Culture
Chicago-Style: Backroom Deals, Deep-Dish Pizzas, and Assorted Slurs
Using "Chicago-style" as a signifier of corruption is nothing new, but does the phrase also insinuate something "un-American" about cities?
Culture
The Joy of Indefinite Words: Is a Spillion More than a Metric Buttload?
How many iotas are in a bazillion? Is a jot more than a whit? How does a gazillion compare to a kabillion?
Culture
Job-Killing: Republicans' Blank-Blanking Pejorative Du Jour
A look at the history of budget-busting, job-killing, and other variants of mud-slinging malarkey.
Culture
Let's Bury the Not-a-Word Myth
Turns of phrase like "irregardless," "prolly," and "imma" can be cringeworthy, but that doesn't mean they aren't words.
Culture
Word of the Year 2010: What Will It Be?
From "Tea Party" to "boobquake" to "vuvuzela" to "refudiate," the candidates for 2010's Word of the Year tell us quite a lot about life last year.
Culture
Legacy: Formerly Regal Word Turned Euphemism for Aged Leftovers
How "legacy" became our era's most over-the-top euphemism for a something between a bingo room and the grave (and landmines).
Culture
How “Geek” Became Chic
From The Social Network to The Walking Dead, geeks are everywhere in pop culture these days. But what are the roots of this suddenly hip pejorative?
Culture
TSA: Body Scans, Pat-Downs, and Junk-Inspired Acronyms
An enhanced look at TSA terminology—from enhanced pat-downs to porno-scanners to "don't touch my junk"—that are touching sensitive areas.
Culture
Why "OK" Is America’s Most Useful and Compact Invention
What the history of the word OK can tell us about American concision, psychology, and language.
Culture
Is It OK to Say "Gay"?
If "gay" can mean both "homosexual" and "lame," does it make us homophobic to use it for the latter? A discussion of a controversial word.
Culture
Yiddish, Schmiddish!
An ode to the wonderful "schm" sound-and many other Yiddish additions to our lexicon.n
Culture
Bully: A Vicious, Cowardly Word With a Long History
What the history of the word can tell us about the (unfortunately) hot topic of bullying.
Culture
Are Religious Vanity Plates a Sin? UDECIDE
From Jesus to Hitler to anti-abortion slogans, there is no end to the politics of the plates-license plates, that is.
Culture
A Case for Banning the Word "Natural"
Ben and Jerry aren't the only ones guilty of using the vague word "natural."; Maybe because it means everything-and nothing-at the same time.
Culture
How Did Hipsters Become So Uncool?
Are you a hipster? Of course you're not. Maybe partly because no one can agree what one actually is.
Culture
It's a Man's Word: A Linguistic Fix for Fears of Unmanliness
From man caves to man Spanx, a word trend grows a pair.
Culture
Here Come the Gleeks!
The funny and punny language of superfandom, from Trekkies to Gleeks.
Culture
Do You Speak College Slang?
Swagger Jackers and Harlot Davidsons Get the Ews! Ah, college... What memories. I was the chicken-finger-eating champion of my dorm. I...
