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?

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.

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

The Oxford English Dictionary is here to help you learn the nuanced meaning of ‘deepfake.’

Scientists found a key trait that makes words sound profane in multiple languages.

Any debate about how to pronounce ‘pecan’ could easily turn into a discussion about dialect—but that’s not just another word for ‘accent.’

Wordle solutions aren’t all created equal—and if PARER was your streak-ending downfall, you’re in good company.

Having egg on your face used to have a literal meaning. Here’s how it became an idiom.

What's the 'worse' or 'worst' that could happen if you use the wrong form of this commonly used word? Here's what to know.

Zoomers have revolutionized the slang game on- and offline with colorful terms like ‘stan’ and ‘She ate.’ But some are older than you think.

You’re not really wishing someone a good ‘bye.’ ‘Bye’ is just an abbreviation—and ‘good’ is sort of a mistake.

From poisoning to warfare, these are the dark origin stories behind eight common phrases and idioms.