Ben Zimmer
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Peter Sokolowski / Merriam-Webster inc.; Webster’s New International … The Evolution of Racism
A look at how the word, a surprisingly recent addition to the English lexicon, made its way into the dictionary
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Camerique Archive / Getty What Trump Doesn’t Understand About the Suburbs
The president’s idea that suburbia is characterized by homogeneity and monotony erases recent demographic history.
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Getty / The Atlantic What Dixie Really Means
The band formerly known as the Dixie Chicks has changed its name in light of the growing rejection of racist symbols and phrases.
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Getty / The Atlantic Why Trump Is So Obsessed With Antifa
The president strategically invokes the group in his speeches to stoke fear and shift discourse away from systemic racism.
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Hossein Fatemi / Panos Pictures / Redux How Normalcy Went From Misnomer to Safe Word
A recent uptick in Google searches for the term signals a longing for the usual state of affairs.
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DuKai Why Trump Intentionally Misnames the Coronavirus
When conservative figures continually refer to the “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese coronavirus,” it’s clear they’re doing it to make a point.
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Scott Olson Pete Buttigieg’s Coded Use of American Heartland
The phrase’s political currency as a folksy label for Middle America can reinforce a poisonous “us versus them” mentality.
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Chris Carlson / AP How the ‘Purity Test’ Became Political Speak
When Elizabeth Warren challenged Pete Buttigieg on fundraising during last night’s debate, the exchange brought another issue to the forefront.
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John Minchillo / AP Keep Your ‘Frenemies’ Closer
A newcomer used the term in a presidential debate for the first time ever—and it turned out to be the most apt descriptor of the night.
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Carolyn Kaster / AP Why Trump Wouldn’t Say ‘Jockstrap’
The president exhibited rare restraint yesterday when he censored himself at a press conference. Here’s why.
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Andrew Harnik / A{ How Maguire Accidentally Made the Case for Singular ‘They’
The national intelligence director’s recent testimony inadvertently supported the argument against grammar purists.
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Bettmann / Getty Where Does Trump’s ‘Invasion’ Rhetoric Come From?
The racist language used by the president—and the alleged El Paso shooter—to describe immigrants originated on the West Coast more than a century ago.
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Lucas Jackson / Reuters The Most Bonkers Phrase From CNN’s Presidential Debate
“People who shower after work” has been used by politicians to demonstrate an empathetic connection with people in blue-collar jobs.
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Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Why Donald Trump’s Racist Language Isn’t Debatable
Whether the president’s tweets about four Democratic congresswomen of color are bigoted cannot be decided solely by dictionary definitions.
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Jacquelyn Martin / AP Why Trump Uses Mock Spanish
The real reason the president says words such as loco and hombres
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Susan Walsh / AP How Eight Middle Schoolers Toppled the Scripps Spelling Bee
As the quality of the top contestants has ramped up dramatically in recent years, the national competition has struggled to keep up.
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Fred Prouser / Reuters Why John Singleton Wanted the ‘Z’ in Boyz n the Hood
The late filmmaker’s unconventional spelling was a stylistic choice that signified the forging of an anti-establishment identity in rap music.
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Mario Anzuoni / Reuters Cardi B Didn’t Invent ‘Okurrr,’ but That Might Not Matter to a Trademark Judge
The rapper is looking to protect a phrase she made popular, though not for the reason one might think.
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters A ‘Meritocracy’ Is Not What People Think It Is
The college-admissions scandal has illuminated the fact that the word’s original definition was satirical. But Americans, for the most part, have ignored that entirely.
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Reuters How the ‘U-S-A’ Chant Became a Political Weapon
A once-simple refrain has now become weighted with conflicting political meanings.
