T he English language is full of all sorts of quirks that can be infuriating to non-native speakers. (Imagine learning as an ...

Other cartoons by Tom Gauld can be found here. Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox! We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Over the past fifty years, the language of violence in movies has steadily grown, slipping into more scripts and across more ...