Word Story

Word Story articles

7 published articles
Word Story · 3 min

Why English Spelling Looks So Irrational

English spelling is the result of sound change, borrowing, printing, dialect mixing and historical conventions. Its irregularities are mostly accumulated history rather than random design.

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Word Story · 3 min

Why Computing Is Full of Metaphors: Bugs, Clouds, Cookies, Threads and Windows

Computing repeatedly explains invisible processes with words borrowed from physical life. The metaphors make systems usable, but they can also hide what the technology really does.

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Word Story · 3 min

Why Chemistry Has Its Own Naming Language

Chemical nomenclature exists because ordinary names cannot uniquely describe millions of substances. Systematic naming turns molecular structure into a shared international language.

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Word Story · 3 min

Why Biology Became a Language of Classification

Biology had to name an enormous living world. Taxonomy, binomial names and Greek and Latin roots created a system that could travel across languages and generations.

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Word Story · 4 min

What Makes a Definition Useful?

A useful definition is accurate, understandable and bounded. It identifies the kind of thing being defined, distinguishes it from neighbours and shows how the word behaves.

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Word Story · 4 min

How Words Change Meaning Over Time

Words change as communities reuse them. Meanings can broaden, narrow, improve, deteriorate or move through metaphor, technology and social change.

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