Linguistics

Playing around with words from Charles Dickens to the novels of Victor Appleton.

You might not realise it but you use words of Greek origin every day. Over 150 thousand English words have their roots in the popular Koine Greek dialect and they feature in our lives.

50 challenging words that most people don't know. This list is intended to help you learn new concepts.

A return to some of the strange words in the English language.

You may not realize it, but we use Anglo-Saxon words every day when we speak and write English. The English language developed under the influence of German and Danish invaders and contains a dash of Celtic and a cornucopia of Latin words. Here's what you need to know.

Sometimes two figures of speech get tangled together and we learn about seeing a carrot at the end of the tunnel. Find out what malaphors are and some funny examples of them.

Texting is changing the way we write and some experts believe this threatens the future of punctuation. Learn about the origins and modern relevance (or irrelevance) of the period, comma, semicolon, and more.

The Scandinavian influence on the English language is an interesting study in terms of vocabulary, syntax and grammar. The impact was more widespread and intimate than later influences. This article is an in-depth study of various aspects that concern students of philology.

Those long-haired tree-huggers sure had a unique way of talking. Here are some excellent hippie words, phrases and slang with descriptions of what they mean and examples for how to use these terms in conversation. Let your freak flag fly!

Being a word snob is a thankless task, but somebody has to do it. Here, then, are 26 pretentious words with which to dazzle and annoy adversaries . . . use them at your own peril.

We all use figures of speech, which are devices that use words in a non-literal way. They give our language colour and vivacity. In this article, 12 common figures of speech are defined and discussed with specific examples.

New words and phrases, called neologisms, are added to the English language at the rate of roughly three per day. This article discusses how and why new words are created and what it takes for them to officially land in dictionaries.

The most reputable reference works contain errors, sometimes deliberately, often not.

Interested in obscure sad words? Read on for another great one. What does From the depths of the "Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" comes another word of startling, and often haunting, poignancy: ellipsism. What does it mean?

Looking for inspiration, or just curious about the most epic and awesome words in the English language? Read on to uncover the 60 most awesome sounding words and their meanings!

Robert Frost's Mowing, a sonnet, focuses on the simple act of mowing grass with a scythe and how working the land naturally is reward enough. Imagery, metaphor and full rhyme combine to produce a classic Frost poem, full of plain language yet with hidden meaning and his own brand of folk wisdom.

Educators are seeing an increase in children arriving at school with poor vocabularies that are going to handicap them throughout life.

Belgium has three official languages: Dutch (Flemish), French, and German. The nation's relationship with language, however, is complicated.

Why do two small ethnic enclaves at opposite ends of Europe share some linguistic similarities?

Sometimes words can mean multiple things depending on context. This can get confusing when those words have opposite meanings! Here are 10 words that can mean the opposite of themselves.

It is amazing how the same phrase meant one thing long ago and means something else today. The phrase "ride or die" is one of those phrases. You might know what it means today, but do you know what it meant originally?

The words affect and effect are often confused in the English language. Even native English speakers use the two words incorrectly. The difficulty lies in that both sound similar and both can be used as nouns and verbs. Here I discuss the differences between affect and effect and how to use them.

A game of word definitions created by a malevolent writer who has juggled with the subject matter all his life.

Seafaring has resulted in the development of a rich wealth of phrases and terms over the centuries, and many of these snippets of language are now incorporated into our everyday vocabulary—often without us realising where they originated. Enjoy these 50 nautical phrases coined by seafarers.

English grammar can be difficult and confusing at times, even for native speakers. Learn more about classifying sentences to improve your speaking and writing skills.

Everything you need to know about Chicago slang, culture, and that infamous accent—so you can sound like you're a Windy City native.

Building up your vocabulary skills does take a while, but is as simple as learning one new word every few days and then taking advantage of opportunities to use it.

Learning Greek? If you speak English, you know more than you think already. English is a fascinating cocktail of other languages, both modern and ancient. In this article, I take a light-hearted look at the how the world of ancient Greece affects our vocabulary today.

Many times people use words interchangeably when a certain word would be more appropriate. Do you know when to use "envy," "jealousy," and "covetousness"?

"Ope" is a phrase that supposedly exists only in the Midwest. Here, we examine usages of this phrase, the Midwest accent, and slang from the Midwest.

A compendium of words you may never come across again.

In Part Three of the hard words trilogy, we cover another hard 50 you need to know.

Have you ever wanted to impress a friend or co-worker with your intellect? Do you want to push your next paper up a few grades? In this article I've listed 21 words that will help you to do so.

Here is another dastardly list of words with definitions and pronunciation. The quiz will help you remember the words. If you don't know what legerity means, read on! If you do, try the quiz.

Bulls and cows turn up in our language as colourful illustrators of thoughts.

Learning about tongue twisters? This article is to explain how tongue twisters work (primarily the woodchuck tongue twister). I also have some history of the English language to help others further understand these phrases.

We all know how important knowing the perfect word to use at just the right time can be, but can you use these meta-linguistic words? Read on to learn a few handy words-on-words and get smarter.

Of the world’s approximately 6,000 languages, English is said to be one of the easier ones to learn despite its idiosyncrasies of spelling and pronunciation.

People sometimes mishear a word and go on to repeat it with embarrassing results.

Tortured translations of local languages into English cause hilarity for tourists and embarrassment for hosts; but, it works the other way round too.

The English language abounds with expressions that have been in common usage for so long that everyone knows exactly what they mean. Known as idioms, many of these expressions have surprising origins.

English is one of the most difficult languages to learn, with complex rules that have many exceptions. This article focuses on terms used to describe categories of word that share a common feature.

Here, in the USA, we excel at destroying language. “What does that word mean?” You ask? Not us. Here in the good ol' USA, we assume and call it good. That's why "literal" is no longer literal.

Around about the third glass of wine, someone always decides it’s amusing to introduce tongue twisters into the party. No, it’s not: it’s maddening and people have been shot for less. Read on for more thoughts on tongue twisters.

Brief comparison between British and American English; then an overview of various native languages, dialects and accents in Britain to highlight the language diversity in UK compared to the USA.

As a professional online English teacher who is currently studying Spanish, I understand the ins-and-outs of efficient and inexpensive online language programs. Here is what you need to know…

These contemptuous F-Words are divided into subsections for describing people, animals, and things, also for use as verbs. Meanings are added for those who are interested in learning something new.

Grammar is so troublesome. What makes it so difficult? It's not the usage. It's the constant changes! Read on for my full explanation of what makes grammar so difficult.

Often, English speakers reach back into history while expressing themselves without realizing they are doing so.

Calling all logophiles and lexophiles—it’s time to have some fun wordplay fun. Paraprosdokians use puns and other techniques to alter meaning in an unexpected and funny way.