Do people who work together sound alike? Yes! Over time, they may begin to develop similar patterns of speech, or what might be called an “occupational accent” that helps them communicate efficiently. Also, lots of familiar words in English got...
The English language has been greatly enriched by borrowings from the languages of Asia. Barely scratching the surface, we have from Japan skosh, tycoon, tsunami, origami, yen, kimono, futon, and karaoke. From Chinese comes yen, kowtow, gung ho, and...
Inspired by the success of Barbenheimer, Quiz Guy John Chaneski seeks portmanteau titles for new movies that combine two plotlines. For example, he’s looking for a one-word title for a movie summarized this way: Only the persistent efforts of a...
A MacGuffin isn’t the name of a breakfast sandwich, but it could be — that is, if a movie involves characters trying to get that sandwich. The MacGuffin, also spelled McGuffin or maguffin, is any object in a film that drives the story forward, like...
In the movie Avatar, the characters battle over a rare and valuable mineral called unobtanium. A mechanical engineer says he had a hard time getting into the movie because in his world, the word unobtanium means something different. This is part of...
Did the movie Avatar make you imagine creating an entirely new language, like Na’vi? Conlang.org and the Language Creation Society have plenty of information on how to go about it and what others, including J.R.R. Tolkein have tried. Mark...