229 Items Tagged

Language

There’s No Right Way to Say ‘Taco’

An exploration of the ways our tongues—and our pride—twist around foreign words, and what that says about how we want to be seen.

Dan Nosowitz June 2, 2025

Seaford, Delaware

Hardscrabble, Delaware

Did the word “hardscrabble” originate from an 18th century Delaware fistfight?

Durham, England

'Seek Knowledge Even as Far as China'

A tile mosaic displaying a saying from the prophet Muhammad presents the mission of Durham University's Oriental Museum.

Delmar, Delaware

Highball Signal

This relic is one of the last survivors of the earliest eras of the American railroad.

Actress Virginia Gibson, photographed circa 1952, getting into the Thanksgiving spirit in a novel way.

7 Surprising Stories About Thanksgiving

Raccoon for dinner, the woman who pitched Thanksgiving, and why turkey isn't even that good.

Roxanne Hoorn November 22, 2024

The world of competitive pumpkin growing has come a long way since 1901, when this giant pumpkin weighed a mere 91 pounds.

5 Stories to Make You Fall in Love With Autumn

It's the season of harvest-guarding stones and cities of squash.

Roxanne Hoorn September 19, 2024

A variety of animals, from birds to mammals, including lemurs, have been observed eating fermented fruit, apparently to get a little tipsy.

From Naming Each Other to Getting Drunk, Animals Are More Like Us Than We Thought

We're not so special after all.

Robin George Andrews July 24, 2024

Amherst, Massachusetts

Yiddish Book Center

A cultural center dedicated to the preservation of the Yiddish language and culture with over a million volumes.

Leiden, Netherlands

Israël Kiek Memorial

A memorial commemorating the man whose name became synonymous with taking a picture in the Netherlands.

Wisdom, a Laysan albatross (<em>Phoebastria immutabilis</em>) in her 70s, was spotted courting potential mates at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.

Wonder Is Everywhere: the World’s Longest Snake, Disappearing Meteorites, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.

April White April 25, 2024

The famed Koshihikari rice is sticky and chewy.

White Rice Is Bland? These Japanese Researchers Beg to Differ

Japan's food world is eagerly awaiting an upcoming "flavor dictionary."

Kenji Hall April 23, 2024

Both speed of speech and information density have an impact on how "fast" a language can be.

What's the Fastest Language in the World?

Theansweriscomplicated.

Dan Nosowitz April 2, 2024

Some European languages are harder than you might think.

The U.S. Thinks It’s Harder to Learn Polish or Greek Than Swahili or Malay

Here are the difficulty levels of most European languages for Americans.

Frank Jacobs March 29, 2024

Balderdash takes on Mad Libs in our contest of word game supremacy.

Atlas Obscura’s Ultimate Word Game Tournament

From Password to Mad Libs to Wordle, we pit our favorite lexical pastimes head to head.

Adrienne Raphel March 29, 2024

All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura

The Atlas Obscura Crossword: Mapmaking

AO Puzzles February 19, 2024

The Rongorongo tablets may be older than previously thought.

Mysterious Writing System From Easter Island May Be Completely Unique

New radiocarbon dating reveals astonishing insights.

Colleen Kelly February 15, 2024

Travel to Miami, and you might hear people say "get down from the car" instead of "get out of the car."

'Make a Party' as a New English Dialect Emerges in South Florida

A linguist explains how loanwords and direct translations known as calques are reshaping the sound of Miami and beyond.

Phillip M. Carter February 5, 2024

The Singapore Stone

An undeciphered text is inscribed on a mysterious stone slab.