Wordplay

 For the love of language

8 Words for the Wordy and Talking Too Much

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

10 Hella Good U.S. Regionalisms

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

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

Heads up: one is 'vulgar'

Popular

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

A bouquet of floral origin stories

How 'Namaste' Entered The English Language

"I bow to you"

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

We’ve seen fire, we’ve seen rain, and we have many words for them

Possum vs. Opossum: Is There a Difference?

On a marsupial with various names

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

The secret top 10 words experts use to win at SCRABBLE

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Our maraca shake brings all the hautbois to the yard

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

Look what you made us do

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels

We'd like to not buy a vowel

Word Choices

Gabrielle Zevin

Novelist

Emily Flake

New Yorker Cartoonist

Celeste Ng

Novelist

Eli Cymet

Video Game Writer/Producer, Cuphead

Emma Straub

Novelist and Children’s Book Author

Arts & Culture

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The Words of the Week - May 30

Lookups from Memorial Day, cryptocurrency, and the White House

'Gaslighting,' 'Woke,' 'Democracy,' and Other Top Lookups

We know you're going to look these up

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

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

A Great Big List of Bread Words

Quit loafing around and get that bread (word)

A List of The U.S. Military Ranks in Order

From Private to General of the Army
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Obscure & Fun

Obscure & Fun

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

Some may be more useful than others.

Foreign

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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
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Games & Hobbies

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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
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Insults

Insults

10 Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Polly wanna ask what you meant by that, exactly?

Science & Nature

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Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words (or Phrases) Birds Seem to Be Saying

When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

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
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Word History

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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.
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