If we were guided by history and etymology, we'd all be proud to wear amateur on our sleeves.  Continue reading...

The names that made the news--and affected our lives--in 2020, from Animal Crossing to Zoom.  Continue reading...

The woman suffrage movement introduced Americans to a new vocabulary of voting rights. Here's a centennial look back at our linguistic debt to the 19th Amendment and its advocates.  Continue reading...

Here's a look back at the brands that made the biggest impact — positive or negative — on technology, culture, and society.  Continue reading...

In many ways, Prohibition was a social and legal failure, but in one respect it succeeded wildly: It vastly enriched our lexicons of slang and marketing, often to lasting effect.  Continue reading...

Do you find 21st-century life shallow and superficial? Take another look: In fact, ours is an era of extraordinary depth — linguistically speaking, anyway. As the 2011 song by Adele put it, we're rolling in the deep.  Continue reading...