Dec 2nd, 2008 · LOL. OMG. BRB. Text messages and instant messenger programs have spawned a variety of abbreviations and shortcuts that are sneaking into colloquial English. In his new book, Txtng, David Crystal takes on the h8ers who want to know why kids these days are too lazy to use vowels.
Oct 28th, 2008 · As the presidential election approaches, Talk of the Nation will ask guests to make the case for the two candidates on foreign and domestic policy. John McWhorter, a linguistics professor and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, explains why Senator Obama is the right choice in 2008.
Oct 23rd, 2008 · Perhaps it's no coincidence of linguistics when we say a friendly, supportive person has a "warm" personality. Scientists recently found that physical warmth — holding a warm cup of coffee, for instance — made people feel that someone was more emotionally "warm" as well.
May 24th, 2008 · Some cities have accents; Pittsburgh has its own language. The dialect is being studied by a group of linguists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Locals at the city's famous Original Hot Dog Shop offer lessons on how to speak.
Apr 25th, 2008 · Fresh Air linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the evolution of the meaning of the "e" word.
Apr 14th, 2008 · It's one of the most common words in English, and one of the most maligned. But it has been doing useful work for centuries, and lately it's acquired a new, hip meaning. Fresh Air linguist Geoff Nunberg gives us his thoughts on the little word, "um."
Feb 14th, 2008 · The Major League Baseball hearing on Capitol Hill took a brief and peculiar detour from steroids to a discussion of linguistics on Wednesday. It focused on the phrase "it is what it is" and whether it means the same thing as "that's the truth."
Nov 21st, 2007 · Two brothers in southern Mexico had a falling out and their not speaking has linguists worried. They are the last two speakers of the local Zoque language. Experts at the Mexican Institute for Indigenous Languages fear it will disappear if they don't come to terms.