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mrs malaprop
Words at Play

What is a malaprop?

Editor Peter Sokolowski will tell you all the perpendiculars

A malapropism, or malaprop, is the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase, especially the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in context—like polo bears instead of polar bears.

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play mrs malaprop
What is a malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

play sneaked vs snuck video
Sneaked vs. Snuck

 

How the irregular 'snuck' sneaked into the dictionary

play body parts video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

play illustrated notebook that says everyday vs every day
'Everyday' vs. 'Every Day'

 

A simple trick to keep them separate

play cartoon-of-british-nobility
Why did Yankee Doodle call a feather 'macaroni'?

 

What's with his feathered cap?

play video old school grammar humorsome
Old-School Grammar

 

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

play video who vs whom
Who vs. Whom

 

Good news for those who feel stuffy saying 'whom.'

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
little boy with a magnifying glass looking at footprints
Quiz: Spot the Misspelled Word! Think you can detect a spelling error from a mile...
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