Wordplay: For the Love of Language | Merriam-Webster

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16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek

Don’t watch without reading this, you little frippets!

Did Orange the Fruit or the Color Come First?

The answer to a color coded language riddle

Why Is the Letter ‘Z’ Associated With Sleeping?

A cartoon origin story

Why Is the Sport Called ‘Pickleball’?

The origin story is clearer than most sports

17 Words for Dog Breeds

If you love dogs and words, you’re barking up the right tree

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words (or Phrases) Birds Seem to Be Saying

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

We just can’t bananaquit them

Obscure Words for Everyday Feelings

There has to be a word for it.

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

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

Stay Woke

Tracing the history of 'woke'

15 Cheffy Words for Chefs (and Everyone Else)

Including 'cheffy'

Foreign

Schadenfreude and Other German Words Without Translation

Accept no substitutes

Alcohol & Algebra: Common Words from Arabic

Number 4 might scare you

17 English Words That Come From Japanese

Some borrowed words don't get returned

All About Latin Plurals

Check your dictionary

'Disinformation,' 'Parka,' and Other Common Words from Russian

Games & Hobbies

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

Remember this and win.

12 Words From Basketball

Plus a few terms that never quite made it

Why 'Love' Means "Nothing"

In tennis. This is about tennis.

8 Prohibition-Era Words

From bathtub gin to the blind pig

The Scoop on 'The Proof Is in the Pudding'

A delicious question

Science & Nature

7 Luscious, Fruit-Based Idioms

For a touch of sweetness or acidity

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

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Words for uncommon fears

Word History

Quick: Read This!

'Quick' once had a very different meaning

'Pathetic': A History

An in-depth chronicle of inadequacy

Skibidi, Mog & More: Gen Alpha Slang

Skibidi! Mog!! Rizz!!!

Words with Lost Meanings

Some words just don't mean what they used to...

8 Common Words with Military Origins

'Skedaddle', 'ginormous', and more