Think of your classic con artist: they lie, they’re manipulative, they don’t care about anyone else, and they lack remorse. Are these criminals psychopaths? Sociopaths? Both? People tend to think that a sociopath is a psychopath who doesn’t go around doing criminal things. Likewise, psycho remains shorthand for all kinds of deviant antisocial behavior, from stalking to murder. We’ve got some news for you. Despite …
Sometimes it’s hard not to hum that song that’s stuck in your head. It’s also incredibly satisfying when you’re able to hum it all the way through. What you may not realize, however, is that sometimes as you hum your favorite earworm, you might be humming about a piece of literature, motifs and all. Take a look at the rock songs below, and see which …
A motley combination of Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and Germanic dialects, the English language (more or less as we know it) coalesced between the 9th and 13th centuries. Since then, it has continued to import and borrow words and expressions from around the world, and the meanings have mutated. (Awesome and awful once meant nearly the same thing.)
Reptiles vs. Amphibians: it sounds like a monster movie title, but it’s a classic question of animal classification. Although both are cold-blooded vertebrates and the two are often mistaken for each other, there are some key differences. Many people think the difference is whether or not an animal spends some time in water, but it’s more complicated than that. In this article, we’ll explain how …
Every November, it’s time to begin preparation for the winter months, whether that means pulling out your winter coat, adding another blanket to your bed, or searching for the perfect pumpkin pie recipe. November also holds some of the most important times of the year: elections in the US, Thanksgiving, Daylight Saving Time … Black Friday. OK, some of those aren’t that important, but there …
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a blimp! Or, no, wait, is it a zeppelin? Is there really any difference between these oversized balloons? In this article, we will prove we aren’t full of hot air by breaking down the difference between a zeppelin and a blimp and explaining what airships and dirigibles are, too. Zeppelins and blimps both …
Want your kid to build their English vocabulary and have fun? We’ve collected over 10 vocab activities aimed at middle school students to build vocab, explain different parts of the English language, and answer those common English language questions. You might even have a little bit of fun. Learning about words in the news Read the following coronavirus informational texts. What does COVID-19 mean? Coronavirus: …
Spoiler alert: it is not by saying, “Yeah, well life’s not fair!” Children are not immune to the inequalities and injustices of the world. Sometimes they see more of what is going on around them than their parents and caregivers give them credit for. That being said, sometimes kids still respond to something as simple as not getting their way with cries of inequity. As …
So, you’ve already completed the day’s Wordle and won six games of Scrabble against your phone. What’s a bored word lover to do? Allow us to suggest a game show! That’s right—while we’ve all been playing on our phones, TV and radio game shows have quietly become one of the most riveting ways for certified wordies to get their fix. From new Wordle-inspired games to …
by Alyssa Pereira From boxes on census forms to drop-down menus on job applications, we often see Hispanic and Latino positioned side by side, seemingly as interchangeable terms to describe the race and heritage of a population that makes up nearly 20% of the United States. It’s easy to see why these two words are so often conflated and frequently confused. But Hispanic and Latino …
by Min Straussman In 1585, a mining expert named Joachim Gans landed on Roanoke Island in the New World. He is considered the first Jewish person to visit the Americas. Almost 70 years later, in 1654, the first Jewish community was founded in what was then known as New Amsterdam, and what we today call New York City. They came, like so many other early …
Many stories have one thing in common: a brave main character who ends up saving the day. But does slaying the dragon or defusing the bomb make this person a hero or a protagonist? And can the two words be used interchangeably? The correct answer to both is yes, with the caveat that the words are not always synonymous. Both nouns have multiple definitions and …
