A spelling bee combines all the worst aspects of childhood except compulsory rope-climbing. As a contestant, you must stand up and, under pressure, spell impossible words in front of adults under a ...

It’s easy to pinpoint newcomers and visitors in the Hudson Valley by how terribly they mispronounce its towns. Out-of-towners shouldn’t necessarily be blamed for this, as the region’s place-names are ...

Call it “reader’s ear.” Sometimes, it’s a tin ear. Reader’s ear is an affliction suffered by those of us who gather most of our information by reading, as opposed to listening. We may see a word in ...

Much to their dislike, U.S. citizens have on a number of occasions been stereotyped as "less intelligent" and "less cultured" than Western Europeans. The latter's jibes often take the same shape and ...