linguistics

Big Question

Why Are There Different Names for the Same Country?

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... READ ON

Big Question

Why Do We Capitalize “I”?

Capital "I" image via ShutterstockSome languages capitalize several of their pronouns. Some don’t capitalize any of them. English is an odd duck in that we only capitalize the first person singular, I.Why? Honestly, we're not sure. Linguists and historians have been unable to find any record of a definitive explanation. We know this much: In Old and early Middle English, the German-flavored ich was used as the personal pronoun. Around the middle period of Middle English, personal pronouns... READ ON

Big Question

Where Does the Phrase "Steal My Thunder" Come From?

Lightning image, which is kind of related to thunder, via ShutterstockWhile we use the term figuratively today, its original usage — by English playwright John Dennis in the early 1700s — was literal.Live theater productions have plenty of sound effect tricks up their sleeves, some of them centuries old. If the sound of thunder is needed for a stormy scene, for example, off-stage crew members might roll metal balls down troughs, grind lead shot in bowls or shake thin sheets of metal.For the... READ ON

Article

The Late Movies: Fun With Mispronunciation

So there's a YouTube channel called Pronunciation Book, which "shows you how to say various words in American English." It's an extremely simple format: display a word or phrase, then say it aloud three times. The format was simple, and yeah, maybe it helped some people. For example: Jake Gyllenhaal. But then along came the much, much better Pronunciation Manual, which appropriated the existing format and parodied it with hilariously incorrect pronunciations -- including often cutting off the third... READ ON

Big Question

Why Do We Scream "Geronimo" When Jumping From Things?

© Bettmann/CORBIS??In the early 1940s, the United States Army was testing the idea of parachuting from planes as a way of deploying troops. The first group to really experiment with it and begin developing paratrooper techniques was a unit of 50 men known the Parachute Test... READ ON

Article

The Meaning of the Word "Moot" is Moot

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": "I wanna tell her that I love her / But the point is probably moot," meaning that Springfield's love isn't worthy of mention, due to Jessie's girl's relationship with Jessie. (We can infer from this both that Jessie's girl is faithful to Jessie, and that... READ ON

Big Question

Which Came First: Orange the Color or Orange the Fruit?

Reader Erica wrote in with a question about oranges. Is the fruit named for its color, or is the color named for the... READ ON

Big Question

When Did Americans Lose Their British Accents?

Readers Nick and Riela have both written to ask how and when English colonists in America lost their British accents and how American accents came... READ ON

Article

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

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 and Fire" novels. It turns out that the word of conlangers is just what you'd think it is: very geeky, full of highly-educated people, and surprisingly populous -- I wouldn't be surprised if we had conlangers in the mental_floss readership (if we do,... READ ON

List

15 variations on the meaning of the word "dude"

I was sort of a linguistic snob in college. I preferred big words to small, little-known words to ubiquitous, and archaic to colloquial. The present-day me would have never hung out with the college version of me. For example, when I wanted to get dinner, I’d go down the hall to one of my friend’s rooms and say, “Jeremy, do you want to go get some supper now? They have pizza tonight.” Nearly 20 syllables! Meanwhile, Jeremy’s roommate, a thick-necked kid they called Alfie with a tattoo of a .22... READ ON