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Words of the Year

2019 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Editor Peter Sokolowski discusses 'they' and the rest of our Word of the Year 2019 selections


How did we choose they as our Word of the Year? Peter Sokolowski explains the data behind our decisions, and how this and the other Words of the Year reflect what was on people's minds this year.

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2019 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

How we chose 'they'

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Alright vs. All Right

 

Is 'alright' all right?

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Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

 

The awkward case of 'his or her'

play video title attorney generals
Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

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

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What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'?

 

How 'literally' can mean "figuratively"

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On Contractions of Multiple Words

 

You all would not have guessed some of these

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Words of the Year: 1066

 

English was never the same after the Norman Conquest

Games & Quizzes

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. Pick the best ones!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...