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"

'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

9 Superb Owl Words

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

10 Words for Lesser-Known Games and Sports

Are you ready for some stoolball?

11 Words for Misers and Cheapskates

We won't be stingy with them

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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How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

11 Words Used to Great Effect by Edgar Allan Poe

The Vocabulary in the Rue Morgue

Has ‘supper’ always meant ‘dinner?'

Your grandmother might answer differently.

10 Phrases from Shakespeare

Where the "wild goose chase" comes from

7 Words from Political Scandals

Behind the smoke-filled rooms
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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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Giving Meaning to the Latin (and French) in 'The Exorcist'

Say "Howdy" to these Latin phrases

A Guide to the Names of French Sauces

17 saucy terms (and how to say them)

10 Words from Nahuatl, the Language of the Aztecs

Avocado, chocolate, and more

17 Words With No English Equivalent

Unique words from around the globe

8 Words We Stole from French

Spoiler: We stole way more than 8
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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.

8 Prohibition-Era Words

From bathtub gin to the blind pig

7 Deliciously Cheesy Cheese Words

Cheese it!
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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

7 Phrases That Are Just So Metal

Some of these phrases have magnetism.

7 Luscious, Fruit-Based Idioms

For a touch of sweetness or acidity

Scientific Words for Harsh Speech

They may bite, burn, or leave a bad taste.

Useful and Obscure Words for Autumn

Settle in and get cozy with them
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Word History

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15 Words That Used to Mean Something Different

Including the secret history of 'secretary'

Etymologies for Every Day of the Week

The sun, the moon, four gods, and a goddess.

Eavesdrop, Fiasco, and 8 More Words with Surprising Origins

Including some trivia on ‘trivia’

9 Christmas Words with Surprising Histories

There's no bread in 'gingerbread'

Funner, Stupider, and Other Words That Are in Fact Real

Don't argue with the dictionary
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