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mrs malaprop
Words at Play

What is a malaprop?

Editor Peter Sokolowski will tell you all the perpendiculars

A malapropism, or malaprop, is the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase, especially the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in context—like polo bears instead of polar bears.

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play mrs malaprop
What is a malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

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'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'?

 

We're intent on clearing it up

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Pictures in the Dictionary

 

The story of those iconic illustrations.

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The History of 'Cynic'

 

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

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I vs. Me

 

'Between you and __'? Simple guidance for a tricky pronoun.

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Why did Yankee Doodle call a feather 'macaroni'?

 

What's with his feathered cap?

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Healthy vs. Healthful

 

Why both words are equally good for you.

Games & Quizzes

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
tiny woman sitting on a pile of books reading
Little Words, Big Vocabulary Quiz Time to sweat the small stuff.
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