Wordplay: For the Love of Language | Merriam-Webster

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9 Financial Words With Surprising Origins

In the beginning, 'income' simply meant "coming in"

Strange Words for Body Functions

Did you know that you 'micturate' and 'sternutate'?

Where does 'curiosity killed the cat' come from?

No cats were harmed in the making of this idiom

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

Spoiler alert: they all come from French

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

And why isn't it 'bury the lead'?

10 Words for Food with Unfortunate-Sounding Names

All of them may be delicious, but one is offal

Top 12 Sophisticated Compliments

'Urbane,' 'incisive,' and other good things to be

Words For Things You Didn't Know Have Names, Vol. 2

When 'thingamajig' and 'thingamabob' just won't do

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

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'

What exactly is a 'liberal'?

No one wants a 'servile arts' degree

Foreign

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

Top 10 Latin Phrases

10 of Our Favourite British Words

Please don't whinge about being knackered, you prat.

Digging Up the Latin Roots of 14 Abbreviations

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

All About Latin Plurals

Check your dictionary

Skunk, Bayou, and Other Words with Native American Origins

You've used more than you might think

Games & Hobbies

10 Words for Lesser-Known Games and Sports

Are you ready for some stoolball?

Winning Scrabble Words for Everyday People

You don't have to be a pro to play these words.

12 Words From Basketball

Plus a few terms that never quite made it

Popular Gaming Terms Explained

Nerfs, MMORPGs, and who the final boss really is

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

Remember this and win.

Science & Nature

12 Bird Names that Sound Like Compliments

From the godwits at your favorite dictionary

12 Words for Signs of Spring

Spring is springing

'Blue Moon,' 'Wolf Moon,' and Other Moons to Look for Throughout the Year

More moons than you can shake a stick at

9 Superb Owl Words

Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all? We do!

7 Especially Fitting Common Names for Plants

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

Word History

How long is a jiffy?

It depends who you ask

When do we paint the town red?

It may have begun with a literal paint job (but probably didn’t)

Why do we call it 'ides of March'?

And should we beware?

Why do we call it a 'flea market'?

Did they ever sell fleas?

The Origin of O'clock

The apostrophe that ate a whole word