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Words Matter

The True Story of the Backward Index

These people needed a computer


There it sits, hidden in plain view on a set of shelves in the basement of the Merriam-Webster offices: the Backward Index. But why would anyone type out 315,000 words spelled in reverse?

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The True Story of the Backward Index

 

These people needed a computer

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Hopefully

 

We believe the popular usage of this word is correct

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An Abbreviated History of American English Spelling

 

Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut

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Is It 'Hanger' or 'Hangar'?

 

How to remember which is which

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Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.