*Etymology:* < Anglo-Norman estorie (Old French estoire, later in semi-learned form histoire ) < Latin historia : see history. Compare Italian storia, medieval Latin storia. The word “story” is derived from the word “history,” just as your intuitions should tell you. Indeed, the esteemed office of historian is essentially a calling to be a story-teller and story-hunter. We do a disservice to reality itself when we conflate the notion of “story” with “fiction” or “lie” as we so often do today (“ah, that kid is just telling stories.

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In case you missed it… OED Word of the Day: hegemonicon, n. https://t.co/4cqZcBlTgJ — The OED (@OED) August 5, 2014 @OED #WOTD hegemonicon: espoused to Hubris as the downfall of humanity. https://t.co/b96FZX64ES — Tory S. Anderson (@WorldsEndless) August 5, 2014 The word derives from the same roots as “hegemony.” Defined as “A ruling or governing power; spec. human reason. Also: the supreme power in the universe,” it appears in such contexts as:

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Compared to other books of scripture, the Book of Mormon has an extraordinarily rich and strong usage of the term “language.” Indeed, I see at least three major meanings of “language” as the term is used in the Book of Mormon. It shares with intuition the idea of language as a system of communication, sometimes including the idea of a writing system and including what, in linguistics, we call “syntax” (the structure of the language, including grammar) and probably vocabulary and pronunciation.

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“When the language … surrenders and says, I am yours, darling—that’s the best part.” RIP Maya Angelou “When the language ... surrenders and says, I am yours, darling—that’s the best part.” RIP Maya Angelou https://t.co/kjG5T8o5ov — The Paris Review (@parisreview) May 28, 2014

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These two words recognize different senses of distance: the far in farther can help remember that this is actual physical distance, while further is metaphorical; for instance, I can say that with this post I am furthering grammatical awareness. “Farthering,” on the other hand, ought to sound wrong to any English speaker. More examples: “My house is the farther of the two.” vs “She needs no further introduction.” (DailyWritingTips, below) Do you have further favorite examples of farther vs further?

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Whenever I meet a linguistics student I always wonder what ‘flavor’ of linguistics they are interested in. Do they just love learning foreign languages? Is it the psychology? Do they want to study exotic languages? Are they on the technology side of the tracks? Do they want to teach languages, or help those with language handicaps? I think this chart makes a good introduction.

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There’s nothing like a good tongue twister to exploit the potential fun of language. Especially when it draws on unlikely cultural corrolates. Originally shared by George Takei.

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What we call the beginning is often the end And to make and end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. And every phrase And sentence that is right (where every word is at home, Taking its place to support the others, The word neither diffident nor ostentatious, An easy commerce of the old and the new, The common word exact without vulgarity, The formal word precise but not pedantic, The complete consort dancing together) Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning, Every poem an epitaph.

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“Crackalackin” is a snappy piece of slang for “[let’s get] cracking”, which has a meaning similar to “let’s get to work.” This creative individual devised a pun that confounds “cracker” with this phrase. The real genius of the strip, though, are in the two panels with the characters exchanging glances from behind hip sunglasses.

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