Awhile ago, we asked readers to share their choices for the most beautiful sounding word in English. Nearly 500 of you shared your favorites, which included the lyrical, delightful, and uplifting. Some of you also shared your least favorite words. “I would like to vote ‘moist’ as the most gross sounding word in the English language,” wrote in Jack. Good point, Jack. It’s time to talk about …
Whether you regard yourself as a scholar of linguistics or a self proclaimed language snob—you’ve probably, at least once, crossed over to the dark side and used the word like in a sentence where it, like, doesn’t belong. Narrowly escaping the grammar police, you catch yourself, cringe, and promise never again! This usage of like is known as a slang interjection. This form as well …
If you had any doubt that 2010 was a complicated year, consider this: the five finalists for our People’s Choice Word of the Year were all fairly close contenders, and three of the words were multisyllabic mouthfuls. The top two entries were incredibly close – out of over 10,000 votes, the winner was only 40 votes ahead of the runner-up. The top five words, those …
What language do these words come from: ouch-cay, appy-hay, and ender-tay? If you guessed Pig Latin, you’re correct. What is Pig Latin? Pig Latin is not actually a language but a language game that children (and some adults) use to speak “in code.” Pig Latin words are formed by altering words in English. Here’s how it works: First, pick any English word. We’ll use dictionary. …
If you find something that’s bigger than you thought was physically possible, how would you describe it? You start with what you already have, which is R136a1, the equivalent of a cosmic ZIP code. The R stands for Radcliffe Observatory, which located the star in the first place (long before anyone knew its immensity.) Massive isn’t the same thing as “big” in astronomy. Mass is …
Weed. Mary Jane. Chronic. There are dozens of slang synonyms for marijuana. But one of the strangest is the word pot. How did the word for a common kitchen instrument become slang for marijuana? The origin of pot has nothing to do with the culinary tool. The word came into use in America in the late 1930s. It is a shortening of the Spanish potiguaya …
It’s probably safe to assume that as long as humans have been speaking, we’ve been cussing and cursing. What can the connection between “curse,” “swear,” “cuss” and “profanity” tell us about all the words we aren’t supposed to say, yet say with great frequency? Cursing vs. cussing Placing a curse obviously isn’t the same as uttering curse words, but both concepts start with the Christian Church. …