Here is why we say Tik Tok, Flip-Flop, and Hip Hop, But not Tok Tik, Flop-Flip, or Hop Hip.

Have you ever wondered why we say tick-tock, King-Kong, and flip-flop? And why do kong-king and tock-tick sound so awkward to our ears? Why is it fiddle-faddle and pitter-patter rather than faddle-fiddle and patter-pitter? Why?…well ’cause! It turns out that this is one of the unwritten rules that English native speakers know, but don’t know they know. I will unravel this amazing rule here for you. Please bear with […]

Here is why we say Tik Tok, Flip-Flop, and Hip Hop, But not Tok Tik, Flop-Flip, or Hop Hip. Read More »

50 Awfully Good Oxymorons.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two or more words side by side contradict each other. Their use in speech often leads to humor, irony, and sarcasm.  We’ve asked our followers at The Language Nerds to share their favorite oxymorons and the result has been nothing short of hilarious. We’ve compiled them here for

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What is a Wug?

A wug is an imaginary cartoon creature created and first used by psycholinguist Jean Berko Gleason to test people’s ability to use the English plural morpheme*. The test usually involves two cartoon panels—one depicting one wug with the caption “This is a wug,” and the other depicting two wugs with the caption “Now there is another one. There are two of them. There are

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