language

A breakthrough app for ultrasonic squeak analysis.

To go beyond meaning you might need a helpful phrase.

They’re fun, so why not? Well, maybe because they’re often inscrutable.

Just because you disagree with something doesn’t mean that it isn’t true for someone else.

Entrepreneur and author Andrew Horn shares his rules for becoming an assured conversationalist.

Comedy, A.I.-style. Our roving reporter, Evan Fleischer, went into The Laughing Room and here’s what happened

Americans say we value free speech, but recent surveys suggest we love the ideal more than practice, a division that will harm more than it protects.

The ability to speak clearly, succinctly, and powerfully is easier than you think

We’ve tried talking with apes for nearly a century. How far have we got?

The bedrock of freedom? Denying the government the power of censorship.

The 71-year-old author suggests replacing the adjective “amazing” with something more “pungent & specific”.

Ever wanted to describe precisely how crummy you feel after a bad haircut?

Saudade: the untranslatable Portuguese word that names the presence of absence and takes melancholy delight in what’s gone.

Postmodernists like to question the very foundations of our modern society. Does this make them anti-science?

Sticklers, pedants, and English teachers love to correct your grammar, but they can put their red pens down when it comes to these six folk errors.

Spirituality plays a different ballgame than science, so the language used in either of them doesn’t often match up to the other side. This, says religious teacher Rob Bell, creates a lot of conflicts.

What’s the secret language of depression? 

A new study shows that “magical thinking” can be reduced by presenting and processing information in a second language.

We know that body language reveals a lot. But language is an even bigger tell if you know what to look for. 

A supervised learning algorithm can predict clinical depression much earlier and more accurately than trained health professionals.

The positive effect of bilingualism may be particularly beneficial for kids who grow up in low-income households, an environment that usually has negative effects on cognitive performance.

“Scientists should think like poets,” says E.O. Wilson, because new metaphors mobilize new thinking.

A study surveyed 821 people to find the funniest words in the English language.

Sometimes single words contain whole worlds. Here are some of the best.

From olde English dogs, to immoral women, to weak men, to irritating women, to its prideful reclaiming, to ownership over a woman (there’s a theme here), the word “b*tch” has a long and fascinating history, and it’s all stored in the archives of the Merriam-Webster lexicography department.

Political correctness can go the f*ck to sleep, says Adam Mansbach. The term has been co-opted by so many social factions that it’s more of a hindrance to the cause of respect than a help.

We are what we are because of genes; we are who we are because of memes. Philosopher Daniel Dennett muses on an idea put forward by Richard Dawkins in 1976.

Not every language agrees on how many colors there are. With some having more terms and others fewer. But does that mean we see the world differently?

Few see how strongly science’s preferred languages shape and limit the thinking of many experts. 

Anthony Scaramucci is no angel, but he does choose his words carefully. If you don’t evolve along with language, it can be catastrophic for businesses and team dynamics.