Modern American English can be really weird — particularly if you know your etymology. There are some words and phrases that are perfectly normal parts of the discourse, but whose history points them ...

Navigating American English can be a linguistic minefield for non-native speakers. Expressions like "the cat's out of the bag," "spill the beans," and "shoot the breeze" can leave even the most ...

Similar to slang and lingo across the world, many of the phrases people from America say that make no sense to the rest of the world are rooted in societal norms, trends, comedy, and history that are ...

Ever read the lists of idioms in other languages — like the Russian expression На воре и шапка горит, which sort-of translates as "he has a visibly guilty conscience," but literally means "the thief ...

Learn 45 essential American English phrases used in daily life and TV shows to understand native speakers. Expand your ...

Master American English! Learn 23 common slang words & phrases to improve your speaking and understanding. Expand your vocabulary with this quick and easy lesson.

Whether they're related to food, football, or feline friends, American idioms can be colorful — and confusing to people visiting from abroad. While phrases like "shoot the breeze" (to talk about ...

Geneva Smitherman ended up in speech therapy in her freshman year at Wayne State University in the 1950s, when she failed a test to screen incoming teaching students for possible speech problems. The ...

For as long as she can remember, Sonja Lanehart has been fascinated by how people speak. In particular, she was interested in the differences she noticed between how white people spoke, when compared ...

During the nineteenth century, the growth of anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe sparked a movement of Jewish emigration; between 1877 and 1917, around 2.5 million Jews reached the shores of America, ...