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Words of the Year: 1066

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

a-woman-waits-at-the-end-of-a-gloomy-pier-does-she-wait-for-charon-the-ferryman-to-the-underworld-it-is-dark-but-she-carries-a-parasol

Vocabulary Thrives in Darkness

Words for the goth in all of us

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Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

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'Svengali' Bannon leaving White House

'A person who manipulates'

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Drawing a Conclusion About "Sketchy"

How did "sketchy" come to describe creeps?

Latest Posts

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Drawing a Conclusion About "Sketchy"

How did "sketchy" come to describe creeps?

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What's the Singular of 'Scissors'?

A tricky, double-edged word origin.

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Vocabulary Thrives in Darkness

Words for the goth in all of us

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Helium: This Word Brought to You by a Solar Eclipse

And by the Sun, with some help from Greek.

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We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square

It's about (you? your?) having your say.

Devilish Words

Don't blame a word use error on the devil.

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How 'Wonderful' Lost Its Sense of Wonder

A case of semantic bleaching

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Don't Let Reading This Be Another 'Coulda' 'Shoulda' 'Woulda'

PSA: They're three separate words.

Good Words for Strong Flavors

A tasting menu of vivid flavor descriptions

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What's the Plural of 'Maitre d''?

Use this word to confuse a French speaker.

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Running After the History of 'Lackey'

Are lackeys lacking something?

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The Difference Between 'Patriotism' and 'Nationalism'

They're often not synonyms

Language Is Magic

But what are the magic words, exactly?

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Words We're Watching: 'Record Scratch'

Used as an interjection

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You Can Bake That Roast

Your oven is about to get a little more complicated.

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Don't Be a Victim of 'Smishing'

A brand new portmanteau.

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'Tetris' is Being Used as a Verb

But does it fit into the dictionary?

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Infomania in the Information Age

In the information age, can we ever be satisfied with what we know?

Words for Mistakes

Find the mot juste for your misstep

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'Brood' On This

No, the chickens aren't moody

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Are You 'For Reals?'

Just when you get comfortable with a slang phrase, they add an s.

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The Silent History of 'Parlor'

Let's talk about it.

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What To Call Your Local Beer Expert

When you're looking for something to pair with your nachos.

When Fictional Words Become Real

A single author created them, but the public adopted them.

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'Mickey Mouse' Isn't Always Complimentary

In the end, he is a mouse...

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WORD OF THE DAY

flagrant

play

conspicuously offensive

Test Your Vocabulary

Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which came first?

snarky sarcastic

How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

TAKE THE QUIZ

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066

Words of the Year: 1066

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

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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Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

Take the quiz

Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

Take the quiz

How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

Take the quiz

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game