Ever wonder how Internet slang mutates, like "LOL" becoming "lulz" and "OMG" becoming "ZOMG"? Grant Barrett has the answers.

Yesterday I had the privilege of appearing on the WNYC radio show Soundcheck to talk about the origins of booing. The news hook was a recent Metropolitan Opera production of La Sonnambula that got booed by the audience thanks to its avant-garde staging. Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout discussed the booing incident, and I was there to provide some historical and linguistic context.  Continue reading...

I don't pretend to be a great public speaker; I think I had more nerve as a 14-year-old debater than I have now! But I was keenly motivated by the gleam of trophies in high school and I learned the tricks it takes to do reasonably well at speaking.

In later years, I also wrote speeches for industry leaders and CEOs. So when a friend emailed to request advice on how to write speeches, I decided to summarize the seven things I know.  Continue reading...

Visual Thesaurus contributor Mark Peters explores the phrasal formula "X is the Y of Z" for the online music magazine JamsBio. Find out who earns the title the Ozzy Osbourne of the banking world, or the Barry White of the apocalypse.

Strunk and White's slender yet influential guidebook The Elements of Style turns 50 this month. Here, University of Illinois linguist Dennis Baron casts a critical eye on some of the book's most famous pronouncements.  Continue reading...

While many teachers may have their students keep vocabulary logs of the unfamiliar words they encounter in books they are reading or from the world at large, few require students to take the extra steps to ensure a deeper or more meaningful understanding of these words.  Continue reading...

These cool sites contain visual elements that can bring new life to your teaching of some American classics.

NPR's "In Character"

Language of the Land: Journey into Literary America

American Memory Project

Brief Timeline of American Literature and Events