Reference and languages
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Liar, liar: in a post-truth world, writers reveal their biggest fibThe Oxford Dictionary has declared ‘post-truth’ its word of the year. But is it always wrong to lie?
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Many people globally have felt the grounds of reality shift beneath them in 2016, and it’s only getting curiouser'Surreal' is Merriam-Webster's word of the year. Sounds about right
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Word of the year 2016: for Merriam-Webster, 'surreal' trumps 'fascism'Dictionary publisher had appealed for readers to stop rise of ‘fascism’, as editor says: ‘Surreal is one of the words most searched after tragedy’
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YouTuber, Bama and Brexit among new words in Oxford English DictionaryPolitics, business and social media coin 2016’s official additions to the English language – and, naturally, Beyoncé has a hand in it too
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Prize copy of Wisden withheld from disgraced cricketer up for auctionLeatherbound edition, intended to honour Mohammad Amir as player of the year, was never presented following spot-fixing scandal of 2010
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10 words that don't mean what they used to: when meerkats were monkeys and bimbos were boysDid you know that alcohol originally meant eyeshadow, clouds were rocks or that a moment once lasted precisely 90 seconds? Read on, girls and bimbos …
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I had no idea there was a specific order for adjectives until I read a viral post. It was a side-of-the-mallet momentOrder force: the old grammar rule we all obey without realising
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Rhino-escape tips to omelette Viagra – 14th-century Arab encyclopaedia published in EnglishAl-Nuwayri’s The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition, to be published in translation by Penguin in October, has been compressed down from 33 volumes
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Oxford Dictionaries halts search for most disliked word after 'severe misuse'The #OneWordMap, an online survey soliciting readers’ least favourite words, is abandoned after site is flooded with offensive choices
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Negative campaign: Votes sought for most disliked English wordOxford Dictionaries is launching a global public vote to find English speakers’ least favourite word, with strong early showings for ‘moist’ and ‘hello’
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'Bawbag' makes 'very informal' appearance in dictionaryThe Macmillan Open Dictionary recognises Scottish slang word for scrotum, which has been used to describe both terrible weather and Donald Trump in Aberdeen
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Cree language gets 21st-century reboot from First Nation CanadiansNew crowdsourced book 100 Days of Cree features translations of everything from pizzas and saunas to Johnny Cash songs
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Are you one of those for who the bell tolls for?Katherine Fry and Rowena Kirton’s Grammar for Grown-Ups is the perfect book for anyone who wants to write well
George Saunders and Jarvis Cocker help turn 'freak of publishing nature' into hit