Word Nerd: What the Dickens? Slang in Shakespeare?
Actually, the lexicographic recording of slang is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Articles by Howard Richler
The Word Nerd: What’s in a literary surname?
What do the Dickensian character Ebenezer Scrooge, Shakespearean character Mistress Quickly, and Richard Sheridan’s character
The Word Nerd: Deconstructing sexual harassment
Writing in 1991, Rosalie Maggio in the Dictionary of Bias-Free Usage remarked that “sexual harassment was not a term anyone used 20 years ago; today we have laws against it.”
Help the Word Nerd define himself
My latest word obsession is to create a term to describe folks like myself and many of you who are over 65 but uncomfortable with the terms “senior” or “elderly.”
The Word Nerd: Why are Mama and Papa on so many tongues?
Surprisingly, the near universality of recognition for parents is almost matched by the similarity many languages have for these two words.