Language

15 Japanese Food Onomatopoeias

Send this list to any kid who doesn't understand why we say that we "hang up" the phone.

15 Common Expressions Younger Kids Won't Understand

Here are 15 etymologies to answer the questions of future English speakers. Because the future is already here.

A Language Based Only On Whistles

29 Obscure Regional Phrases We All Should Start Using

Work these into conversation.

The Evolution of "That [Noun] Though"

Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain (Beowful); AJWAD CREATIVE/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES (SPEECH BUBBLE)

10 Old English Words You Need to Be Using

If you learn just a few words in Old English, be sure to include the one that means "lying awake before dawn and worrying."

15 Unusual College Mottos

10 Misconceptions About the English Language

Elliott Morgan debunks a few myths about the English language.

OliverChilds (knife), Ajwad Creative (speech bubble) // iStock via Getty Images Plus

8 Slasher Slang Terms, Dissected

Movies like 'Friday the 13th' and 'Halloween' have spawned sequels, remakes, imitations, and parodies—and they’ve also unleashed a whole of host of slasher slang.

Dictionary.com Explains How a Word Becomes “A Word”

Reading These Words Sets Off Completely Different Brain Processes Than Speaking Them

17 "Bon" Figures of Speech from Louisiana French

It’s a long way from the French of France.

Translating What Your Cat is Trying to Tell You

Where Does the Expression "Hands Down" Come From?

10 Awful Words and the People They're Named For

Did these word-inspiring folks really deserve to have their names dragged through the linguistic mud?

Watch a Baby Go from Babbling to Baby Talk to Words in ASL

Children acquiring sign languages go through the same linguistic stages that those acquiring spoken languages do.

Will We All Speak Emoji Language in a Couple Years?

12 English Words Derived from an Extinct Caribbean Language

18 Everyday Expressions Borrowed From the Bible

How Deaf People Come Up With Signs for Slang Terms Like “Photobomb”

6 Places Where Lexicographers Find Old Slang

Study Shows All Languages Skew Towards Happiness

Portrait of Robert Burns, painted by Alexander Nasmyth.

14 Scots Words from the Works of Robert Burns

Polish up on this list of words and phrases from Robert Burns’s complete works. Highlighting the imagination of his Scots language, they are ripe for revival by Robbie revelers old and new.

Why Your Family Name Did Not Come From a Mistake at Ellis Island

Your Family Name Did Not Come From a Mistake at Ellis Island