I'd better make a quick disclaimer on this one: sometimes there are many theories as to how a phrase came about. These 12 explanations are just some of the possible origins. We've been using some of these phrases for so...

Sometimes there are words that cannot be transla...  ...are words that cannot be translated into another language without losing some of its meaning. According to...  ...ate is "ilunga". A word in the Tshiluba language , which is spoken in south-east Congo. "Ilung...

If Little Green Men are one day discovered they&rs...  ...will decipher the structure of any alien’s language which would be the first step in understanding wh...  ...’s program is designed to compare an alien language to a database of 60 different known languages...

When I was a wee undergrad, I remember a professor...  ...it seems that this rule of thumb also extends to language : linguists have argued that half of the world's 6...  ...guists have argued that half of the world's 6,000 languages will be lost this century.Our pal mental_floss ha...  ...mental_floss has an in...

(YouTube link) Alexandra and Lizz encourage YouTube commenters to learn proper grammar and spelling, and scale back on the hate talk. -via Everlasting Blort...

Lexicographer Grant Barrett assembled a list of the Buzzwords of 2008 for The New York Times. The biggest part of the words came from the US presidential race, and a big chunk were inspired by the economic meltdown. A...