Verbal Energy
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OMG! OED makes headlines with new words
The great dictionary has drawn wide attention for including common online abbreviations in its latest update, but that's only part of the story.
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The Walloons and their branding woes
As Belgium, the heart of postwar European unity, struggles with some national unity problems of its own, one side goes into the game with a less than persuasive brand name.
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English speakers and their 'ego' problems
The first-person singular pronouns carry a fair bit of baggage. The Monitor's language columnist tries to unpack some of it.
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A word that sparkles by its acid?
When words really don't sound like what they mean, people sometimes use them to mean what they sound like – and this is how language changes.
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How did conservatism get to be radical?
'Radical,' once used to refer to the political left, is now often used for the political right, too; it's a shift that takes the word back to its roots.
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Intransitive verbs and the campus shortcut
A sentence in a technical manual reminds the Monitor's language columnist how usage changes under pressures of time and space.
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A creative partnership of games and play
However serious we get about games and play, these words are rooted in ideas of joy and delight.
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Feeling sure about 'safety' and 'security'
These two terms often travel together across the lips of public officials, but they do differ in meaning.
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I sing the body electric – or electrical?
The Monitor's grammarian wonders about the difference between the words electric and electrical.
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We speak nowadays in a hail of bullets
The Monitor's language columnist finds the orderly, ordinary paragraph under threat from the bulleted list.
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Parsing our words carefully
A verb rooted in the world of picky grammarians finds new roles in the larger public discussion.
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Higgins, Logue, and 'The King's Speech'
A current film adds another language coach to the pantheon of cultural heroes – and this one actually lived.
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The paradoxes of 'celebration'
As the holiday season wraps up, the Monitor's language columnist ponders the vocabulary of 'making merry.'
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Giving adulthood a bad name in D.C.
Washington may have glommed onto the phrase 'adult conversation' to spice up the debate on fiscal reform.
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No 'spelling bee' election in Alaska
Electoral authorities didn't require Alaska voters to be perfect spellers; from a linguist's perspective, that's OK.
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Obama brings shellac back into fashion
Borrowing a word from the furniture business, the president reminds us of the importance of sound symbolism in political rhetoric.
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A quirky debut for the now ever-present 'OK'
A new book by popular linguist Allan Metcalf makes the case for 'OK' as 'America's greatest word.'
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The measure of a man
Hearing the story of a bridge whose length is counted in 'smoots' reminds the Monitor's language columnist just how many scientists have lent their names to units of measurement.
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A yen to understand other people's money
The desire to sort out China's two different words for its money prompts the Monitor's language columnist to look into some of the vocabulary of currency.
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When manipulation gets out of hand
China's currency issue and a popular play about the Enron debacle have the Monitor's language columnist thinking about the link between managing and manipulating.
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