Reports
I Like Coffee, I Like Tea
Will you be celebrating International Tea Day on May 21? From a word lover’s point of view, it’s a good time to reflect on the impressive history of our daily caffeine fixes. Take a quick coffee break, then, and savour these delicious, stimulating stories of the world’s favourite hot drinks.
Does a Rose By Any Other Name Smell As Sweet?
This instalment of Language Matters looks into why many historical figures’ names are translated, and how cultural and linguistic contexts can influence personal name choices.
Metathesis: Sounds on the Move
This Word Stories instalment examines the way sounds can get switched around in words—sometimes forever—in a linguistic process called metathesis.
A Journey Through Jungles of Jargon
This instalment of Language Matters does a deep dive on jargon. Learn about the development of industry-specific terminology and when it should be used (or avoided!)
The Week That Inherited the Earth
This Word Stories instalment shows how ancient religious and political revolutions gave us the modern days of the week.
O, Syntax Tree
This Language Matters instalment spotlights a particularly iconic example of trees in linguistics: the syntax trees used to model sentence formation.
Cosmic Questions
This Word Stories instalment shines a spotlight on common words related to cosmology.
Clandestine Communications: Cryptolects and Secret Tongues in the English-Speaking World
Sometimes language isn’t meant to be understood. Uncover the secrets of cryptolects in the English-speaking world!
Strange But True: Words With Surprising Relationships
This Word Stories instalment shines a spotlight on some common words with uncommon relationships.