language

How did a word that simply referred to a millennia-old beverage come to be the latest iteration of "what's up?"

Nerd has been part of our lexicon for three-quarters of a century, its geeky meaning embodied by some of the most recognizable characters in film and TV, but its origin story is a bit murky.

Have you ever wondered about that weird expression that grandma used to say? Martha Barnette, co-host of the radio show and podcast A Way with Words, likely knows the history of that expression. Barnette has spent her life being a word detective, and in her new book, "Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland," she shares that story. During her two decades on the show, Martha has seen that people of all stripes are curious about etymology, they revel in slang, are surprised by regional vocabulary, delighted by idioms, and eager to share that weird phrase Grandma always used to say.

Although "dog" is ubiquitous today to describe man's best friend, it remains a mystery where the word originally came from.

Marth Barnette is the host of the public radio show and podcast, A Way with Words. Her latest book, Friends with Words, is a linguistic memoir. We learn about her lifelong passion for languages and her fascination with words.

The word "dude" is often associated with the '80s and '90s. But its origin is rooted much, much farther back in American history and it took a long and winding road to reach the coast of California.

The word fills an important gap in our language, but it was once stigmatized. The story of "y'all" also includes powerful cultural forces, from hip-hop to ideas of welcoming inclusivity.

Some people are changing the way they speak on TikTok and other social media platforms to bypass what they think are algorithm blocks. For some users, it's a fun game — but for others, self-censoring certain words is crucial to being able to share their lived experience and get views.

What was once another shortened way to call a friend "brother," the word "bruh" is now being used widely, especially by Gen Alpha kids, to address parents, express sadness, frustration, happiness and seemingly everything else under the sun.

The FCC has delayed implementing its multilingual emergency alerts system — making non-English speakers vulnerable during climate disasters.