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Est. 1828
Wordplay

Arts & Culture

10 Words for Food with Unfortunate Names

All of them may be delicious, but one is offal

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

And why isn't it 'bury the lead'?

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

Spoiler alert: they all come from French

11 Words Used to Great Effect by Edgar Allan Poe

The Vocabulary in the Rue Morgue

Has ‘supper’ always meant ‘dinner?'

Your grandmother might answer differently.

10 Phrases from Shakespeare

Where the "wild goose chase" comes from

7 Words from Political Scandals

Behind the smoke-filled rooms

Stay Woke

Tracing the history of 'woke'

15 Cheffy Words for Chefs (and Everyone Else)

Including 'cheffy'

What exactly is a 'liberal'?

No one wants a 'servile arts' degree

The Opposite of Déjà Vu

When the familiar becomes unrecognizable

If You Like to Complain About 'Decimate'...

You'll love to hate these other words!

Ten Kinds of Happiness

Joyful words from around the world

What's so extra about 'extra-virgin'?

The technical vocabulary hiding in your kitchen cabinet

Why Jaywalking is Called Jaywalking

The shape of the letter J has nothing to do with it

10 Words Conjuring Hell and the Devil

Going beyond the fire and brimstone

The Hilarious History of 'OK'

English's most successful export

Ten More Words from Taylor Swift Songs

… Ready for them?

The History of 'Wag the Dog'

Making a big show about it

17 Words for Dog Breeds

If you love dogs and words, you’re barking up the right tree

Word Icons

Legendary figures and the words that define them

8 Delicious Words with Inedible Meanings

Which one is the apple of your eye?

'Dumbledore', 'Hippogriff', and 11 More Real Words from Harry Potter

Muggles welcome.
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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries.  Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

cordial

Listen to the pronunciation of cordial

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