Low-Hanging Buzzwords: The Etymology of 3 Corporate Favorites
Is your company pushing the envelope to create disruptive innovations outside the box? Have you considered how scalable your department’s synergy really is? Can your sales reps proactively leverage their resources to snatch up the lowest-hanging fruit? And is that a win-win situation for all? Whether corporate buzzwords are a well-loved part of your daily […]
What Can Artificial Languages Tell Us About the Way Our Brains Learn and Process Language?
As intriguingly varied as world languages are, linguists agree that they share certain structural factors that broach continents and cultures. For decades, the roots of this phenomenon have been debated and explored; a study out of the University of Rochester sheds some light on a potential explanation. The study, conducted in conjunction with the University […]
The Origins of 10 Interjections
Many of us remember the delightful Schoolhouse Rock video in which a sick little boy, a coy lady, and a jeering crowd yell out a plethora of interjections set to a catchy tune. Interjections are some of the most fun and entertaining bits of any language; they represent a linguistic shortcut, allowing the speaker to […]
40 Business Acronyms and Business Abbreviations You Should Know
These days, we don’t always have the time to use full words or speak in complete sentences. The advent of text-speak and internet lingo has conditioned many of us to seek out the most efficient routes of communication. While far from a novel invention, acronyms’ prevalence makes knowing the most common ones imperative. Below are […]
Useful Words We’ve Forgotten from Math Class
Mathematics has a language all its own – a rich tapestry of systems interconnected with ironclad logic. Linguistics, philosophy, and mathematics have shared insights for centuries – Sir Isaac Newton, for example, composed a hefty treatise in 1687 entitled Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Unfortunately, for most of us, high school algebra makes up the […]
Schwa Fire Launches Kickstarter Campaign
Calling all language-lovers! If you’re looking for robust, personal, and in-depth language stories instead of snippets and sound bites, you may be interested in Schwa Fire – a digital publication dedicated to just that. A Kickstarter campaign is currently under way to make this language magazine a reality. Spearheaded by Michael Erard – a linguistic […]
Succeeding Globally Through International Education and Engagement: U.S. Department of Education Unveils its 2012-16 International Strategy
The ever-blurring borders of nations and the subsequent cultural, linguistic, educational, business, and economic shifts that take place are not going unnoticed by the U.S. Department of Education. In November of this year, the Department released its first-ever document detailing a comprehensive international strategy, entitled “Succeeding Globally Through International Education and Engagement.” With the expressed […]
How is English Used as a Lingua Franca Today?
The term lingua franca was first coined at the beginning of the 17th century by the Italians. At that time, it represented a conglomeration of mostly Italian, with a smattering of French, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, Greek, and Arabic, and was used primarily as the language of commerce. The term literally means “Frankish language”, as “Frank” […]
Corporeal Etymologies: A Linguistic Look at the Body by Way of the Germanic and Romance Languages
Why is an activity carried out by hand done “manually”? The arm’s terminus is called a hand in every Germanic language – with only minor variations like the Icelandic hönd — yet describing acts in which the hands are indispensable requires borrowing from Latin. The Latin word for hand, manus, carried over into the Romance […]
Interview with Linguist and Author Dr. Michael Erard
Dr. Michael Erard’s body of research is enough to pique the interest of any language-lover. At the intersection of discourse and cognition, Dr. Erard explores linguistic phenomena, from metaphors to clarify concepts in early-education skill-building to the thinking that underlies how rock bands select their names. His latest book, Babel No More: The Search for […]