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Words of the Year

2019 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Editor Peter Sokolowski discusses 'they' and the rest of our Word of the Year 2019 selections


How did we choose they as our Word of the Year? Peter Sokolowski explains the data behind our decisions, and how this and the other Words of the Year reflect what was on people's minds this year.

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2019 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

How we chose 'they'

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A Look at Uncommon Onomatopoeia

 

Some imitative words are more surprising than others

play hot mess
Hot Mess

 

Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings

play video cynic
The History of 'Cynic'

 

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

play video schwa
The Schwa

 

The most common vowel sound in English causes many spelling problems.

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Why is there a 'd' in 'fridge' but not in 'refrigerator'?

 

Thawing one of the mysteries of English

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Alright vs. All Right

 

Is 'alright' all right?

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
serval
Name That Animal: Volume 3 Who’s who of the zoo crew
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