Wordplay

Arts & Culture

'Dumbledore', 'Hippogriff', and 11 More Real Words from Harry Potter

Muggles welcome.

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

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

17 Words for Dog Breeds

If you love dogs and words, you’re barking up the right tree

How 'Mardi Gras' Got Its Name

Quick: eat everything in the house.

Heroin, Granola, & More: Products That Became Words

Top 10 Words from Trademarks

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.

9 Financial Words With Surprising Origins

In the beginning, 'income' simply meant "coming in"

10 Phrases from Shakespeare

Where the "wild goose chase" comes from

7 Words from Political Scandals

Behind the smoke-filled rooms

Stay Woke

Tracing the history of 'woke'

15 Cheffy Words for Chefs (and Everyone Else)

Including 'cheffy'

What exactly is a 'liberal'?

No one wants a 'servile arts' degree

If You Like to Complain About 'Decimate'...

You'll love to hate these other words!

Ten Kinds of Happiness

Joyful words from around the world

What's so extra about 'extra-virgin'?

The technical vocabulary hiding in your kitchen cabinet

Why Jaywalking is Called Jaywalking

The shape of the letter J has nothing to do with it

10 Words Conjuring Hell and the Devil

Going beyond the fire and brimstone

The Hilarious History of 'OK'

English's most successful export

Ten More Words from Taylor Swift Songs

… Ready for them?

The History of 'Wag the Dog'

Making a big show about it

Word Icons

Legendary figures and the words that define them

8 Delicious Words with Inedible Meanings

Which one is the apple of your eye?
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