Whether youโre a native speaker of American English or youโre just starting to pick it up, youโve likely noticed how common it is to hear references to sports in conversations regardless of whether the conversation was casual, formal, or even business-related. Americans who reference sports in conversations usually do so through the use of idioms โ a phrase or [...]
What Is a โPidginโ? A pidgin is a type of language used for limited communication between groups who otherwise do not share common linguistic grounds. It is a means of understanding (and being understood) without each party needing to learn the otherโs language. While some pidgins remain mostly utilitarian in areas of trade and cohabitation, others become more widely [...]
When Was the Middle Ages? The Middle Ages, often called the โmedievalโ period, is a nebulous time in history spanning anywhere from the 6th century all the way to around the 14th or 15th century (depending on which region a person is considering). Many scholars would place the true beginning of the Middle Ages at 1150AD, when Old English [...]
What would our writing look like if the Bic ballpoint pen had never been invented? At its birth, this rudimentary plastic ink roller that every human on the planet now has access to and discards almost weekly had massive effects on the way that we record information, communicate, and even represent our written characters. To fully understand the impact [...]
Can Adults Learn a Second Language? The short answer is yesโadults can (and should!) pick up more than one language. The idea that a student is most receptive to information at a young age, and that the brain hardens against learning new information later, is largely a myth. What actually occurs is that adults leave environments such as schools [...]
Cockney rhyming slang to the untrained ear, can often sound like a different language altogether โ instead of a unique variation of English. To outsiders, at first listen, this bizarre way of speaking may seem as if the speaker is randomly ascribing multiple words or phrases to a single noun or purposely rearranging a sentence beyond all recognition. But [...]
The internet has revolutionized many of the ways that humans engage with each other. From new avenues of sharing creative endeavors to broader access to knowledge than at any other point in humanityโs history, the interconnected nature of modern living has changed the social landscape faster than anyone ever expected. However, humans are adaptable creatures, and it has not [...]
Affirmative action has been a contentious topic in the United States since its widespread introduction in 1965 at the hands of then-president John F. Kennedy. However, the US is not the only nation facing internal conflict about the viability of affirmative action as a policy in the workplace and academia. In 2012, Brazil implemented a nationwide mandate to implement [...]
The oldest known map of the New World and the North and South American Continents is The Universal Chart of Juan de la Cosa. This world map was likely created sometime in the early 16th Century and is attributed to Spanish navigator Juan de la Cosa, who participated in voyages led by Christopher Columbus. The New World is not [...]
While you still see your four- or five-year-old as your precious little one, the kids themselves now feel like theyโve attained big boy and big girl status, and theyโre likely even showing flashes of the adults theyโll one day become. A major part of this growth and independence is them flexing their newfound linguistic muscles, as theyโve learned that [...]
