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Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz

Words to improve your Scrabble game

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8 Words for Other People's Children

Brats, ankle biters, and other holy terrors

How Do You Pronounce 'Vase'?

And is one way more correct than the others?

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Trump: Maybe 'Rogue' Killers?

Trump speculates on Saudi journalist's fate

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Living by the Sword: On ‘Forte’ and ‘Foible’

Etymology on the cutting edge.

Videos

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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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2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'surreal'

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Alright vs. All Right

Is 'alright' all right?

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Is None Singular or Plural?

Or both? Or neither?

Latest Videos

How Do You Pronounce 'Vase'?

And is one way more correct than the others?

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

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2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'feminism'

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Words of the Year: 1066

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Grammar and Usage

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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

How the irregular 'snuck' sneaked into the dictionary

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Further vs. Farther

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

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Lay vs. Lie

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.

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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?'

243,588 views

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Its vs. It's

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

67,327 views

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I vs. Me

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

51,563 views

Word History

Hot Mess

"The public is a hot mess"

139,974 views

Cynic

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.

18,330 views

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Soop vs. Soup

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

62,332 views

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Literally

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

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Lay vs. Lie

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.

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

243,588 views

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Ghost Word

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

236,278 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.

233,241 views

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Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'

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Test Your Vocabulary

Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz

Which of the following Q-without-U words means the number five in cards or dice?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ

Word Winder's CrossWinder

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

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Word Games