Words

How many of these colors did you know about?

A vast vocabulary of words have been invented, borrowed, and accumulated over the centuries to describe almost every color and shade imaginable.

‘For Pete’s sake’ originated around the early 20th century, but the Pete in question may have lived long before that.

If you can do today's crossword puzzles, you can do this one.

Try your hand at the 1913 diamond grid that kicked off the crossword puzzle craze.

The answer is a bit complicated.

These 17 synonyms for sex earned a place in the ‘1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.’

While your Deaf friends might get a good laugh when you accidentally sign “f**k you” instead of “thank you,” it’s still best to know the correct signs when interacting within the Deaf community.

You'd be surprised how many common tech terms get mispronounced.

Discover the most commonly mispronounced tech terms and brand names, and settle once and for all whether it’s ”jif or ”gif.”

‘Of course’ is one of the most versatile ‘yes’ synonyms we have. But what does it actually mean?

Knowing a bit of Dutch slang will not just help you find your bearings when you visit Amsterdam and its surroundings, but also earn you respect from the locals—who, despite being great at English, have a strong connection to their mother tongue.

Spoiler alert: This ladybug isn’t actually a bug.

The difference between bugs and insects comes down to more than just semantics. Both terms have scientific definitions.

Here are a few charming, cute, and kooky kudos from the days of yore.

We’re all familiar with the feeling of having an idea or subject stuck in your head that makes it difficult to think about anything else. But why (and when) did we start comparing that experience to a bee buzzing around in your hat?

People who were up to no good should have been on the lookout for slops (police) who wanted to put them away for neves (seven years).

Back slang is kind of like a lexical puzzle that everyone from costermongers and criminals of the Victorian era to today’s Wordle fans can appreciate.

Need a better word to describe what ails you? Look no further than this list of old, unusual ways to describe your aches, pains, and whatever else is happening in your body.

When TVs became popular in the 20th century, some people started calling it ‘the tube.’ That nickname soon spawned an even catchier one: ‘the boob tube.’

Here's how to figure it out once and for all.

All you need for this easy grammar check is a couple of pronouns you already know how to use correctly.

Here’s how to nail the pluralization of your name—even if there’s a possessive involved.

Pluralizing a last name can seem confusing—and it gets even more confusing when you want to make a name both plural and possessive. Here’s how to correctly do both.

The f-word is often thought of as the most useful and flexible word in English. Whether that’s true or not, the term is so successful that it’s spawned dozens of euphemisms. Here are a few of them.