WORDS

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'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.)

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'?

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

Memorize these terms so you can sound like a native.

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

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.

Use these synonyms to reboot your vocabulary.

Why let 'tis have all the fun? This season, get in the proclitic spirit with these 10 other charming word-beginning contractions.

To win Wordle, it helps to know what the new editor might be thinking.