You might know everything there is to know about New York City slang, but the moment you leave the city, fuhgeddaboudit. Upstate New York has its own set of regional colloquialisms, often depending on which area of the state you’re in.

Germany is the land of Oktoberfest, Christmas markets, and super literal compound words like Glühbirne (“glow pear,” a.k.a. “lightbulb”) and Baumwolle (“tree wool,” otherwise known as cotton).

Before you talk turkey this Thanksgiving, find out what we know about the phrase’s meaning and origins.

Dropping that ‘t’ sound is an example of what linguists call glottalization, or replacing a sound with a pause in the vocal cords.

You’re not the only person who has Googled “NPC meaning” of late.

You think you’ve seen every category of words … then you find this batch, including such oddities as tableclothwise and rabbitwise.

Here’s how to pepper your next argument with Shakespearean insults.

Take a look at these 13 names from across the world that describe sleep paralysis and the demon once believed to cause it.

The pronunciations of names like ‘Yves’ and ‘Geneviève’ aren’t hard once you’ve heard them a few times.

When talking about the fundament, some terms have slipped through the crack of lexical history—so please enjoy these old and enjoyable terms for the hindquarters.

The rich history of the English language is full of similar directional words that are cool but uncommon, like ‘pancakewards,’ ‘couchward,’ and ‘pocketwards.’

English, the language of Shakespeare and the internet, is often touted for its flexibility and adaptability. But with great flexibility comes great inconsistenc