A racist slur can create pain comparable to a slap in the face.
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Research has disproven the saying ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me’.
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have entered the final days of the election campaign.
Alamy/PA Images/Phil Noble
The use of ‘surrender’ calls the democratic process into question.
Elephants have close social bonds, which may have led to the evolution of name-like calls.
Michael Pardo
Humans aren’t the only animals that have names for each other − and studying animals that use names can teach researchers more about how human names evolved.
The Singapore Stone.
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Despite its name, this sandstone slab is not a simple stone. It was once part of a monument, an ancient epigraph measuring three by three metres carrying about 50 lines of text.
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Is one term less pathologising than another? Here’s what our new research found.
Tacuinum Sanitatis: a 14th-century medieval handbook of health.
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By 43AD, when southern Britain became a Roman colony under emperor Claudius, the island was populated by speakers of several Celtic languages.
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Although not a true sign language, the use of sign in Dune can still teach us a lesson about the value of sign language.
Pros and shoppers play chess on Brick Lane market in Tower Hamlets.
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Tower Hamlets’ recognition of Cockney as a “community language” celebrates the role that all English dialects play in shaping individual and community identities.
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For Australians, it’s a love story, so baby just say “yeah-nah”.
Portuguese map of the east coast of Africa, 1630.
Joao Teixeira Albernaz/Buyenlarge/Getty Images
The history of the coastal communities of east Africa shows how ethnic groups and their languages were shaped.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
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‘Accentless’ spoken language is the language of the elite, of authority. It’s the version of the language that is used by the people who have traditionally held all the power.
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‘Year’ and ‘time’ are the two most frequent nouns in British English.
Language can steer your heart in unexpected ways.
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Words have power, and what vocabulary you have at your disposal to describe your relationships with other people can shape what directions those relationships can take.
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Research shows how the group once portrayed as a respected source of advice began to be seen by some outlets as a danger to young people.
Alf Bruseth, ‘Politician Coin Bank’ (1938).
Index of American Design
Why do so many Americans share the concern that success and integrity are in conflict, as if one comes at the expense of the other?
Accents are one of the cherished hallmarks of cultural diversity.
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While AI now allows us to erase accents, is this really a good idea? Besides, who doesn’t have an accent?
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet – but would it sound as sweet?
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Pleasant-sounding words might have a leg up.
Beyoncé uses the c-word in staging for her 2023 Renaissance tour, as well as in lyrics for the track Pure/Honey.
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The language associated with drag culture has become mainstream and is now often considered part of the ‘internet vernacular’.
New Year’s Eve – time to perfect your rizz.
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2023 will be remembered for more than quirky new phrases.
Got rizz?
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An expert on rhetoric explains why ‘rizz’ may be more like charm than charisma.