Ever tried selling a car called “Corpse by Fisher” in Flanders? Or marketing a soda that “brings ancestors back from the grave” in Taiwan? These stories show us that words are very important in global ...

“Ohio.” “Brat.” “Cringe.” “Weird.” Coconut emojis. Viral memes are omnipresent this campaign season, distilling concepts, images and ideas into simple, replicable formats that spread rapidly online.

The contents of this article are a pragmatic, simplified, and adapted version of John Austin’s (1962) work on speech act theory (SAT), first presented at Oxford University between 1951 and 1954 and at ...

In the aftermath of the recent U.S. military strikes on Iran, one truth stands out above all: language is not just a means of communication—it is the lens through which we interpret, react to, and ...

Wednesday evening began with the familiar routine of back-to-school night, following my son’s class schedule as I moved from one classroom to the next. The evening felt almost mechanical, smiling at ...

In the age of expanding fascism, the power of language is not only fragile but increasingly threatened. As Toni Morrison has noted, “language is not only an instrument through which power is exercised ...

What is the best tool for cult leaders to control other people? It’s the power of language. What do Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Hitler have in common? They were all obsessively studied by Jim ...