“The” Creepiest Word

You may know that I am a proud Shakespeare geek. I was the Education Director at the National Shakespeare Company for years, and almost nothing makes me happier than a well-acted, well-produced Shakespeare play.

I’m also a big language nerd. Why do words work the way they do? How do they change over time and in different contexts? In another life in a parallel universe, I decided to be a linguist (who loved Shakespeare.)

All that being said, this article, (sent by friend of the blog Joe), is a complete Venn diagram overlap of my interests and enthusiasms. Data analysts figured out what words are used most often in Macbeth, why a surprising word makes the top ten, and most interestingly to me, what impact it has on the audience in the theatre.

If data analysis, language, and/or Shakespeare floats your boat, check this out:

How Data Science Pinpointed the Creepiest Word in “Macbeth”