Leith on life: A bit of a wally
Our love lives and our public lives alike are deeply shaped by the fear of embarrassment
Tag: Language
Why are the British bad at maths?
Teaching methods are one reason—but the English language doesn’t help
The Duel: Should schools still teach French?
John McWhorter vs Chris Bryant
Why academics can’t write
Attack of the meaningless nouns
In praise of the cliché
At the end of the day, sometimes you’ve just got to think inside the box
Words that think for us
The tyranny of denial
In fact
Facts from around the world
Say what?
New web software is changing the way we create language
Word of the month
Dingbat
Obamabot, meet nostradumbass
The last decade has been bleak for fans of linguistic sloganeering. But, spurred on by Obama's election and crunch, 2008 has been better.
Dr Roget’s 990 lists
Roget's Thesaurus is more than just a book about words—and the story of its author's often unhappy life provides a suggestive counterpoint to its complexities
Tom’s words
Escapades in etymology
Tom’s words
Escapades in etymology
Tom’s words
Escapades in etymology
Tom’s words
Escapades in etymology
China café
The villagers assemble for a health check in the local brothel. The nurse asks me to pull my trousers down and bend over. But she doesn't know I speak Chinese…