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Est. 1828

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
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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.
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7 Common Idioms That Come from Chickens

Don't ask us which came first
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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
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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

  • A Wicked Awesome List of New England Words

    Things you may overhear when you park your car at Harvard Yard
  • 9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

    Get your mind into the gutter
  • Desiderium, and More Obscure Feeling Words

    Think 'there are no words'? Think again.
  • 11 Bookish Words for Book Lovers

    You'll enjoy these words more than a bibliotaph in a bookery.
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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.
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'In Vino Veritas' and Other Latin Phrases to Live By

Top 10 Latin Phrases
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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.
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12 Words From Basketball

Plus a few terms that never quite made it
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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

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
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You Talk Too Much: 8 Words for the Wordy

You can't shut them up, but you can label them
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Rare and Amusing Insults, Volume 3

Useful words for everyday interactions
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Science & Nature

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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
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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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