LINGUISTICS

A promising young restaurateur, ready to be called a restauranteur for the rest of her career.

Why Is There No N in Restaurateur?

If you’ve been spelling ‘restaurateur’ with an ‘n’ for your entire life, don't feel bad. But here’s why you’re wrong.

Miranda is an important character in Shakespeare's The Tempest, but she's not the titular role.

Titular vs. Eponymous: What’s the Difference?

The definition of ‘eponymous’ has changed over time, and ‘titular’ has more than one. Here’s how to use each word correctly.

What’s the Difference Between a Fact and a Factoid?

A factoid isn’t just a fun fact—at least, it wasn’t when Norman Mailer allegedly coined the term in 1973.

They're debating whether it should be "the 'rona" or "Zoom."

The American Dialect Society Needs Your Help Choosing 2020’s Word of the Year

It doesn’t have to be in the dictionary—in fact, it doesn’t even have to be a word. Phrases, slang, and even hashtags are all fair game.

She wrote "sneak peak" instead of "sneak peek."

12 Notable English Language Mistakes

‘Irregardless’ is technically a word, and ‘dord’ technically isn’t (though it has shown up in a few old dictionaries).

Classrooms are especially important places to embrace language variations.

Duolingo’s Free Virtual Convention Will Cover How “Black Languages Matter” and More

The designer of the infamously persistent Duolingo owl will also be on hand to answer questions about his creation.

Online dictionaries can add words a little more quickly than their printed counterparts.

More Than 650 New Words Have Been Added to Dictionary.com—Here Are 50 of Them

With a total of about 15,000 new words, definitions, and other revisions, it’s Dictionary.com’s biggest update of all time.

Absentee Ballot vs. Mail-In Ballot: What’s the Difference?

States are changing their vote-by-mail rules for this year’s general election. Here's what you need to know.

Scots Wikipedia Is Notoriously Inaccurate Thanks to One Teenage Editor

Scots Wikipedia is notorious for its inaccuracy, and a recent Reddit post traces thousands of mistranslations back to a single teenage editor in the U.S.

Joanne K. Watson/Merriam-Webster via Getty Images

Merriam-Webster Is Updating Its Definition of Racism to Emphasize Systemic Prejudice

After sending Merriam-Webster a series of emails, Kennedy Mitchum convinced the dictionary to revise its entry for 'racism' to better emphasize the systemic aspects.

What the Death of the Apostrophe Protection Society Means for Grammarians

The head of the society signed off for good, declaring that “The ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won!”

You’re Probably Pronouncing Nevada All Wrong

It's a question that Americans have been arguing about for decades: How exactly do you pronounce Nevada?

Can You Ever Truly Lose Your Accent?

If you're an adult, the accent you use to speak now is likely the accent you'll have for the rest of your life.

Uitwaaien, or Outblowing, Is the Dutch Cure for the Winter Blues

After embracing the coziness of hygge this winter, try uitwaaien—the Dutch practice of doing physical activity in cold, windy weather.

11 Secrets of Lexicographers

A degree in lexicography can actually hurt your chances of getting the job. Here are some more secrets from the people behind the dictionary.

Dad Joke, Tallboy, and 531 More Words Are Now in Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary

‘They’ is an official nonbinary pronoun, ‘coulrophobia’ is the fear of clowns, and ‘dad jokes’ are extremely funny.

12 Old-Fashioned Insults We Should Bring Back

From ‘poltroon’ to ‘slugabed’ and beyond, this list will surely add some color to your future squabbles.

Farther vs. Further: There’s an Easy Way to Remember the Difference, and When to Use Which

'Further' and 'farther' are separated by one letter and they're often used interchangeably, but there's an easy way to tell the difference between them.

New Google Earth Feature Lets Users Listen to Endangered Indigenous Languages From Around the World

Most of the world's indigenous languages are at risk of being wiped out for good. A new project from Google Earth aims to preserve them by gathering clips of native speakers from around the world.

Why 'Run' Is The Most Complex Word in the English Language

This pithy word may only be three letters long, but it's deceptively complex. According to one lexicographer, it has 645 distinct definitions.

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, Wikimedia Commons

Scholar Claims the Voynich Manuscript Is Written in a 'Proto-Romance' Language

A UK scholar claims the Voynich manuscript isn't written in code, but in an extinct language. Other experts aren't so sure.

11 Totally Redundant Place Names

Pendle Hill is really Hill Hill Hill. Here are 11 others like that.

Can You Tell an Author’s Identity By Looking at Punctuation Alone? A Study Just Found Out.

For decades, linguists have been able to use the quirks of written texts to pinpoint the author. The process, called stylometric analysis or stylometry, has dozens of legal and academic applications.

10 Endangered Alphabets You Should See Before It's Too Late

A Vermont-based writer is cataloguing rare scripts that are disappearing due to political conflicts and globalization.

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