“It makes me mad when people say ‘literally’ when they mean ‘figuratively’ as it does sound stupid and confusing,” a poster on Quora wrote recently. “Is this normal?” In the replies, the top answer is ...

Walter Johnson is the Winthrop Professor of History and a professor of African and African American Studies. Richard F. Thomas is the George Martin Lane Professor of the Classics. They are members of ...

When we use words to communicate, we not only have to choose what to say, but also what not to say, and how to say it. How we decide to frame a message can influence how people think, feel, and ...

Some time ago, I fell into conversation with a colleague about what we had been reading lately, and the person suggested that I absolutely must give Henry James’s “The Ambassadors” a try. The pandemic ...

Enervate, originating from Latin for "to weaken," describes the gradual depletion of energy, strength, or vitality. This verb ...

Language often offers precise words to describe complex human behaviours, and parsimonious is one such term. Parsimonious is a word that captures the .