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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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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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Pictures in the Dictionary

 

The story of those iconic illustrations.

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How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

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

 

We're intent on clearing it up

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Why did Yankee Doodle call a feather 'macaroni'?

 

What's with his feathered cap?

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
vector art of man ready to cut messy balls of thread with scissors
Commonly Confused Words Quiz Vol. 2 A quiz to (peak/peek/pique) your interest.
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