After researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego discovered a seahorse-like creature called the ruby sea dragon, they described this brilliant red fish as a charismatic species. Many scientists use the word charismatic to...
Choosing language that helps resolve interpersonal conflict. Sometimes a question is really just a veiled form of criticism and understanding the difference between “ask culture” and “guess culture” can help you know how to...
Diamond in the rough usually points to unrealized promise, not simply a bright spot among lesser company. Molly in Allen, Texas, encountered a lively split over that distinction, but the older image comes from the diamond trade: a rough diamond has...
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...
In German, ein Korb geben–literally, to “give a basket”—means to “turn down a potential date.” This idiom derives from a medieval legend about a castle-dwelling woman. Instead of letting her hair down for a suitor she didn’t fancy, she let down a...
There’s a new kind of hamburger menu that involves pixels, not pickles. It’s that little stack of horizontal lines in the corner of a webpage that you click to see more options. You might use a hamburger menu while webrooming–that...
