“Women talk more than men. Text messaging makes you stupid. Chimpanzees have language, just like humans. These are some of the most popular ideas about language that many people think are true. Rumor also has it that men are more direct in their use of language than women; women speak more correctly than men; being bilingual makes you smarter; and the most beautiful language in the world is French. But a myth-busting new study of how language really works is set to blow the lid off conventional wisdom on everything from linguistic sex differences to the impact of technology on language.”