Many babies happily taste whatever reaches their mouths. Then, around toddlerhood, the same child may inspect an unfamiliar vegetable as though it were dangerous. This developmental shift is called food…
A baby’s oversized eyes, round cheeks, small nose and high forehead form what scientists call the baby schema. These features do more than make infants look cute—they appear to capture…
“Curfew” Originally Meant “Cover the Fire” Today, a curfew tells people when they must return home or stay off the streets. But the word originally gave a very different instruction:…
Your “Rival” Once Shared Your Stream Today, a rival is someone competing against you—for a promotion, a championship, a customer, or even someone’s affection. But the word began beside a…
“Enthusiasm” Once Meant Having a God Inside You Today, enthusiasm means eager excitement. But to the ancient Greeks, an enthusiastic person was experiencing something far more dramatic: divine possession. The…
Why do we have a harder time choosing when we have more options? When More Options Make Us Less Happy Imagine walking into a supermarket to buy jam. One table…
Speak to a baby and your voice may transform without conscious planning: the pitch rises, vowels stretch, sentences shorten and the melody becomes exaggerated. This is infant-directed speech, sometimes called…
Give a child and an adult the same drink, and the child will often prefer a much sweeter version. This is not merely the result of advertising or permissive parenting—the…
The “Mare” in “Nightmare” Was a Demon Despite the name, a nightmare originally had nothing to do with horses. The word combines night with the Old English mære: an evil…
“Avocado” Had a Cheeky Original Meaning The word avocado traveled across languages—and changed shape several times—before reaching the modern kitchen. It began with the Nahuatl word āhuacatl, used by the…