LINGUISTICS

Reader Jonathan wrote in to ask, “Why do we call other countries by names that they do not use themselves? Where did these names come from and why do we use them?"

The adjective "moot" means "open to debate." Yes, really. This is a dramatic difference from its common usage (at least in America), which basically means "not worth debating." A famous example comes from Rick Springfield's lyrics in "Jessie's Girl":

David J. Peterson is one of many conlangers: people who invent languages. His most recent work is the Dothraki tongue shown in HBO's "Game of Thrones"; the spoken language had to be invented for TV because it's rendered in English in the "Song of Ice an

The alphabet, as best as historians can tell, got its start in ancient Egypt sometime in the Middle Bronze Age, but not with the Egyptians. They were, at the time, writing with a set of hieroglyphs that were used both as representations of the consonants

We can't be 100 percent positive about the "actual" part.

Always a bridesmaid and never a bride, B is the also-ran, the second best, the afterthought, the sidekick to the alphaletter A. When things fall apart, we go to Plan B; we’ll watch B-movies with B-list actors on basic cable if we can’t fall asleep; we’ll

LINGUISTICS

Why Are There Different Names for the Same Country?

The Meaning of the Word "Moot" is Moot

The Man Who Conlanged "Dothraki" for HBO's "Game of Thrones"

Why Are the Letters in ABC Order?

18 Metaphors and Analogies Found in Actual Student Papers (Or Not—But They're Still Hilarious)

The Bodacious Letter B