One word has become unavoidable on the campaign trail — woke. But what does it really mean and where does it come from? The word has a long and serious history in Black culture.

What does 'mid' mean? Think: a lukewarm bowl of mac-and-cheese or a three-star hotel, says Kelly Elizabeth Wright, a postdoctoral research fellow in language sciences at Virginia Tech.

But what does "queer" mean? As experts tell us, the word has shifted in meaning over time — like language in general — and it will continue to do so. What to know about the word queer ...

The term woke is thrown around in today's social and political spectrum. But where did the term come from and what does it mean?

Conservative politicians and pundits have co-opted “woke,” a term that originally meant to stay aware of racial injustice.

What does it mean to be 'coded'? Linguists break down the very online use of the word. From "so 2009" to "Maid in Manhattan," everything in pop culture is "coded." ...

Where does the saying 'what in tarnation' come from? Tarnation is an American English word from the late 1700s. The internet, unsurprisingly, disagrees with who first coined the term.

When you get a cancer screening, you may hear your doctor use phrases and words that are new to you. If you don’t know what they mean, it can be hard to understand what’s happening when you get one of ...