Most people are likely unaware of how the sounds of brand names affect them.
Articles on Words
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Bubble, hoop, wiggle, bed: Some words bear an uncanny resemblance to the shape of the object or action they describe. And we tend to process them faster.
Throughout the history of the language, what has been considered ‘bad’ speech often becomes ‘proper.’ You just have to give it time.
From AI slop to rage bait, to the cryptic ‘6-7,’ this year’s slate captures a growing sense that online life is flooded with fakery, frustration and meaninglessness.
How do we make a complex piece of tech easy to understand? An analogy helps – as long as it’s not misleading.
The polar regions are cold, remote and off-putting, but there are thousands of polar words in English – and not just words for snow and ice.
Reading and writing poetry, which is anchored in patterns of words, images, sounds and forms, is particularly well suited for people with autism.
The winners offer a window into the spirit of the times.
‘Skibidee’ is no odder than ‘confess the corn’.
It’s too reductive to simply smear scabs as sellouts. It’s important to understand why some workers might be motivated to weather scorn, rejection and even violence from their peers.
You know that thing with the name? the whatsamajig? the whozeewhatzit?
Terms like ‘woke’ and ‘emotional labour’ have lost their original meaning and there’s an issue with that.
Ever wondered where everyday things got their names? Or where words come from? Language is a powerful thing, creating new words all the time.
Why do so many Americans share the concern that success and integrity are in conflict, as if one comes at the expense of the other?
Innovations in AI seem to be spurring interest in what is or isn’t real, accurate and human.
Most people can draw from tens of thousands of words in their memory within milliseconds. Studying this process can improve language disorder treatment and appreciation of the gift of communication.
Gendered words can be offensive in certain contexts – it’s all in what’s being signaled, according to a sociolinguist
Music creates powerful memories and emotional connections in our brains.
Similar techniques used to identify criminals have been employed to unmask anonymous authors. But they aren’t foolproof.
It came about through sustained contact with native Spanish speakers who directly translated phrases from Spanish into English, a form of linguistic borrowing called ‘calques.’
Top contributors
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Roger J. Kreuz is a Friend of The Conversation.Associate Dean and Feinstone Interdisciplinary Research Professor, University of Memphis
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Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Oxford
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Professor of Psychology, Cornell University
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Professor of Psychology, Dickinson College
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Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Carleton University
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Professor of Linguistics, University of Nevada, Reno
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Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Literature, Languages, and Linguistics, Australian National University
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Associate Professor of American Literature, University of North Georgia
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Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
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Lecturer and Consultant in Applied Ethics, University of Leeds
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Professor in Language and Media, Middlesex University
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Professor in Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University
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Research Associate in English, Queen Mary University of London
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Senior Investigator at the National Eye Institute, Section on Perception, Cognition, and Action, National Institutes of Health
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Professor, University of Nottingham