Linguist and lexicographer Ben Zimmer analyzes the origins of words in the news. Read previous columns here. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court decided a case that involved whether electronic bingo ...

James McMurtry’s “Choctaw Bingo” was never a single nor was it a major hit on the Billboard charts. However, much like the man who wrote it, the song didn’t need chart success or the radio to become ...

Taylor Swift let fate guide her as she revealed the name of a song on her upcoming "Midnights" album late Tuesday. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press) Taylor Swift rocked a retro game-show ...

It's rare for me to devote an entire column to a single song—although I once did so for Joni Mitchell's "Amelia" —but in this case it's a song by a singer whose name is not very well-known and whose ...