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'Scaramouch,' Scaramucci Possibly to Fandango

A new White House communications director

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Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

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Words That Come From the Dinner Table

Fill your plate with these surprising food words

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The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

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The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail

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Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

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How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

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Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?

Language changes

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The Serial Comma

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

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Is it 'I Could Care Less' or 'I Couldn't Care Less'?

Because we care

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2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'surreal'

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Hot Mess

"The public is a hot mess"

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How to Use the Subjunctive in English

If I were you, I'd watch this

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Malaprop

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

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Alright vs. All Right

Is 'alright' all right?

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How Icy Greenland Got Its Name

Was 'Even Icier Land' taken?

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The True Story of the Backward Index

These people needed a computer

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Is None Singular or Plural?

Or both? Or neither?

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There, They're, Their

There, there. We'll sort it out.

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Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'

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Sneaked vs. Snuck

How the irregular snuck sneaked into the dictionary

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2015 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

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

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How to Read a French Menu

How to amuse-bouche without begging pardon for your French

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Further vs. Farther

They started as same word, but their meanings have drifted apart over time.

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Bring vs. Take

Both words imply motion, but the difference may be all in your head

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Lay vs. Lie

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.

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'Try and' vs. 'Try to'

When you're not sure which is right, try to remember to use 'try to.'

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Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

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Fun, Funner, Funnest

Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'

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2014 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

The inside scoop behind our 2014 Word of the Year selections.

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WORD OF THE DAY

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TRENDING NOW

  1. scaramouch A new White House communications director

  2. non sequitur “It does not follow”

  3. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

  4. calumny 'An untrue statement that is made to damage someone's reputation'

  5. kakistocracy Frustrated Twitter users have been searching for this word.

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Ask the Editors

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Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

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Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

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Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

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The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
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A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

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Name That Thing
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

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Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game