By Laura Vismara The words trauma and traumatized have been consistently in the spotlight for the last two decades, rapidly surging to become commonplace and reaching new peaks of popularity in recent years, according to internet search trends. Propelled by major world events that rightfully fall under the label of traumatic—pandemics, wars, and episodes of violence to name a few—trauma has become epidemic. As we …
From fire to the internet, science and technology have shaped and changed the world. But we can imagine so much more. Time travel! Teleportation! Interstellar spaceships! These (at least for the time being) are the realm of science fiction. In this article, we’ll discuss what elements contribute to a story being categorized as sci-fi and provide examples on page and on screen, including “hard sci-fi” …
During the holidays, kids hope to receive that one toy they have been dreaming of all year. Popular toys come and go, but some of them are still fondly remembered by multiple generations. When naming a toy, it is important to pick something catchy and memorable so that kids will know that yours is the best. That being said, the origins of the names of …
All brains are not the same. This is part of what the word neurodiversity is often used to express. But both the word and the concept are subject to varying use and interpretation. In this article, we’ll discuss the evolving conversations and preferences around words like neurodiversity, neurotypical, neurodivergent, and others. We’ll focus on some of the key terms you need to know to be …
Chances are that, during times of … let’s say biological outbreak, you’re bound to hear the words afflicted, affliction, and inflict or inflicted used a lot—and to varying degrees of accuracy. It’s OK, this is normal: the English language is particularly confusing when it comes to usage of words that share a similar element. In this case, it’s –flict, ultimately based on the Latin verb …
Why is everyone suddenly tweeting about OK boomer? What is that Baby Yoda meme all up in our feeds about? And who are Becky and Karen, anyways? Oh, we’ve got this. We love keeping up with the latest terms in slang and getting to the bottom of the funniest, strangest, and, yes, thorniest trends in pop culture and social media. We love it so much, …
The words synchronous and asynchronous have become part of our lives, especially when it comes to the forms of synchronous and asynchronous learning and working that have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The terms are also used in other contexts, including in digital technology and in general, such as to differentiate forms of communication that happen in real time from those that don’t. We’ll …
If you thought dating slang originated with terms like ghosting or breadcrumbing, think again. Popular culture has always included pet names and other unique language to describe all things love and romance. Some of these terms originated in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, while others go back even further than that. But all of them helped lay the groundwork for the interesting and sometimes odd …
Some of the traditional ways of talking about adoption may seem neutral or harmless, but many once widely used terms are now avoided due to carrying negative implications or associations. Taking time to understand and consider these implications is especially important at a time when many discussions and depictions of adoption are criticized for minimizing the perspectives and experiences of children awaiting adoption and people …
by Taneesh Khera In this column, we travel the US exploring the minority languages, dialects, and people who call it home. Then, we step back to see what effects they might have on society at large. Today, the spotlight is on slam poetry. What is slam poetry? I figured I’d go to the Starry Plough in Berkeley, California to find out. Started in 1999, they …
German can be daunting to English speakers, with its mile-long mouthfuls like Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaft (“a legal protection insurance company”). But it’s easy to forget that English is a Germanic language. Historically, the two languages are closely related in core vocabulary (compare English arm and German der Arm), sound system, and structure (if we look at Old English grammar). What’s more, many familiar English words, from angst …
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … Happy New Year! As we all know, the first day of the new calendar year is when we pop the champagne, blow up fireworks, and make a resolution that we will inevitably never actually accomplish. But why do we do all of these things? You might be surprised to learn that there are reasons behind …