New research suggests that young infants benefit from hearing words repeated by their parents. With this knowledge, parents may make conscious communication choices that could pay off in their babies' ...

Overtones is a column that examines how certain sounds linger in our minds and lives. The first cellular bits of rap music I loved were phrases: "Wine and women and song and such"; "The rude Redman ...

This post is Part 18 of a series of posts on the psychological and practical benefits of daily practice. In this series, I’ll explore the elements of daily practice, varieties of daily practice, ...

Photo by Nicolene Olckers, courtesy of Unsplash. Picture this: My grandmother sat at our glass table top eating breakfast and quizzing me on my spelling words in the 15 minutes before the school bus ...

'Increase' and 'decrease' are serviceable English words, so why is it my mission to winnow them from the prose that I edit daily? As a technical editor in a university department, I do not demand ...

Rhetoric may seem abstract and old-fashioned until you realize that all your favorite rhymes and tunes and lines depend on it. Have you ever asked yourself why Obama is so rousing at a rally? It’s ...

Repeating a word or phrase in a sentence can emphasise a point, or help to make sure it is fully understood. Without repetition: 'The soup was stirred until thickened.' With repetition: 'The soup was ...

The “F” word used to be the Cadillac of cussing. Now, its overuse has reduced it to a pale synonym for the word “very” (“Curses! Why All The Crude Talk?” Review, April 1). I had a professor who would ...