Most people walk around believing they have a pretty good sense of how English works. We learn the alphabet, pick up some ...

The longest word in the English language is a massive 189,819-letter chemical name for the protein titin. While it’s technically the correct name based on scientific rules, most dictionaries don’t ...

There isn't a strong link between good spelling and intelligence, but that doesn't mean spelling doesn't matter. Proper spelling makes people perceive you as more intelligent and can increase your ...

This post is in partnership with History Today. The article below was originally published at HistoryToday.com. Note: Usually, History Today posts appear on TIME.com with American spellings. For this ...

There are legitimate explanations for why words like pterodactyl and tsunami exist. The rogue knight doubted that the asthmatic knave in knickers could climb the castle columns, but when their wrangle ...

English, whatever its merits as a language, is a bitch to spell. There are so many rules, and so many exceptions, and yet in the end you have to learn a lot of words on a case-by-case basis. If future ...

A single English verb carries more definitions than any other in the language. Lexicographers have confirmed that the word ...

The English language is full of words that seem overstuffed with unnecessary letters, feel like they should be spelled a different way, or just don't make sense. Here are some of our favorites, ...

One of the best things going on around 200 B.C.E. (from this linguist’s point of view, at least) was that a librarian in Alexandria, Aristophanes of Byzantium, invented the first punctuation system ...

Henry is the author of Enough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell Detroit News, December 1906. Roosevelt sits stunned in a boxing ring after losing his match with the ...