Words

Get ready to step into the squared circle.

You don’t need to be a smark to appreciate these pro wrestling slang terms (but it might help).

African American English derives from a historical past of contact between multiple language speakers. It varies across age, ethnicity, class, and gender. There is more than one AAE.

African descendants in the U.S. have been speaking varieties of English, today known as African American Language (AAL), for many centuries. Here's what you should know.

'Clatterfart' and 'twattle-basket' are way more entertaining than 'chatterbox.'

We all know someone who never seems to stop talking. They’re a yammerer, a babbler, a chatterbox—but they’re also a blatherskite, a clatterfart, and a twattle-basket.

A lorry by any other name would carry as much cargo.

It wasn’t inspired by a beast of burden named Laurie, if that’s what you assumed.

Language is a continual process of evolution, but these words—from pea to sherry—changed thanks to outright mistakes.

It’s the most frequent word in the English language, accounting for around 4 percent of all the words we write or speak. But what the word 'the' means is surprisingly complicated.

You can run fast, and you can hold fast.

You're about to stumble into the looking-glass world of contronyms—words that are their own antonyms.

‘Possum’ and ‘opossum’ are sometimes synonyms—but sometimes they refer to different animals. (Also, there’s a chance you've been pronouncing ‘opossum’ wrong all along.)

Just a couple of friends getting peloothered circa 1915.

Nothing makes you feel more like a flivver than getting too peloothered and waking up with the woofits.

The next time you go to Ireland, you’ll know what they mean when they say “craic.”

Do you know your 'craic' from your 'cat'? If you read this wee list, no one will be able to slag you.

There are some good ones—we pinkie promise.

The dictionary’s new words range from acronyms like ‘CODA’ to slang like ‘sh**housery.”

You use your hands every day to do thousands of things, but have you ever wondered why you refer to your fingers by names like 'thumb' and 'pinky'?

The origin of the word 'astronaut' just makes sense.

After a just little consideration, these word origins seem obvious once you know them.

Use these slang terms the next time you visit Cleveland.

Memorize these terms so you can sound like a native.

Do you know these words for other words?

There are dozens of little-known and little-used words referring to other words, describing their form, their origin, or their use.

Mispronouncing words can happen when you least expect.

These 2022 buzzwords have led to some pretty cringe-worthy mispronunciations.

Some common traits of creative types can be objectively measured.

A simple quiz can shed some light on how you problem-solve.

Whether you say xīnnián kuàilè (“happy New Year” in Chinese) or gelukkig nieuwjaar (“happy New Year” in Dutch), there are plenty of ways to ring in 2023.

Have you ever ridden one of Pittsburgh’s inclines?

Pittsburgh residents may seem like they speak a different language. And in a way, they do: Residents call their distinct dialect Pittsburghese. Here are some slang terms to know so you don’t look too much like a tourist.