As the year winds down, we’ll get you up to speed. Plus, there’s no better way to kill a trend than to bring it up at the dinner table in front of your kids.
President Donald Trump talks with reporters during a visit with U.S. Army dog Conan.
AP Photo/ Evan Vucci
Trump’s recent comments echo a troubled history of the use of dogs against people of color, as well as pejorative depictions of people of color as animals.
Baboons make sounds, but how does it relate to human speech?
Creative Wrights/Shutterstock.com
Researchers say it’s time to finally discard a decades-old theory about the origins of human language – and revise the date when human ancestors likely were able to make certain speech noises.
Doing away with the apostrophe is not just the beginning of the end … it’s the end.
www.shutterstock.com
The survival of the apostrophe is vital to the comprehensibility of our language. If those who have protected it are hanging up their red pens, it’s time we all do our bit.
‘Cancel culture’ has been nominated Word of the Year by The Macquarie Dictionary, for reflecting the zeitgeist.
Wes Mountain/The Conversation
Why do some people greet each other with a kiss? How does the custom vary from place to place? This article is excerpted from the forthcoming ‘Atlas of Regional Expressions.’
How do you pronounce ‘Muslim’? What about ‘spiel’?
Linda Staf/Shutterstock.com