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Words of the Year

2015 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Editor Peter Sokolowski talks about our Word of the Year selections.



The words people look up show our curiosity, and the lookups are just the beginning of reflection on and discussion of the topics that are on our minds.

See how we select our Word of the Year, along with the full list of words.

And get details about all the lookups, including the events that triggered them, at our Word of the Year Gallery.

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2015 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

Peter Sokolowski talks about the year's selections

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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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Affect vs. Effect

 

Here's the lowdown on what may be the most confusing pair of words in the English language.

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Thawing one of the mysteries of English

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Healthy vs. Healthful

 

Why both words are equally good for you.

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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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And who put it there, anyway?