Which amendment gives us freedom of speech? Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. —First Amendment to the Constitution We Americans love to refer to the First …
The winter solstice lasts for just one moment. It occurs exactly when Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun. This usually happens around December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere or June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, during the solstice the sun will be at its southernmost point in the sky. The higher in …
Information has real-life consequences. It can be a literal life-saver—when it’s true. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Untrue information can cause great harm. Like a virus, wrong information can spread, causing what’s been called an infodemic. Now more than ever, we are experiencing the spread of two forms of wrong information: misinformation and disinformation. These two words, so often used interchangeably, are merely one …
“One toke over the line . . .” That 1971 hit by the duo Brewer and Shipley was written as a paean to marijuana. On Last.fm, Tom Shipley commented, “‘When we wrote ‘One Toke Over the Line,’ I think we were one toke over the line.” Back in that day, marijuana was lumped in with all sorts of drugs deemed to be forbidden. But now, …
Dictionary.com’s United States of Diversity by Taneesh KheraIn April, 2018 I traveled to India for a college friend’s wedding. When I came back, I read part of this essay to two friends, and we began to discuss borders and what they’ve become today. That conversation was inspiration for this episode, so grab a cushion and get comfortable for the United States of Diversity: Borders. Communication …
Gosh, golly, and gee casually express surprise or excitement, right? Well, yes, but when they were first introduced to the English language, these short words had a much more serious origin and purpose. Where did golly, gosh, and gee come from? While this folksy trio are informal interjections, they are also euphemistic alterations of the word God or, in the case of gee, Jesus. Of the three, gosh is recorded …
Few words are as fun to say as onomatopoeia, but what the heck does it mean? Despite its complex look and sound, onomatopoeia actually has a simple function in the English language. It’s defined as “the formation of a word, as cuckoo, meow, honk, or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent.” To put it simply, it’s a word …