❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now

Earnings calls are boring by design

Oct 21, 2022
Yes, they really are that boring on purpose.
Quarterly earnings calls are notoriously monotonous and carefully worded in order to avoid misleading investors.
Getty Images

He brought "Game of Thrones" languages to life

Apr 10, 2019
David Peterson created the Dothraki and High Valyrian tongues.
Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark in "Game of Thrones" season 8.
Helen Sloan/HBO

A four-letter word is shaping the debate on minimum wage increases

Feb 20, 2017
Wage hike or wage increase? Does it really matter? Linguists would say "yes."
Protesters gathered at a rally for minimum wage in New York City. 
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

'YouTube Voice:' The linguistics behind the phenomenon

Dec 22, 2015
Audience engagement doesn't require tricks, just a few simple speaking strategies.

The loaded meaning behind 'What do you do?'

Apr 9, 2014
The Atlantic's Deb Fallows talks regional differences in how we say hello.