Words

8 British Expressions, Explained

The British have many delightful and colorful expressions that often make no sense to the rest of the world.

The Delicious Origins of 11 Fruitful Expressions

The fleshy, edible, seed-bearing parts of plants are a fruitful source of terms and phrases. We’ve picked eleven for you.

The Play That Gave Us the Word Robot

Humans have long been obsessed with the idea of man-like machines they could dominate—or be dominated by. But the word 'robot' is just 90 years old, and the blockbuster play that introduced the word has long since been forgotten.

Do You Use One of 2015's Worst Passwords?

"123456" and "password" users, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

21 Amusing Greek-Americanisms English Speakers Might Recognize

Daráit!

12 “Made-in-Japan” English Terms that Might Confuse English Speakers

These English words have been so thoroughly Japan-ized, they're barely recognizable.

11 Words for Fictional Substances

In science fiction, fantasy, and superhero stories, people frequently do the impossible—fly at light speed, travel through time, be Superman, etc. The creators of such stories sometimes try to do something even more impossible by scientifically explaining

The American Dialect Society's Word of the Year is 'They'

A big night for the gender-neutral singular pronoun.

51 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent

Sometimes we must turn to other languages to find the perfect word (or 'le mot juste') for a particular situation. Here are a bunch of foreign words with no direct English equivalent.

51 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent

Sometimes we must turn to other languages to find the perfect word (or 'le mot juste') for a particular situation. Here are a bunch of foreign words with no direct English equivalent.

Embiggen was an obscure old word before The Simpsons brought it back.

10 Words The Simpsons Made Famous

After hundreds of episodes—and with no end in sight—'The Simpsons' has changed the way we talk to one another.

Autocorrect Your Way to New Vocabulary With This App

The Words U keyboard will suggest new words based on "personas" like "The English Aristocrat."

11 Swindling Slang Terms from The Grifters

The film, which was released 25 years ago this month, is rife with criminal cant, some of which might be older than you think.

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13 Words To Know Before You Try to Cook Thanksgiving Dinner

From our friends at Vocabulary.com, here are a baker's dozen (that means 13) of essential recipe jargon collected from Thanksgiving recipes that have appeared in The New York Times.

15 Words That Don't Mean What They Used To

Want to make conversations more fun? Consider the former meanings of these words.

70 Totally Amazing Common Names for Fungi

These common names sound like they're straight out of a Harry Potter potions list.

15 Basic Words That Are Etymological Mysteries

All words had to start somewhere—but sometimes, after much searching and analyzing, no satisfying origin explanation can be found.

The Origins of 11 Famous Star Trek Lines

Few franchises have had the cultural impact of the various 'Star Trek' television series and movies, and nowhere is that more evident than in the snippets of dialogue that have become a part of the American vernacular.

12 Old Words That Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms

Here are 12 lucky words that survived in the English language by getting preserved as part of commonly used idioms.

9 Everyday Words You Didn’t Know Could Mean BS

Some common words that usually don’t have a whiff of tommyrot are also in the BS lexicon.

10 Mnemonic Tricks for Never Forgetting Anything Again

Your guide to never forgetting anything again.

The Origins of 14 Cocktail Names

Here are the stories—and theories—behind 14 of your favorite alcoholic tipples, from bellinis to mimosas.

35 Creative Slang Terms for Death From the Past 600 Years

Many of these slang terms for death are still familiar, but quite a few are less known—and still delightful.

What's a 'Wheelhouse' and Why is Something in Mine?

It's all about boats. And baseball.