surprising etymology of this dark word in the news.
When the sense of reality starts to flickerA vintage mystery-thriller flick provides a very current term for a form of psychological warfare that seems much in use lately.
Setting down the rules on 鈥榙eposing鈥A look at a word with two very different senses alive and well in the news columns.
Emoluments: grinding out or softening up?A high-flown term for 鈥榮alary鈥 seems to be rooted in a metaphor of ground grain, but the word鈥檚 sound symbolism suggests something else.聽
Just how many 鈥榖ehalves鈥 make a whole?An obsolete term still has its place in some legal contexts.
Unshackling the roots of 鈥榠mpediment鈥A hardworking ancient three-letter root turns out to be at the foot of many words across Indo-European languages.
Going off, leaving the furniture in chargeThe Monitor鈥檚 language columnist is reminded that bureaucracy is literally 鈥榬ule by desks.鈥
Public memorials and private memorandumsA leaked memo and the controversy about Confederate memorials are both potentially monumental stories.
Monitor's Best: Top 5
90 years ago, the Supreme Court limited whom presidents can fire. Trump wants to reverse that.
In Arizona, a Democrat and a Republican fight to free an ICE detainee
Trump鈥檚 new national security strategy treats longtime allies as threats
US mass killings drop to 20-year low. Some policy shifts might be helping.
Opposed to slavery, but also against a war to end it





