LANGUAGE

Eh is fine, but why don't you work some of these other Canadianisms into your conversation?

23 Canadianisms Way More Interesting Than "Eh?"

A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles is a wonderful place to search or browse through the wordy history of our neighbors to the North.

Cory Calhoun, Master Anagrammist

7 Geeky-Cool Translations of Hamlet

Hamlet has been translated into hundreds of languages. But normal human languages can be so, well, normal. These seven translations go beyond the normal, right into the awesome.

How Many Languages is it Possible to Know?

There are millions of people, even in the mostly monolingual US, who speak more than one language at home. Competence in three languages is not unusual. But what about 10, 20, 30, 100 languages? What's the upper limit on the number of languages a person c

Never wonder what you should call a baby alpaca again.

11 Lesser-Known Names for Baby Animals

We know that infant chickens are called chicks and baby ducks are called ducklings—but how should we refer to the newborn offspring of animals that don’t often get cooed over in their early developmental stages?

11 Words That Don't Mean What They Sound Like

'Formication' may sound sexy, but it actually means "an abnormal sensation as of ants creeping over the skin."

How Many Words Do "Eskimos" Really Have for Snow?

There are three answers: A heck of a lot, not that many, and a whole heck of a lot. Or, if you want specifics: 5, 2, and at least 99.

The 9 Best Shots Fired in the Oxford Comma Wars

The pro-Oxford comma faction is more vocal and numerous in the U.S., while in the UK, anti-Oxford comma reigns. The two main rationales for choosing one style over the other are clarity and economy. Each side has invoked both rationales in its favor.

Terms for the Penis Among American College Students

Happy National Thesaurus Day!

Where Did the Phrase "Caught Red Handed" Come From?

Infographic Names 21 Emotions with No English Word Equivalents

While we may have many words we can use to represent our emotions, there are some feelings that no English word can describe. But that doesn't mean other languages don't have words for them—and as part of an ongoing project called Unspeakableness, design

Where Did the Phrase "Smart Alec" Come From?

Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his “Daily Knowledge” newsletter, click

Where Did the Term "Booze" Come From?

Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his “Daily Knowledge” newsletter, click

Why Does "XOXO" Mean "Kisses and Hugs"?

Whether you end a letter or e-mail with it—or you recognize it from the end of each Gossip Girl episode—“Xoxo” is commonly known to refer to the phrase “Kisses and hugs.” But how did these two inconspicuous letters come to represent that well-known

12 Mind Blowing Number Systems From Other Languages

Today is a big day for lovers of the number 12, and no one loves 12s more than the members of the Dozenal Society. The Dozenal Society advocates for ditching the base-10 system we use for counting in favor of a base-12 system. Because 12 is cleanly divisi

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people had it in for the word demote.

12 Common Words That Were Once Considered Terrible Jargon

In 1931, a Western Union official said that "there can be no apology for contact." Six years later, the word was number four on a list of the 10 most "overworked" words.

Which delicious dish will come out on top?

8 Great Arguments from the Latke-Hamentash Debate

Nobel Prize winners and MacArthur "Genius" Fellows alike have held forth on the metaphysical, philosophical, semiotic, sociological, literary, and historical implications of latkeness vs. hamentashness.

5 Songs from the Eurovision for Endangered Languages, Liet International

English has taken over pop music to the point where many bands from other countries will write their songs in English in order to appeal to a wider audience. The Eurovision Song Contest provides one place where other languages can get a chance at a bigger

How Do Computers Understand Speech?

More and more, we can get computers to do things for us by talking to them. A computer can call your mother when you tell it to, find you a pizza place when you ask for one, or write out an email that you dictate. Sometimes the computer gets it wrong, but

The Wisconsin Town That Didn't Learn English for Five Generations

The story of Hustisford looks very much like the story people usually tell about their immigrant ancestors. But in this story, there's a twist.

Why Do Sign Language Interpreters Look So Animated?

As New York City Mayor Bloomberg gave numerous televised addresses about the preparations the city was making for Hurricane Sandy, and then the storm’s aftermath, he was joined at the podium by a sign language interpreter, who immediately became a twitter

10 Places and the Words They Inspired

53 Modern Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Oxford Dictionary Online is a warehouse of over 600,000 words. Despite this large arsenal, we continue to coin, clip, and blend new words into existence.

What's the Origin of 'Let the Cat Out of the Bag'?

There are two popularly cited origins for the phrase "let the cat out of the bag," but neither is very clearly recorded as leading to it.

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