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6 Phrases To Avoid If You Want To Be Taken Seriously At Work
After discussing self-discounting language in a communications class last week, a participant suggested that I create a “DO NOT SAY” list. I thought it was a great idea. Having a list of phrases to...
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How Guy Fawkes Inadvertently Created The Word 'Guy'
Four hundred and eight years ago, a Catholic plot to blow up the British Houses of Lords and with it the King of England failed completely.Although a non-event, the attempted bombing had a huge legacy....
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These Maps Show The Diversity Of Languages In New York City
There are dozens of different languages spoken in New York City, but what languages are people tweeting in?James Cheshire, Ed Manley, and Oliver O'brien from University College London, teamed up with...
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English Grammar Now Has A New Preposition Thanks To The Internet
Let's start with the dull stuff, because pragmatism.The word "because," in standard English usage, is a subordinating conjunction, which means that it connects two parts of a sentence in which one (the...
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13 Sayings Only People From New England Can Understand
New Englanders have a certain way of saying things.In Yankee country, we call remote controls "clickers," traffic circles "rotaries," and subs "grinders." Mainers tack unnecessary "r"s onto words, like...
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Why Ukraine Isn't 'The Ukraine,' And Why That Matters Now
Chances are if you find yourself talking about the ongoing protests in Kyiv, you'll slip up and refer to the country in which Kyiv is situated as "the Ukraine."It's an understandable mistake, perhaps —...
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The Historical Origins Of 6 Swear Words
Sometimes, everyday speech just can't convey your meaning. You need words with a little more oomph — expletives.In fact, Americans swear so often, the U.S. made airing indecent or profane language...
View ArticlePeople Can't Figure Out This Odd New England Saying About Kittens
Click for sound.<div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div> There's no better place than Times Square to find out what people think of an obscure expression used solely in...
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11 Untranslatable Words From Other Cultures
Understanding different languages is hard enough without the elusive feelings or ideas that some cultures are able to compress into one simple word.These are always the most frustrating to translate as...
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Baby Talk Helps Infants Learn Language Faster
Cooing at children may be frowned upon by some parenting manuals but new research suggests baby talk helps youngsters pick up language faster.Researchers found that infants whose parents talked to them...
View ArticleThis Midwestern Saying About Cheese Makes No Sense To The Rest Of America
Please enable Javascript to watch this video This popular Midwestern expression about government-issued cheese says a lot about how Americans feel about the Obama administration. Camera by Alana...
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Translate English Into More Than 30 European Languages And See It On A Map
If you're interested in languages, you're going to dig this nifty interactive map built by James Trimble of UK Data Explorer, which we spotted on reddit.His European word translator, which he writes...
View ArticlePeople From Across America Reveal Their Favorite Regional Sayings
Please enable Javascript to watch this video We gathered a sample of popular expressions used around the country that we've never heard from tourists passing through New York's epicenter – Times...
View ArticleLearn Chinese In 10 Minutes
Chineasy is a strategic, easy-learning project by entrepreneur ShaoLan Hsueh that teaches people to recognize Chinese characters through simple illustration. Watch ShaoLan's presentation at the DLD...
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Why Duolingo Is Hands Down The Easiest Way To Learn A New Language
In mid-December, Apple named Duolingo—a piece of language-learning software—its 2013 iPhone app of the year. Since then, I swear every native English speaker of my acquaintance has suddenly begun guten...
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The Fascinating Origins Of English Names For Colors
Dating back centuries, the names of our everyday colors have origins in the earliest known languages. According to linguists:There was a time when there were no color-names as such. . . and that not...
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19 Chinese Expressions With Amazing Literal Translations
The Chinese language is widely regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn.There are more than 80,000 Chinese characters in existence, although a non-native speaker can get by with 1,000...
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7 Reasons You Should Teach Your Children To Speak French
The New Republic's John McWhorter just came out with an essay on why we should stop pretending French is an important language.The piece comes in response to a New York Times article about a new...
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22 Phrases That Only Wall Streeters Will Understand
Wall Streeters, like any other group of people, have their own language based on what they do and see every day.That means it's a language based on money. Wall Streeters go "long" or "short" on...
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If The World Were Only 100 People, Here's What It Would Be Like
The seven billionth person on Earth was likely born on Oct. 31, 2011, according to United Nations data. With this milestone, how the planet can sustain such a large population has become an urgent...
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