play backward index mystery
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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play backward index mystery
The True Story of the Backward Index

 

These people needed a computer

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Words of the Year: 1066

 

English was never the same after the Norman Conquest

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When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

play mrs malaprop
What is a malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

play video ghost words
How a Ghost Word Appeared in the Dictionary

 

An imaginary word that snuck into the dictionary