WORDS

Only a handful of English words start with ‘gh’—what gives?

Discover the origins of the classic phrase 'knock on wood,' which could be tied to a Victorian-era children's game or have more direct ties to old pagan traditions.

See which text abbreviations have people turning to Google.

In this episode of The List Show, host and Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy breaks down some commonly confused pairs.

From polite offers to emphatic exclamations, English speakers have cleverly twisted negative expressions to mean something rather different.

You know to say, “I’ve got dibs!” but what if someone else says, “I wackie that doughnut,” or “Let's go snacks on it”? You might lose out on some chocolatey goodness. Be prepared by bulking up your dibs vocabulary.

This episode of The List Show is all about why we say what we say—from the poem that gave us ‘albatross around your neck’ to the hands that gave us ‘hands down.’

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

From Henry David Thoreau's 'Autumnal Tints' to the origins of the term 'leaf-peeper.'

Where did this bizarre word come from, and how has it changed over the centuries?

Popular theories involve pirates—and police.