Pumpkins are a harvest symbol and part of our nostalgia for a simpler time. But while the word "pumpkin" has been around for ...
Linguist Gareth Roberts joins WIRED to answer the internet's burning questions about the etymologies of English words. How did the first languages first form? Was there once a single common language ...
Think you’ve got a sharp language IQ? It’s time to prove it. This 27-question quiz will put your knowledge of word roots and ...
It wouldn't be spooky season without ghosts. But they weren't always the evil spirits we see in books and movies today. For ...
For years, social media users have claimed that the word "freelance" originates from a medieval term for a mercenary warrior. Other examples of the rumor have appeared elsewhere on X. This claim is ...
“American storms,” Davy Crockett and a mysterious man called Lightning Ellis: The story behind the word “blizzard” is no less opaque than the visibility during the storm itself. By Sarah Diamond ...
The word “pōpolo” is a source of discomfort for a lot of local people. There’s an inherent sensitivity, especially for white people, in using a word that refers to a historically-marginalized group ...
A south Florida politician said that the word picnic shouldn’t be used to describe an annual gathering of city employees. Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Robert McKinzie said the word has racist ...
A circus performer, an unsociable student or someone who is ahead of the curve? Over the decades, a “geek” has been all three. By Sarah Diamond A headline on a 2021 New York Times article made a bold ...
The word “simp” isn’t new. In fact, it’s pretty old. But it has been dragged into fresh popularity. In the same way that older songs can find new audiences on TikTok, older slang emerges on the app to ...
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