Like a lot of our most bizarre phrases and expressions, beat around the bush was once referred to something entirely literal: It came out of hunting and alluded to those who were tasked with thrashing ...

If you're creative with words, coining an original phrase might come easy for you. Staking a legal claim so the competition can't use it is a lot tougher. If you coin a catchphrase or ad slogan for ...

At first, it’s easy to think that the phrase may you live in interesting times is a form of wishing someone well. After all, interesting times are better than boring ones, right? But in fact, the most ...

As soon as I became a mother, I began to hear the phrase. They’re only little once. Parents and those without children all seemed to agree: most of the sacrifices mothers make can be explained away by ...

After weeks of pressure over his defense of the phrase "globalize the intifada," Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said Sunday evening he will now "discourage" its use. Both ...

You know that a bit of street slang has become universally understood when it makes the leap into the title of a throwaway rom-com starring a strikingly beautiful woman we know is “quirky” because she ...

The phrase “the US kill line” has gone viral on Chinese social media in recent days, igniting extensive discussion about ...

A job advertisement celebrating sleep deprivation? That’s late capitalism. Free-wheeling Coachella outfits that somehow all look the same and cost thousands of dollars? Also late capitalism. Same goes ...

The media is swarming with people saying Trump needs to find an "off-ramp" from his tariffs policy. The phrase may be so popular right now because it's a neutral way to suggest things need to change.

A four-letter acronym that started as a way to describe President Donald Trump's tariff policies has morphed into a viral social media phrase, much to his ire. Financial Times columnist Robert ...