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backward index mystery
Words Matter

The True Story of the Backward Index

These people needed a computer

There it sits, hidden in plain view on a set of shelves in the basement of the Merriam-Webster offices: the Backward Index. But why would anyone type out 315,000 words spelled in reverse?

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The True Story of the Backward Index

 

These people needed a computer

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When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

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How Do You Pronounce 'Groceries'?

 

Is there one standard way?

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Why Do People Pronounce It "Nucular"?

 

A linguistic analysis of a notorious pronunciation

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Some Odd Words with ISMO: "The One-derful Won"

 

Comedian ISMO tries to figure out 'one' and 'two'

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

 

We're intent on clearing it up

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Old-School Grammar

 

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

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
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Quiz: Foreign Phrases You Should Know Check out your bona fides and avoid any faux pas.
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