WORDS

11 Words That Don't Mean What They Sound Like

'Formication' may sound sexy, but it actually means "an abnormal sensation as of ants creeping over the skin."

18 Complicated Scientific Ideas Explained Simply

Geologists Anne Jefferson and Chris Rowan created the Tumblr "Ten Hundred Words of Science" to collect examples of scientific text rendered into up-goer five speak.

How Many Words Do "Eskimos" Really Have for Snow?

There are three answers: A heck of a lot, not that many, and a whole heck of a lot. Or, if you want specifics: 5, 2, and at least 99.

50 Collective Nouns to Bolster Your Vocabulary

Start working these into conversation.

Infographic Names 21 Emotions with No English Word Equivalents

While we may have many words we can use to represent our emotions, there are some feelings that no English word can describe. But that doesn't mean other languages don't have words for them—and as part of an ongoing project called Unspeakableness, design

Why Did "The Ukraine" Become Just "Ukraine"?

Until a few decades ago, Ukraine was almost always referred to as the Ukraine. Then people started dropping the definite article, and now you almost never see it. What gives?

12 Enjoyable Names for Relatively Common Things

Fancy yourself a logophile ... and didn't have to look up "logophile"? See if you know these 12 words for common things.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people had it in for the word demote.

12 Common Words That Were Once Considered Terrible Jargon

In 1931, a Western Union official said that "there can be no apology for contact." Six years later, the word was number four on a list of the 10 most "overworked" words.

45 Everyday Words that Mean Something Different to WWII Navy Veterans

For most folks, the abdomen is the part of the body between the chest and the pelvis. For a generation of men who took to the seas during World War II, though, abdomen is also a 5.3-mile long uninhabited chunk of rock sitting somewhere in the middle of A

The Word "Droid" is a Registered Trademark of LucasFilm Ltd.

Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his “Daily Knowledge” newsletter, click

Why Are Potatoes Called Spuds?

Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his "Daily Knowledge" newsletter, click

10 Historical Euphemisms for Infidelity

Here are 10 historical slang terms and euphemisms for infidelity that you probably won’t see in headlines today.

19 Confounding Discrepancies Between American English and British English

Don’t freak out if your flatmate says he will be sure to knock you up in the morning.

26 Beatnik Slang Phrases You Should Start Using

Plenty of phrases from the first self-described hipster generation have lasted into modern conversation: people still get bent out of shape, annoying people bug us and muscular guys are still built, just to scan the b-words. Here are 26 words and phrases

11 Words With Politically Incorrect Etymologies

At various moments in its life, a word will hop languages, change meanings, travel through sinister moments and land in pleasant ones. But no matter how many times it’s superimposed, and how far it gets from its original source, a word doesn’t let go of i

19 Old-Timey Slang Terms to Bolster Your Vocabulary

Happy cabbage: A sizable amount of money to be spent on self-satisfying things.

53 Modern Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Oxford Dictionary Online is a warehouse of over 600,000 words. Despite this large arsenal, we continue to coin, clip, and blend new words into existence.

What's the Origin of 'Let the Cat Out of the Bag'?

There are two popularly cited origins for the phrase "let the cat out of the bag," but neither is very clearly recorded as leading to it.

Why Are There Different Names for the Same Country?

Reader Jonathan wrote in to ask, “Why do we call other countries by names that they do not use themselves? Where did these names come from and why do we use them?"

9 Common Phrases Longer Than They Need to Be

The word pleonasm describes phrases that use more words than necessary to get across a point. Sometimes a pleonasm is used for effect. Other times it's just redundant. Here are some examples people use all the time. Add your own in the

12 Really Forced Portmanteaux That Didn't Catch On

There are times when one big word can more effectively do the job of two words. These are not those times.

11 Obscure Regional Phrases We All Should Start Using

Work these into conversation.

19 Obscure Regional Words All Americans Should Adopt Immediately

When traveling across the United States, it sometimes feels like the locals are speaking a whole different language.

"Luck of the Irish" is an Old Mining Expression

"It carried with it a certain tone of derision."

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