My latest On Language column for The New York Times Magazine explores a topic that any owner of smartphone knows too well: the often bizarre behavior of autocorrect, which can "miscorrect" what you type into unexpected and outrageous output.  Continue reading...

This is a strange expression, often heard in the form: “You’ll be laughing on the other side of your face [when X happens].” But what does it mean and where does it come from?  Continue reading...

Is the bloom off your New Year's resolution rose? If so, you’re in good company. Four out of five people who make New Year's resolutions eventually break them. And 33 percent don’t even last till the end of January!  Continue reading...

This week we are celebrating the January 15th birth of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.. Although King's life was cut short by a brutal assassination at the age of 39, he is thought of as one of the United States' most memorable orators and a champion of nonviolence and racial equality.  Continue reading...

"Across the Internet the use of dear is going the way of sealing wax," writes Dionne Searcey in the Wall Street Journal. In its place, the much less formal hey has become the salutation of choice. Read Searcey's article here.

As we settle into 2011, Visual Thesaurus contributor Bob Greenman has been reflecting on the past year of writing for the VT. Join Bob as he takes a versified look back at how he has been inspired by his "lexicon-muse."  Continue reading...

Once again the American Dialect Society has performed its not-so-solemn duty in anointing a Word of the Year (aka WOTY), and the 2010 winner is app, as in, "There's an app for that." I'm just back from Pittsburgh, where the ADS held its annual meeting in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America, and I've got the full report.  Continue reading...