Last week, I had the chance to watch the movie Arrival again, a 2016 thriller directed by Denis Villeneuve, which happens to be my favourite film. While the title and poster lead the audience to expect a typical science fiction movie about aliens and their conflict with humans, the central theme of the film is actually linguistics. It explores topics that are usually confined to academic books or research papers, offering an original and intellectually captivating experience

Rage bait , 6-7 , slop  — what do these expressions have in common? Indeed, they are all phrases that would likely elicit frowns or confused faces from the adults in society, given that they are considered pointless “Gen Z Slang”. However, linguists and language experts seem to view them very differently, with all three of these expressions being chosen as “Word of the Year” for 2025 by reputable dictionaries. Rage bait  was selected by the Oxford Dictionary, 6-7  by Dictiona

Visiting a country without speaking the language can be a highly awkward experience. Seemingly simple tasks back home, like taking a taxi to reach a destination and ordering food at a restaurant, suddenly become complex endeavors, and it feels hard to interact with the local population or connect with the environment. These challenges often disincentivize individuals from visiting certain countries, as one-third of Americans surveyed internationally admit they stick to holida