How could something so Plain Jane and American as apple pie like standard American English be controversial? Well, it’s because declaring that anything is standard or normal implies that everything else is not standard, and people tend to take issue with that, no matter what the topic. Standard English in the original thirteen colonies was what we would now [...]
Beautiful Boston figures prominently in US history and continues to stand tall as one of the East Coast’s major metropolises. Outsiders may traditionally know it for the food, beer, and passionate sports fans, but Boston has also gained a bit of recent notoriety for its unique accent. The Boston accent is of course nothing new, but it has enjoyed [...]
Just as some old-fashioned librarians and teachers decry the fact that the new generations no longer read (although people are reading MUCH more than previous generations, just usually online), some people also lament the increasing use of emojis, viewing it as a sort of regression back to the days of cave paintings. Is the internet not only shortening our [...]
People from New York City unabashedly show off their native accent, and rightfully so. It’s powerful, straightforward, and charming in its own gruff way, just like the city itself. The US is often portrayed as a melting pot, and there is truly no bigger example than NYC. Some of the largest communities in New York City include Dominicans, Puerto [...]
When you think about how people speak in the Big Easy, you’re likely picturing a Southern drawl with a chic French flair, but the New Orleans accent and Cajun accent are actually two very distinct things. The biggest shocker for visitors to N’awlins is that a real New Orleans accent can sound quite similar to the accent in… New [...]
As computer programmers, graphic designers, and really nearly everyone starts to fret over AI making their jobs obsolete, it’s a good idea to remember that sometimes change is a very good thing. A quick peek through history will reveal some now-extinct jobs that were once considered normal, but today seem extraordinarily perilous, eccentric, or downright disgusting. Some of these [...]
If asked to give an example of a Native American word, the average American today would likely struggle to provide much more than “tee-pee” or maybe “moccasin,” but the United States holds a secret about Native American language, namely that over half of our states were originally named by Native Americans. From Alabama to Wyoming, the names of 26 [...]
Gone are the days of the milkman and chimney sweep, as technological advancements have sent a multitude of once-common jobs the way of the dodo. In their stead, however, are different jobs with shiny new titles like Chief Happiness Officer and Digital Overlord, names that would have baffled people just a few decades before. These unusual new job names [...]
Hawaii is known for good vibes, good waves, and a good deal of confusion over its language. It is one of the US’s few officially bilingual states, with English and Hawaiian of course being the official languages, but neither of those is the common language that actual Hawaiians and Hawaiian residents speak. The daily language is locally known as [...]
One of the core tenets of language and linguistics is that sometimes, things just don’t make sense. Anyone who has ever tried to learn a new language, whether mashing buttons on their Duolingo app or bumbling about in a foreign country, has felt that insight – “But why? That makes no sense.” Language is famous (and usually charming) for [...]
