Wordplay: For the Love of Language | Merriam-Webster

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8 Words for the Wordy and Talking Too Much

You can't shut them up, but you can label them

How 'Namaste' Entered The English Language

10 Hella Good U.S. Regionalisms

We’re on a word tour, going each and every place with a mic in our hand

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

We just can’t bananaquit them

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 1

Some may be more useful than others.

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

10 words expert players use

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Our maraca shake brings all the hautbois to the yard

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words (or Phrases) Birds Seem to Be Saying

Word Choices

Gabrielle Zevin

Emily Flake

New Yorker Cartoonist

Celeste Ng

Eli Cymet

Video Game Writer/Producer, Cuphead

Emma Straub

Novelist and Children’s Book Author

Arts & Culture

What Does 'Eighty-Six' Mean?

We won't refuse you service

11 Words Used to Great Effect by Edgar Allan Poe

The Vocabulary in the Rue Morgue

Has ‘supper’ always meant ‘dinner?'

Your grandmother might answer differently.

10 Phrases from Shakespeare

Where the "wild goose chase" comes from

7 Words from Political Scandals

Behind the smoke-filled rooms

Foreign

17 English Words That Come From Japanese

Some borrowed words don't get returned

All About Latin Plurals

Check your dictionary

8 Words We Stole from French

Spoiler: We stole way more than 8

Digging Up the Latin Roots of 14 Abbreviations

Beyond 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Skunk, Bayou, and Other Words with Native American Origins

You've used more than you might think

Games & Hobbies

12 Words From Basketball

Plus a few terms that never quite made it

What It Means to ‘Touch Base’

Just checking in with it

A Player's Guide to 'Q' without 'U' Words

Remember this and win.

Why 'Love' Means "Nothing"

In tennis. This is about tennis.

The Scoop on 'The Proof Is in the Pudding'

A delicious question

Science & Nature

Fruit vs. Vegetable

Are you sure you know which is what?

7 Especially Fitting Common Names for Plants

So you don't mix up your Swiss Cheese plants with your Dutchman's Breeches

12 Words for Signs of Spring

Spring is springing

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

A bouquet of floral origin stories

What is a 'coulrophobe' so afraid of?

Unusual Phobias, Vol. 2

Word History

Quick: Read This!

'Quick' once had a very different meaning

13 New Words for Old Things

When did 'mail' become 'snail mail'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Words for uncommon fears

12 Words Whose History Will Surprise You

They all use this one weird trick (etymology)

7 Run-Down Words That Have Seen Better Days

They've taken a hit but are still standing.