WORDS

Pigeons aren’t known to be particularly talkative birds.

Take a look at these 13 names from across the world that describe sleep paralysis and the demon once believed to cause it.

Whether you call it Mischief Night, Devil's Night, or something else, it all means one thing: wanton destruction of property.

The origin of ‘towhead’ has roots in 14th-century England, when ‘tow’ often referred to textile fibers.

The pronunciations of names like ‘Yves’ and ‘Geneviève’ aren’t hard once you’ve heard them a few times.

The difference between misinformation and disinformation boils down to the intent behind it (or lack thereof). Plus, a handy trick for knowing which term to use when the time comes.

Ghosts, ghouls, and monsters turn up everywhere at Halloween—including in our language, and sometimes where you least expect.

When talking about the fundament, some terms have slipped through the crack of lexical history—so please enjoy these old and enjoyable terms for the hindquarters.

If you were an 18th-century settler in Australia with no knowledge of marsupials, you just might decide to call a koala a ‘bear,’ right?

The rich history of the English language is full of similar directional words that are cool but uncommon, like ‘pancakewards,’ ‘couchward,’ and ‘pocketwards.’

‘Avocado’ comes to us from Nahuatl—and it doesn’t mean what you might think it means.

Ghost words have nothing to do with otherworldly apparitions, but they’re enough to scare the headwords off lexicographers.