When People Were Proud to Call Themselves ‘Neoliberal’

Tracking the evolution of one political label to understand why others come and go

• John McWhorter
• May 30, 2017

The Evolution of 'Like'

How the ubiquitous, often-reviled word associated with young people and slackers represents the ever-changing English language

• John McWhorter
• Nov 25, 2016

The World’s Most Efficient Languages

How much do you really need to say to put a sentence together?

• John McWhorter
• Jun 29, 2016

What’s a Language, Anyway?

The realities of speech are much more complicated than the words used to describe it.

• John McWhorter
• Jan 19, 2016

How Immigration Changes Language

The invention of new ways of speaking is one surprising consequence of migration to Europe.

• John McWhorter
• Dec 14, 2015

The World’s Most Musical Languages

Why one syllable spoken at different pitches can have seven meanings

• John McWhorter
• Nov 13, 2015

Why ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ Sound So Similar in So Many Languages

The story of a strange linguistic coincidence

• John McWhorter
• Oct 12, 2015

Where Do Languages Go to Die?

The tale of Aramaic, a language that once ruled the Middle East and now faces extinction

• John McWhorter
• Sep 10, 2015