There's no right way to say 'taco'

A comprehensive taxonomy of American tacos

Tacos may be a Mexican food, but they're wildly popular in America and in a number of different styles. This lengthy guide from Serious Eats was compiled after visiting more than 1,000 taco shops. It breaks down the differences between the many variations on the form (including breakfast, barbacoa, and Deli Mex) you'll encounter in different regions of the country. We don't recommend reading on an empty stomach!

The chemistry of ancient tacos

This 16-minute podcast explores the chemistry of Mesoamerica's corn tortillas, which involve a 3,500-year-old chemical process called nixtamalization that releases vitamins, including niacin, one of the essential B vitamins. This process also makes the tortillas softer and more delicious. Corn tortillas were a staple in Mesoamerica, and the archaeologist interviewed in this podcast argues cultures like the Aztecs and Maya wouldn't have thrived without nixtamalization.

'Tattoo' comes from a Polynesian word that means 'to strike'

“Tatatau” roughly translates to “strike,” a reference to the ancient process, which involved tapping ink into the skin with sharpened objects, like the bronze implements used circa 1450 BCE in Egypt, below.

Cacao is a Maya word that survives today

In the 1980s, archaeologists finally deciphered Maya hieroglyphs in part by identifying known words. Maya scholar David Stuart notes that cacao—still used today—was one of the key linguistic anchors that unlocked ancient Maya texts.

TikTok is transforming the English language

Linguists like Adam Aleksic have argued that the way internet slang—especially the kind that thrives on TikTok—enters the real world isn’t so different from how English evolved in its earliest days.

Learn to speak the ancient Aztec language Nahuatl

Across the Aztec Empire, you'd be met with variants of Nahuatl, the indigenous language still spoken by approximately 1.5 million people today. This free, self-paced online university course teaches the Veracruz variant, beginning from the language's "piltlahcuiloltzitzin"—or alphabet—to how to conduct specific "tlamachtiliztli" or ceremonies.

Making sense of Mexico City's traffic honks and horns

A car's horn makes just one sound, but somehow, drivers across the world manage to use the monotone for a surprising variety of purposes. This audio-inflected essay takes readers into the nuanced horns of Mexico City's famously congested traffic, providing a "claxonomy" (taxonomy + claxones, or horns) of its drivers' honks.

Sinaloan sushi is a Mexican take on the Japanese classic

Sushi became popular in Mexico in the early 20th century, thanks to Japanese immigrants who settled in Sinaloa, a Mexican state that runs along the Pacific Ocean. The region’s modern-day sushi blends both cultural traditions, evident in items like the Mar y Tierra roll, which includes carne asada and shrimp.

Company names you may have been mispronouncing

Global company names often get Americanized or anglicized to the point where they’re unrecognizable. Here's a helpful explainer on how to say a dozen of them, from Adidas to Huawei.

The perfectly rolled burrito depends on the tortilla

Experts recommend warming a tortilla before wrapping it around the filling. Once warm, you should distribute the ingredients evenly on the back half of the tortilla for a uniform shape.

The South prefers the term 'cookout'

A 2016 Eater poll showed that folks from the South generally prefer "cookout" to describe a backyard event centered around barbecued meat. In fact, that preference extends to much of the country, with 65% of Americans saying they prefer the term.

Why say 'migraine' instead of 'migraines'?

Language choice can affect people's assumptions and beliefs about the subject at hand, which is why some would prefer "migraine" to be treated as a singular and plural noun. This American Migraine Foundation article examines the logic behind the grammar choice.

A New Mexican town named itself after the quiz show 'Truth or Consequences'

If you've ever driven through southern New Mexico, you might've been struck by one particular town name: Truth or Consequences. Originally called Hot Springs, the town was renamed after the popular game show in 1950, which offered to broadcast from the first town to change its name to match the show's. Although the town originally planned on changing it back, the name stuck.

Differences in the ratio of sugars help distinguish Mexican and American Coke

Mexican Coke is sweetened with cane sugar (sucrose), which dissolves into equal amounts of fructose and glucose, whereas American Coke, which uses high-fructose corn syrup, contains more fructose than glucose.

How texture affects taste

Texture is the brain's interpretation of several sensations, including pressure, as registered by our teeth, tongue, and finger tips, and sound, as recorded by our ears. Texture also speaks to food particle sizes—smaller than 35 microns contributes to the sensation of creamy—and the balance between flavor and mouth time, such as the crunch of a crispy chip or the bounce of a chewy caramel.

Scandinavians toast with an emphatic ‘skål!’

The word comes from the word for “bowl,” a reference to the vessels of alcohol early revelers passed around at celebrations. Now, the word more closely resembles “cheers!” In response, it’s polite to respond “takk,” or “thank you.”

Essential Catalan phrases you’ll need in Barcelona

When you go to a restaurant in Barcelona, you’ll probably get offered a menu in three languages: Spanish, English and Catalan. Catalan is one of the four official languages of Spain and the primary language schoolchildren learn in Barcelona. The language has become a source of pride and unity throughout the Catalonia region. So, here are some phrases you might hear and want to use in Barcelona.

The mathematically correct way to tie your shoes

Tying shoelaces involves three important decisions that determine whether a good knot (reef knot) or a bad knot (granny knot) is formed. The first decision is to criss-cross and tuck the laces, either with the left lace over the right or the right...

Tropical cyclones are called hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones around the world

Tropical cyclones are named differently based on their region of origin due to historical traditions and cultural importance. These storms are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and northeast Pacific oceans, cyclones in the southwest Pacific and Indian oceans, and typhoons in the northwest Pacific Ocean.

Wynton Marsalis believes syncopation is part of jazz's American character

The trumpeter argues that jazz's approach to syncopation is part of an American tradition that offers the unexpected, citing Jonas Salk, Mark Twain, and fusion cuisine as parallels.

No one's sure why it's spelled 'sundae'

There are several different folktales explaining the origins of the popular ice cream dish and its curious name. One claims an enterprising pharmacy used chocolate syrup instead of soda, which was banned on Sundays. Another claims the dish's unique spelling was to avoid offending religious folks who might object to an unholy reference to the Sabbath.

Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16

Cinco de Mayo is widely mistaken for Mexican Independence Day. September 16 is the actual date, commemorating the 1810 Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo's call to revolution that launched Mexico's war against Spanish colonial rule.

Brazil's tropicália movement fused rock 'n' roll, Latin music, and poetry

Tropicália was a short-lived Brazilian style of rock 'n' roll that blended samba, bossa nova, modernist poetry, and American rhythm and blues that offered provocative, anti-authoritarian, and avant-garde ideas through popular music, much to the delight of the country's evolving youth culture.

Why Americans don’t talk about money

In the United States, asking someone how much money they make (or any questions about money, really) has long been considered rude. But where did this social norm come from originally? And why do Americans still feel so awkward talking about money? This article from The Atlantic takes a deep dive into the socioeconomic forces that created the money taboo. Read the full piece here.

The Roosevelt Corollary transformed the Monroe Doctrine from a defensive warning into a rationale for US military intervention

In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt declared that the US had the right to exercise international police power in Latin America. Over the following two decades, the US intervened militarily in the region about a dozen times—often enough that Marines became known locally as "State Department troops."

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

Poison ivy is in the same family as mangoes, cashews, and pistachios—and they all produce oily urushiol in their raw, unprocessed state—but they are typically prepared in ways to avoid causing human discomfort.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.