Mental Floss
  • AMAZING FACTS
  • BIG QUESTIONS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • #TBT
    • MOVIES
    • MUSIC
    • POP CULTURE
    • TV
  • HISTORY
    • HISTORY
    • ARCHAEOLOGY
    • BAD OLD DAYS WITH A.J. JACOBS
    • BIOGRAPHIES
    • BLACK HISTORY MONTH
    • KING TUT
    • TITANIC
  • LISTS
    • LISTS
    • BOOKS
    • FOOD
    • LANGUAGE
    • WORDS
  • LIVE SMARTER
    • LIVE SMARTER
    • HEALTH
    • SMART SHOPPING
    • TRAVEL
    • HACKS
    • FUN
  • QUIZZES
    • QUIZZES
    • KENNECTIONS WITH KEN JENNINGS
    • BRAINTEASERS
  • SCIENCE
    • SCIENCE
    • ANIMALS
    • ENVIRONMENT
    • SPACE
  • ALL STORIES
  • NEWSLETTER
  • ART
  • LANGUAGE
  • LINGUISTICS
  • WORDS
  • ART
  • LANGUAGE
  • LINGUISTICS
  • WORDS
Mental Floss

LANGUAGE

Get ready to step into the squared circle.

25 Pro Wrestling Slang Terms You Should Know

You don’t need to be a smark to appreciate these pro wrestling slang terms (but it might help).

Scott Beggs

Greetings from the cockpit.

Why Is It Called a ‘Cockpit’?

The flight deck has long been known by a peculiar term—one that probably has to do with roosters.

Jake Rossen

African American English derives from a historical past of contact between multiple language speakers. It varies across age, ethnicity, class, and gender. There is more than one AAE.

10 Things To Know About African American Language

African descendants in the U.S. have been speaking varieties of English, today known as African American Language (AAL), for many centuries. Here's what you should know.

Renée Blake, Kimberley Baxter



13 Cool Slang Terms From the 1950s

From 'beatnik' to 'backseat bingo,' here are some notable pieces of lingo popularized in the 1950s.

Michele Debczak


Think you know your colors?

Test Your Color Perception Skills (and See How They Stack Up Against Your Fellow Humans)

Less than 1 percent of people surveyed got a perfect score on this free online color perception test. Take it to see where you rank.

Michele Debczak


Linguists have some theories about how Rock, Paper, Scissors is also known as roshambo.

Why Do People Call Rock-Paper-Scissors "Roshambo"?

The term is more commonly used on the West Coast, especially in northern California.

Shaunacy Ferro


'Clatterfart' and 'twattle-basket' are way more entertaining than 'chatterbox.'

15 Words for Gossips and Chatterboxes

We all know someone who never seems to stop talking. They’re a yammerer, a babbler, a chatterbox—but they’re also a blatherskite, a clatterfart, and a twattle-basket.

Paul Anthony Jones
NEXT
Mental Floss
ABOUT
CONTACT US
NEWSLETTERS
PRIVACY POLICY
COOKIE POLICY
TERMS OF SERVICE
ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT
SITEMAP
A-Z Index

© 2023 Minute Media - © 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved