LANGUAGE

30 Author Names You Might Be Mispronouncing

If you’ve been pronouncing Roald Dahl’s first name as “rolled,” you should read this.

Use these handy tips to get pronouns right.

Why It Can be Hard to Get Pronouns Right, According to Linguistics

A pronoun slip can be embarrassing, especially if you pride yourself on being generally good at using the language people have asked you to use. Why do pronoun slips happen, and why do we seem to mess up pronouns more than names or other gendered words?

A hat being thrown after Mark Stone of the Las Vegas Golden Knights scored a hat trick in game five of the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Final.

Where Does the Phrase ‘Hat Trick’ Come From?

The term 'hat trick' is most associated with hockey, but that's not the sport that started it all.

50 Collective Nouns for Groups of Animals

What's the right way to describe a group of worms? A "bunch" may sound like a lazy descriptor, but it's correct.

Ducks would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.

Your Ducking iPhone Will Soon Stop Autocorrecting the F-Word to ‘Duck’

A new iPhone update will spell the end for everyone’s least favorite autocorrect fail.

Mental Floss’s ‘The Curious Compendium of Wonderful Words’ Features Fun Slang, Strange Phrase Origins, and More

Sure, all books are filled with words—but not quite like this.

These linguistic illusions will hurt your brain.

5 Linguistic Illusions That Will Make You Go “Wait, What?”

Linguistic illusions—a phenomenon in which your judgment or understanding of a sentence or phrase conflicts with its actual meaning or structure—reveal how we process the world, and remind us that things aren’t always as they seem.

Matthew Macfadyen and Sarah Snook in 'Succession.'

The #@!*~ Most Swear-Filled TV Show Finales of All Time

The Roy family of 'Succession' is pretty foul-mouthed, but are they the filthiest TV characters?

The first African American dictionary of its kind is due in 2025.

Scholars Have Released the First Words Chosen for The Oxford Dictionary of African American English

The years-in-the-making Oxford Dictionary of African American English will offer proper attribution to words and phrases that originated in Black culture.

Where does this literary device come from, and why is it named after a fish?

Where Did the Phrase 'Red Herring' Come From?

The figurative phrase is more than 200 years old, but the obscure etymology of a 'red herring' is a fishy story that is itself a red herring.

Have You Been Misled by ‘Misles’? The Linguistics Behind These Commonly Mispronounced Words

Learning how to pronounce ‘biopic’ is one thing. Understanding why it’s such a commonly mispronounced word is another.

'Blunder': What 'Little Mermaid' Sidekick Flounder Is Called Around the World

Ariel's skittish sidekick is known by other names.

Why Is A Police Officer’s Baton Called a Billy Club?

The baton has been a law enforcement tool for close to two centuries. But did anyone named Billy actually have anything to do with it?

Know what to say when you visit Little Rhody.

13 Rhode Island Slang Terms You Should Know

Familiarize yourself with these 13 expressions and your Ocean State stay will be that much smoother and more satisfying.

'Lady with a Parasol' by Impressionist Hamilton Hamilton.

13 Old-Timey Synonyms for ‘Hot’ to Bring Back This Summer

Why be sweltering and sunburnt when you can be swoly and birsled instead?

From left: Idris Elba, Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, and Lupita Nyongo’o.

27 Actor Names You're Probably Mispronouncing

Don't even think of introducing Claes Bang at an awards show until you read this.

The 20 Most Popular Baby Names of 2022, According to the Social Security Administration

The most popular baby names of 2022 are very, very similar to those from 2021.

This dachshund wants you to know you're probably mispronouncing the name of his breed.

The Right Way to Pronounce 'Dachshund'

Dachshund is actually made up of two smaller German words (dachs, which means “badger,” and hund, which means “dog”) and it's not pronounced “dash-hound.”

Now you know how to sing the alphabet in a few other languages!

Singing the ABCs in 7 Different Languages

English isn’t the only alphabet, and not every alphabet will fit into “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Here are some other songs from around the world to help them learn their ABCs.

This little symbol has a fascinating history.

Where Did the Ampersand Symbol Come From?

From what an ampersand symbol is to where it came from, here's what you need to know about this little symbol's surprisingly long history.

Is ‘Main Character Energy’ a Real Thing? Here’s What It Is—and How To Tell if You Have It

Social media has been buzzing about "main character energy" for years, but what does it actually mean?

Minutemen fought for America but probably sounded British.

When Did Americans Lose Their British Accents?

One big factor in the divergence of the accents is something called 'rhotacism.'

Scuba is just one of the words that's actually an acronym.

25 Words That Are Actually Acronyms

Here are the stories and meanings behind 25 words, names, and titles that you might not have realized actually stand for something.

Ever wonder what you're supposed to be minding when your mind your p's and q's?

What Exactly Are Your P’s and Q’s?

Does it have to do with pea coats? Or maybe Latin scribes?

PREV NEXT