Have you ever wondered where all the weird words in English come from? For example, when someone refers to the presence of small children as "hearing the pitter-patter of little feet" — where on earth ...

We often hear fascinating stories about how things originated: the universe, the wheel, even pizza. But when it comes to the words we toss around every single day without a second thought, it’s wild ...

The word ‘soccer’ remains at the heart of one of the most enduring, if comparatively low-key and petty fronts of the culture war. At its most basic level, it’s a transatlantic disagreement over ...

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them. Well, “comrade,” I bet you always thought that word comes ...

New words can come into being in a variety of ways. The speakers of one language, for example, might borrow terms from another if there is no one-word equivalent for a particular concept, as was the ...

These shows explore the origin stories of common phrases and terms, the evolution of language and the biases that affect our perceptions of speech. By Emma Dibdin Linguistics might sound like a dry ...

Once upon a time, the English language was full of stories with “blossoms,” “rivers,” and “moss.” But these words are disappearing from our vocabularies — and along with them, our connection to the ...