language
Science

We Still Use The Same Words We Did 15,000 Years Ago

A team of scientists has unearthed evidence that suggests some of the words we use today could be 15,000 years old. This means that Ice Age humans would have been able to understand parts of our speech.

27 March 2013

Online

Google Is Now Editing The Swedish Language

I’m not entirely sure that something as ungainly as Ungoogleable should have been a word in the first place, but then I don’t speak Swedish (where it’s technically “ogooglebar”), so I don’t get a say either way. Still, officially speaking, Sweden has given up on a fight with Google over the word.

15 March 2013

Geek Out

When Did We Start Using The + And – Signs?

Though most people in this world never want to think about maths after high school, let’s talk about its symbols. Where and when did the symbols for addition and subtraction get invented? We don’t even question them when we see them now. But what the heck did people use before that?

22 February 2013

Geek Out

Shimmering, Tweet-Based Language Map Of New York City

If you’ve ever wondered which languages are spoken where in New York City, here’s the map for you. This visualisation shows exactly which languages are used in tweets across the city.

19 February 2013

Geek Out

‘Twitter’ Has Changed A Lot Since The 1700s

Nowadays, we use words like “twitter” all the time to talk about our everyday social media habits. In the 1800s, they said “twitter” too, but it meant something a little different. So did “pin”. The times, they have a-changed.

9 February 2013

Online

Twitter Adds LOLCAT To Supported Language List

Twitter has announced that it has added some new user interface languages that nobody gives a damn about. Its biggest achievement: including LOLCAT as an option. Yes, people, they have localised their entire user interface — not an easy task — using the stupid wording from the lolcat memes. You are so clever, Twitter.

10 January 2013

Science

Babies Start Acquiring Language In The Womb

If you and your partner are expecting a new addition to the family, now might be a good time to clean up your language. New research suggests that babies begin to pick up language from within the womb.

5 December 2012

Science

How The Internet Helps Deaf Science Students Create New Signs

How do you learn a concept if there is no word for it? That’s a question people who are deaf and pursuing science often struggle with. The answer is not exactly easy and involves a group effort across the non-hearing community.

30 November 2012

Software

SwiftKey Adds ‘Arvo’ And ‘Hot Girls’, But Still Sucks At Australian English

I’m a huge fan of SwiftKey’s prediction service and ability to learn my typing habits as time goes on; it’s one of a few Android apps I absolutely must have. But I’m spittin’ the dummy over its latest claim to “understand the Aussie vernacular so well”.

22 November 2012

Geek Out

The Longest Word In English Takes 3.5 Hours To Pronounce

The longest word in English has 189,819 letters and would take you three and a half hours to pronounce correctly. Seriously. It’s the chemical name of Titin (or connectin), a giant protein “that functions as a molecular spring which is responsible for the passive elasticity of muscle.” You can listen to a guy pronounce the whole damn word.

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