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Our No. 1 Gift to German Language in '11: 'Shitstorm'

Yep, really. A jury of German language experts picked it

(Newser) - Germans are better off because of America's pottymouth, at least according to a group of language experts who have named the biggest English contribution to the German language in 2011: "shitstorm." Yep, the "Anglicism of the Year" is a word that the experts say "fills... More »

Talked Like Yoda, Cavemen Did

Seems to be the natural order for human 'proto' language: scientists

(Newser) - Human beings' very first "proto" language may have sounded more like Yoda-speak than the English we use today. Researchers believe all language derived from one spoken some 50,000 years ago in east Africa. Now scientists are making a case that the first language followed a "subject-object-verb" order,... More »

Berenstain Bears Try to Save Ancient Language

In animated TV first, they're speaking Lakota

(Newser) - For a typical family worried about messy rooms and money management, the Berenstain bears are killer linguists. The children's books featuring Mama, Papa, Brother, and Sister Bear Berenstain have been translated into more than 20 languages for kids around the world. Now the Berenstains are even speaking Lakota, an... More »

'Mankini,' Other Fun Words Added to OED

It's official: 'Jeggings' is a word

(Newser) - Language purists, avert your eyes: The Oxford English Dictionary has added some new words. Here they are, along with the Daily Mirror 's helpful definitions:
  • Mankini: "The revealing male bathing costume made famous by Sacha Baron Cohen in his Borat film."
  • Retweet: "Sharing a Twitter message.
... More »

Monkeys Create Own Language Sign

Mandrills invent way to sign 'do not disturb'

(Newser) - Monkeys at a British zoo have developed a way of saying "leave me alone" that doesn't involve biting or flinging poop. The mandrills cover their eyes—much like in the "see no evil" gesture—when they desire solitude, and their fellow monkeys respect the signal, the Telegraph... More »

We've Forgotten What 'Respect' Means

It is something earned, not demanded: Peter Funt

(Newser) - Keep your ears tuned for the next time someone complains about being disrespected. It shouldn't take long, writes Peter Funt in the Wall Street Journal . Could be an athlete, a congressman, a musician, or your neighbor. "Apparently 'respect' has emerged as society's favorite go-to word when... More »

High School English: A Waste of Time?

No one wants to teach grammar because it's not fun: Kim Brooks

(Newser) - Sometimes, while Kim Brooks is grading essays by her college composition students, she cries. "Not real tears, exactly—more a spontaneous, guttural sob, often loud and unpleasant enough to startle my husband or children," she writes in Salon . Why? Because many of these students "simply ... cannot write.... More »

All Languages Tracked to Single African Tongue

Study links language differences to migration route of early humans

(Newser) - The thousands of languages spoken in the world today can be traced back to a "mother tongue of mother tongues" that arose in Africa around 50,000 years ago, a new study suggests. The lead researcher, evolutionary psychologist Quentin Atkinson, borrowed a few ideas from genetic researchers, the Wall ... More »

Last 2 Speakers of Dying Language Not Talking

Mexico's Ayapaneco language on last legs

(Newser) - The centuries-old Mexican Ayapaneco language isn't quite dead yet—but there may never be another conversation in it. There are only two people left alive who speak it fluently, and they don't want to have anything to do with each other, reports the Guardian . Apart from the language,... More »

Sorry Kids, No 'Booty' in New Bible

US bishops replace chuckle-inducing word with 'spoils'

(Newser) - No longer will young Catholics snicker in Sunday school every time the word "booty" comes up in a Bible verse: In the newest translation of the New American Bible, Catholic bishops have ordered the word "booty" replaced with the word "spoils." It's just one of many... More »

Knowing 2nd Language May Ward Off Alzheimer's

Bilinguals cope with dementia better: study

(Newser) - People who want protection against Alzheimer's might want to pick up a second language, LiveScience reports. York University researchers found that bilingual people who suffered from Alzheimer's had cognitive impairment comparable to sufferers who were 4 to 5 years younger—essentially, being bilingual seems to have bought them additional years... More »

Our Kids Don't Need to Learn Chinese

Spanish, however, would benefit them

(Newser) - Nick Kristof and his family speak Chinese, and “let’s be frank,” he writes in the New York Times , “if your child hasn’t started Mandarin classes by third grade, he or she will never amount to anything.” Oh, actually … “just kidding,” continues... More »

Linguists Study Dying Languages—With Ultrasound

Technology helps them watch the moving tongue

(Newser) - It's not a tool generally associated with linguists, but ultrasound scans are proving to be invaluable to them, reports Scientific American . The same device that gives doctors a glimpse of a fetus is also pretty good at capturing images of the moving tongue. For linguists documenting rare languages in Africa,... More »

Guess the Most Annoying Word. Ever.

'Whatever' is worst; 'like' also highly irritating

(Newser) - “Whatever” is, like, the most annoying word in the English language, a poll finds—for the second year in a row, notes Reuters. The Marist survey of more than 1,000 Americans found that almost 39% think “whatever” is the most annoying English word or phrase; runners up... More »

Politifact Names 'Lie of the Year'

Health care reform no 'government takeover'

(Newser) - This year’s biggest political lie is the phrase “a government takeover of health care,” holds the nonpartisan fact-checking group Politifact . The term "government takeover" was suggested by a GOP strategist, who called on Republican leaders to use it to refer to health care reform—and use... More »

Brain Learns New Words in 15 Minutes

... if it hears them over and over and over

(Newser) - It takes the brain just 15 minutes to learn a new word, new research suggests. The trick is hearing it, oh, say 160 times in 15 minutes, the Telegraph reports. If that happens, the brain creates a neural network that is "virtually indistinguishable" from those surrounding familiar words, Cambridge... More »

3 Gamer Phrases We All Should Use

'It's on like Donkey Kong' has become liability

(Newser) - Nintendo’s trying to trademark “It’s on like Donkey Kong”—so we need a new video-game based catchphrase. Contenders from Unplggd :
  • I Got Mario Karted: Someone’s beaten you at the last minute, which often happens in Mario Kart. Example: “I almost got with this girl/guy,
... More »

10 Phrases That Need to Die

I am so above all the drama. Literally.

(Newser) - If you haven't said at least one of these, oh, at least 128 times in casual conversation, you should check that you still have a pulse. Because most of us can't avoid uttering them time and time again, and it just needs to stop, writes Alida Nugent on her Frenemy... More »

Scientists Discover New Language

But India's Koro is in danger of becoming obsolete

(Newser) - Two linguists have discovered a language new to science, spoken by only about 1,000 people in the foothills of the Himalayas, the LA Times reports. Koro, as it has been named, was found among residents in a remote area of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Instead of being... More »

Brawl Over Starbucks Lingo Gets Customer Booted

'All I did was ask for a bagel,' professor insists

(Newser) - It was only a matter of time before Starbucks' bizarre lingo (tall? whatever happened to small?) drove someone batty. Fittingly, it was a college English professor who finally had enough, and subsequently got removed from the store by three police officers. "I just wanted a multigrain bagel," Lynne... More »

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