Tag: language
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English is often called a glorious mess of a language. Unlike languages that guard their purity, English has never been shy about stealing vocabulary from others. Why coin a new word when you can borrow (or outright snatch) one that’s already in use abroad? Linguist James D. Nicoll put it most colorfully: “The problem with…
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Today, let’s figure out just how a little symbol is now @ the top of the English dictionary. Yes, that curly little character that lives rent-free in your email address. Somehow, it managed to tango its way to the very beginning of the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. How does this happen, you ask? Once, the ‘@’…