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Topic: Language

(Photo Illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Nanzeeba Ibnat)

"Rage bait" is an ideal Word of the Year

Amanda Marcotte
Stand up comedian, actor and author George Carlin is shown performing on stage during a live concert appearance on January 13, 1996. (John Atashian/Getty Images)

George Carlin warned us about words

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
View of african desert elephants standing on field against clear sky, Cape Town, South Africa (Getty Images/Brian Durkin/500px)

Scientists decipher elephant "sentences"

Matthew Rozsa
The river Usk winding its way through the Welsh countryside. (Getty Images/Andrew Holt)

Don't "fall in love" with a destination

Pamela Petro
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A juvenile male Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii, hangs from a tree branch in Gunung Palung National Park. (Getty Images/seng chye teo)

Scientists decode orangutan language

Matthew Rozsa
Hoa Xuande in "The Sympathizer" (HBO)

Actor "Sympathizer" Soldier Spy

Hanh Nguyen
AI speaks letters (Ole_CNX / Getty Images)

Is tech leaving us lost in translation?

Mary Elizabeth Williams
Zendaya and Tom Holland attend a photocall for "Spiderman: No Way Home" at The Old Sessions House on December 05, 2021 in London, England. (Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images)

Who has "rizz"? Oxford's word origins

Nardos Haile
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Two chimpanzees meeting with each other apparently having a discussion using hand gestures (Getty Images/curioustiger)

What chimp kids tell us about language

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Looking up a word in the dictionary (Getty Images/JGI/Jamie Grill)

Merriam-Webster defines "chef's kiss"

Michael La Corte
Hands of Children Playing (Getty Images/Richard T. Nowitz)

We should stop using acronyms like BIPOC

Michaela M. McGuire - The Conversation
Rachel Sennott stars as PJ and Ayo Edebiri as Josie in "Bottoms" (Orion Pictures)

"Bottoms" reframes the meaning of ugly

Melanie McFarland
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Margot Robbie as Barbie in "Barbie" (Warner Bros.)

Our obsession with the girl-ish label

Kelly Pau
Three chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) socializing. (Getty Images/PHOTOSTOCK-ISRAEL/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)

Chimpsky, not Chomsky: A talking chimp?

Matthew Rozsa
Laccaria bicolor mushrooms (Getty Images/Radist)

Mushrooms get chatty after it rains

Troy Farah
Three chimpanzees (ROB ELLIOTT/AFP via Getty Images)

Chimps have rudimentary language

Matthew Rozsa
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks to supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump at the Banks County Dragway on March 26, 2022 in Commerce, Georgia. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

How to weaponize Republicans' propaganda

Chauncey DeVega
Avatar: The Way Of Water (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

He created a whole language for "Avatar"

Matthew Rozsa
Red card, with the word "gaslighting" written in black, and burnt matches around it (Getty Images/Daniele Mezzadri)

2022: We were gaslit in goblin mode

Kirk Swearingen
A sign made by the group Democracy NC reads It's time to vote y'all, on November 5, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today marked the last day for early voting in the state before Election Day on November 8. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

"Y'all" has finally become mainstream

David B. Parker
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(Getty/Salon)

AI robots use patterns, not grammar

Morten H. Christiansen, Pablo Contreras Kallens
Indigenous People Day (Getty Images/Rashid Abdallah)

Recovering Indigenous language

Daryl Wade Baldwin - The Conversation
Jacob Elordi as Nate Jacobs in "Euphoria" (Eddy Chen/HBO)

Is "toxic masculinity" a useful term?

Michael Flood - The Conversation
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Paul Gosar (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Who's a "conservative"? Not these folks

Robert S. McElvaine
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