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Huntington, West Virginia
Museum of Radio & Technology
38.4011, -82.4731
Choum, Mauritania
Choum Tunnel
21.3284, -13.0101
Kenova, West Virginia
Griffith & Feil Soda Fountain
38.3995, -82.5782
Huntington, West Virginia
Jim’s Steak and Spaghetti House
38.4198, -82.4428
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Griffith & Feil Soda Fountain
Jim’s Steak and Spaghetti House
The Poky Dot
Poolsmoor Prison Cantina
Barney’s Beanery
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This Intrepid 19th-Century Reporter Refused to Accept the Unacceptable
When the Genius of Studio Ghibli Built a Giant Cuckoo Clock
I’m On a Quest to Visit All 50 States Before America Turns 250
The Bar Where a Future President Sat Down With a Pirate
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149 Items Tagged
Linguistics
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food
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.
japan
What's the Fastest Language in the World?
Theansweriscomplicated.
language
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.
games
Atlas Obscura’s Ultimate Word Game Tournament
From Password to Mad Libs to Wordle, we pit our favorite lexical pastimes head to head.
culture
'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.
Singapore
The Singapore Stone
An undeciphered text is inscribed on a mysterious stone slab.
language
Why Do Nevadans Pronounce Their State's Name So Strangely?
How you say it certainly says something about who you are.
lighthouses
Wonder Is Everywhere: Silk Dress Secret, the Last Lightkeeper, and More From Around the Web
Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
sounds
People May Speak More Loudly or Quietly Depending on the Climate
Places that are usually hot or cold developed languages differently.
architecture
6 Surprising Stories About Shopping
What you really need this store-hopping season are tales about the “Aisle of Shame” and the shop cats of Hong Kong.
pirates
The Muddled Origins of the Word ‘Viking’
The now common term wasn't used to describe medieval Scandinavians until the 19th century.
objects of intrigue
The Low Down on the Greatest Dictionary Collection in the World
From "unabridged" to "slanguage," Madeline Kripke's library is a logophile's heaven (or hell).
sounds
The ‘Crispy R’ and Why R Is the Weirdest Letter
I made a bunch of linguists listen to this social media phenomenon and tell me what’s going on.
Brusaporto, Italy
Sator Square
Acrosticism and palindromes on this randomly placed stone.
Seoul, South Korea
National Hangeul Museum
Celebrating the history of Hangul, the Korean writing system invented by King Sejong to improve his realm’s literacy.
music
Puzzle Monday: Sing Along
vikings
Puzzle Monday: The Mystery of the Missing Runes
puzzles
Puzzle Monday: Generation Gaps
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