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Well, who's asking?

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Help your kids build their vocabulary!

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Settle in and get cozy with them

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A linguistic analysis of a notorious pronunciation

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Videos

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A Look at Uncommon Onomatopoeia

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And is one way more correct than the others?

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Ghost Word

The story of an imaginary word that managed to sneak past our editors and enter the dictionary.

The Serial Comma

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

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Alright vs. All Right

Is 'alright' all right?

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'Fiduciary' — Video Word of the Day 10/22/2019

adj. - involving a confidence or trust

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On Contractions of Multiple Words

You all would not have guessed some of these

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'Comprise' — Video Word of the Day 10/21/2019

verb - to be made up of

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'Hobbyhorse' — Video Word of the Day 10/18/2019

noun - a topic to which one constantly reverts

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Grammar and Usage

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And is one more correct than the others?

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There, They're, Their

There, there. We'll sort it out.

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Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'

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Sneaked vs. Snuck

No other common verb follows the pattern of _sneak_…_snuck_. And no one's quite sure why.

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Further vs. Farther

They started as the same word, but their meanings have drifted apart over time.

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Lay vs. Lie

Tripping up English Speakers for 700 years

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Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

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Fun, Funner, Funnest

Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'

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Its vs. It's

Some practical guidance, and interesting history, about a common mistake.

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Word History

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Words of the Year: 1066

Why is pig meat is called 'pork' and cow meat is called 'beef?' Because English took on a big serving of French words following the Norman Conquest.

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"Verily, I say unto you, the public is a hot mess"

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

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Pictures in the Dictionary

The story of those iconic illustrations.

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Soop vs. Soup

Noah Webster: the man who changed the way we spell... up to a point.

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No one calls it the Merriam-Webster comma. Why?

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Literally

How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.

369,375 views

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Tripping up English Speakers for 700 years

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Ghost Word

The story of an imaginary word that managed to sneak past our editors and enter the dictionary.

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Editor Peter Sokolowski talks about 'feminism' and the rest of our Word of the Year 2017 selections

248,402 views

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Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'

246,592 views

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Old-School Grammar

Many of today's grammar rules can be traced to the opinions of one 18th century writer.

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Word of the Day

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'Fiduciary' — Video Word of the Day 10/22/2019

Learn the meaning and history of 'fiduciary' in our video series with TIME

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'Comprise' — Video Word of the Day 10/21/2019

Learn the meaning and history of 'comprise' in our video series with TIME

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'Hobbyhorse' — Video Word of the Day 10/18/2019

Learn the meaning and history of 'hobbyhorse' in our video series with TIME

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'Maunder' — Video Word of the Day 10/17/2019

Learn the meaning and history of 'maunder' in our video series with TIME

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'Genial' — Video Word of the Day 10/16/2019

Learn the meaning and history of 'genial' in our video series with TIME

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'Belfry' — Video Word of the Day 10/15/2019

Learn the meaning and history of 'belfry' in our video series with TIME

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Test Your Vocabulary

Word Puzzles

Which answer pairs best with each of the following words? living, estate, club, music, road, mile

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

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Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

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