How 'OK' Became OK with Americans
American History, May 2020.
OK, America's most famous word invention, started out as an inside joke among newspaper editors and their faithful readers. Then it caught on with the rest of us.
How Lewis and Clark Helped Shape American English
Atlas Obscura, February 8, 2018.
President Jefferson told Lewis and Clark to record every object in their surroundings "worthy of notice." That meant creating a host
of new and repurposed words.
Top Ten Misused Words of the 1870s
Huffington Post, May 21, 2015.
Modern usage mavens would no doubt agree with critic Richard Grant White's dire predictions
about the English language, but they might be surprised by the words he condemned.
So Dictionaries are Political?
History News Network, Nov. 25, 2018.
Users reading their own views into the dictionary is nothing new. It's been happening since at least 1806.
The Secret of Abraham Lincoln's Success as a Writer
Time.com, February 19, 2015.
His enemies called him a slang-whanging stump speaker, but he knew his grammar inside-out.
Trial by Stagecoach
American History, December 2017.
Noah Webster's 1785 book tour was likely the first-ever in the United States. It was a challenging exercise in survival.