Ever try to write a well-known passage in limerick form? It’s harder than you think. How about this one: “There once was a lady who’s sure / All that glitters is golden and pure/ There’s a stairway that heads up to heaven, it’s said / And the cost...
Saying “I feel,” instead of saying “I think” or “I suppose,” is both prevalent and controversial, particularly among women. A Stanford study found that prefacing a sentence with “I feel,” instead of “I think,” is more likely to get others to really...
Sharing a secret language. Did you ever speak in gibberish with a childhood pal, adding extra syllables to words so the adults couldn’t understand what you were saying? Such wordplay isn’t just for kids—and it’s not just limited to English. Also...
“I feel you fam,” or “I feel u fam,” is a term that’s been popping up on social media sites like Vine and YikYak to tell someone you relate to what they’re saying or dealing with, even though you’re not actually family. This is part of a complete...
Creative communication in a noisy world! Writing a clever 140-character tweet isn’t easy. But you know what’s even more impressive? Working all 26 letters of the alphabet into just one sentence! The term for that type of sentence is pangram...
There’s no difference in meaning between center and centre, but there is an interesting story behind the change in spelling. In the early 19th century, independence-minded lexicographer Noah Webster campaigned for a new American orthography. While...