Legendary figures and the words that define them
Celebrated writers share their quest to find the right words
We're gonna stop you right there
What about Day Tomorrow?
And how did it get that name?
Word Icons
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And is one more correct than the others?
211,371 views
No one calls it the Merriam-Webster comma. Why?
454,919 views
There, there. We'll sort it out.
104,244 views
The awkward case of 'his or her'
266,018 views
No other common verb follows the pattern of _sneak_…_snuck_. And no one's quite sure why.
71,928 views
They started as the same word, but their meanings have drifted apart over time.
54,757 views
Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.
364,105 views
'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.
290,289 views
Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'
265,240 views
Why is pig meat called 'pork' and cow meat called 'beef?' Because English took on a big serving of French words following the Norman Conquest.
547,820 views
Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings
157,107 views
How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.
41,322 views
The story of those iconic illustrations.
24,498 views
Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut
162,500 views
We'll help you figure it out at once
886,762 views
797,159 views
How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts
453,240 views
Some imitative words are more surprising than others
324,940 views
And who put it there, anyway?
324,589 views
We're intent on clearing it up
315,397 views
Fashionable Words
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