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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
GOOD Asks: If You Could Learn Any Language in an Instant, Which Would It Be and Why?
Culture
Can You Pass Harvard's 1869 Entrance Exam? (We Bet Not)
A glimpse into what it took to get a good education at the end of the Civil War.
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
The Poetry of Rhyming Compounds
Flap and zap, doom and gloom, cuff and stuff: the allure of rhyme in the workplace. Rhyme gets a bad rap, partly because of bad rap—not to...
Culture
How Not to Talk When You Talk About Rape
The IMF's Dominique Strauss-Kahn is in police custody in New York, but it's the people writing about him behaving criminally.
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
Sarah Palin Is Wrong to Equate Jared Loughner's Illness with 'Evil'
Jared Loughner is sick, not evil, and it's important for people to differentiate between the two.
Culture
Adopt an Obsolete Word from the Oxford English Dictionary
The storied dictionary is trying to rescue forgotten words and bring them back into use. Do your part by adopting a word of your own.
Culture
Should We Care About Grammar and Spelling on Twitter?
Many people assume I am a guardian of grammar. The typical plane-ride conversation goes like this: “What do you do?”” “I am an English professor”...
Culture
France Bars the Words "Twitter" and "Facebook" from TV and Radio
If you're one of the many Americans who's grown tired of hearing media and tech insiders prattle on endlessly about Twitter and Facebook,...
Culture
If You Could Learn Any Language in an Instant, Which Would It Be and Why? Answers
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
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
Three Ways Removing the N-Word Will Screw Up 'Huck Finn'
By removing "the n-word" from Huckleberry Finn the editors will also strip away a lot of the meaning of the book.
Culture
Why We Shouldn't Hate the Word "Like"
Think "like" is an offense on the English language introduced by Valley Girls in the 1980s? Think again.
Culture
The Best Worst Names in the World
The curious tradition of bad baby names, from Mann Pigg to Tu Morrow. One of many things I can thank my parents for is my name. “Mark” is...
Culture
Project: Write a Poem
Let your language take a break from the daily grind and have a moment of glory. For this project, we're writing poetry.
