Wordplay

 For the love of language
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We Added 690 New Words to the Dictionary for September 2023

Ngl, this update is a big one
man undecided about which donut to eat

Another Ten Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary

Simple But Intelligent Word Choices, Vol. 3
we cannot see who is driving the locomotive but we can imagine that he has a small and wistful smile as the engine hums along the tracks pulling the man and his childhood memori

9 More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

How to tell your butoxy from your hawsehole

Popular

angry child yelling

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

So beautiful. So useless.
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Words for Lazy People and Laziness

Indolence, Malingerer, Draffsack: the right word for when you just don't have the energy
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Dice, Dice, Baby: 8 Dungeons & Dragons Words

Chaotic and good, like English itself
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The Words of the Week - Sept. 29

Lookups from the Republican debates, the picket lines, and the armed services
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9 Whiskery Words for Facial Hair

A tonsorial tutorial
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Etymologies for Every Day of the Week

The sun, the moon, four gods, and a goddess.
chicken in flight

7 Common Idioms That Come from Chickens

Don't ask us which came first
tree frog on a twig

12 Pairs of Commonly Confused Animal Words

The animal words went in two by two, hurrah, hurrah!

Arts & Culture

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Merriam-Webster's Short List of Gender and Identity Terms

In case you (or someone you know) has questions about what they mean
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Why Do We Park in the Driveway and Drive on the Parkway?

The answer to one of life's big questions
top 10 surprising food words sweetbreads

10 Surprisingly Odd Food Names

The Sometimes-Sweet, Sometimes-Unsavory Story Behind Some Bizarre Foods
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Pop Rhetoric: Our Favorites

Rhetorical devices in pop songs
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'When Pigs Fly' and Other Barnyard Idioms

24 down-home turns of phrase
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Obscure & Fun

Obscure & Fun

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12 Words from the Wrong Side of the Law

Crime doesn't pay, but vocabulary might

Foreign

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10 of Our Favourite British Words and Slang

Please don't whinge about being knackered, you prat.
red wine being poured into glass

'In Vino Veritas' and Other Latin Phrases to Live By

Top 10 Latin Phrases
aztec

10 Words from Nahuatl, the Language of the Aztecs

Avocado, chocolate, and more
bechamel in small dish

A Guide to the Names of French Sauces

17 saucy terms (and how to say them)
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Giving Meaning to the Latin (and French) in 'The Exorcist'

Say "Howdy" to these Latin phrases
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Games & Hobbies

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Know Your Baseball Idioms

Our national pastime. No, the other one.
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Why 'Love' Means "Nothing"

In tennis. This is about tennis.
wilt chamberlain 1967

12 Words From Basketball

Plus a few terms that never quite made it
the world-famous spirit island and maligne lake at dusk jasper national park alberta canada

19 Palindromes You Might Not Know

Learn some fun vocabulary with these palindromes!
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Popular Gaming Terms Explained

Nerfs, MMORPGs, and who the final boss really is
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Insults

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top 10 sophisticated insults

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

A list we hope you don't find 'insipid'
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The Origin of 'Hypocrite'

This one's surprisingly dramatic
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7 Shakespearean Insults to Make Life More Interesting

One for each day of the week
words for talkative pleonasm

You Talk Too Much: 8 Words for the Wordy

You can't shut them up, but you can label them
confused young man staring at blackboard

Rare and Amusing Insults, Volume 3

Useful words for everyday interactions
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Science & Nature

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top 10 unusual phobias vol 2 kinesophobia

What Is a 'Coulrophobe' So Afraid Of?

Unusual Phobias, Vol. 2
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Fruit vs. Vegetable

Are you sure you know which is what?
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When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes
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12 Words That Secretly Come from Body Parts

Anatomy As Etymology
harvest words cornucopia

Ten Words from the Harvest

A bumper crop for the feast.
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Word History

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7 Good Stories That Just Aren't True

No, that's not where that word comes from
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10 Common Words with Military Origins

'Skedaddle', 'ginormous', and more
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Why Did Yankee Doodle Call a Feather 'Macaroni'?

What's with his feathered cap?
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Compound Words That Used to Make a Lot More Sense

How 'jack' met 'pot.' How 'wed' met 'lock.'
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7 Run-Down Words That Have Seen Better Days

They've taken a hit but are still standing.
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