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A bobolink, said to have been named for the call it makes

32 Animals Named After the Noises They Make

Onomatopoeia is responsible for a lot more words than you might think. Laugh might have been invented to sound like, well, a laugh. Owl, crow, and raven are all descended from Old English words (ule, crawe, hræfn) that were meant to imitate the owl’s hoot

10 Fascinating Facts About the Thesaurus for National Thesaurus Day

Writers often turn to a thesaurus to diversify their vocabulary and add nuance to their prose. But looking up synonyms and antonyms in a thesaurus can help anyone—writer or not—find the most vivid, incisive words to communicate thoughts and ideas.

10 Endangered Alphabets You Should See Before It's Too Late

A Vermont-based writer is cataloguing rare scripts that are disappearing due to political conflicts and globalization.

Rebecca O'Connell (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) (iStock)

50 Old British Dialect Words We Should Bring Back

9. CRUMPSY: Short-tempered and irritable.

15 Tasty Bits of Pizza Slang

Take your 'za vocabulary beyond 'za.

If You Want to Be a More Effective Writer, Stop Using Utilize and These Other 12 Words

Following this tip may be the easiest way to improve your writing.

Waffle House employees must learn some very specific lingo.

6 Bits of Waffle House Kitchen Slang

And you thought choosing whether you wanted your Waffle House hash browns smothered, covered, or chunked was complicated.

Google Assistant's New 'Interpreter' Mode Can Translate 27 Languages in Real Time

Including French, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese.

7 Common Words With Little-Known Relatives

When some words hit the big time, they left clunky related words behind.

30 Old (and Useful) Slang Names for Parts of the Body

File these away in your brainpan.

22 Brilliant Old Nicknames For Animals

Try using these at your next visit to the zoo.

20 Words Turning 100 in 2019

From "apple-knocker" to "Xanadu."

Nomophobia Is Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year For 2018—And You Might Have It

It's something many of us have experienced.

iStock.com/MicroStockHub (speech bubble)

20 Spanish Phrases You Should Be Using

Add a little fun to your vocabulary by dropping one of these 20 long-overlooked Spanish phrases into conversation.

If You Can Correctly Pronounce Every Word in This 1920s Poem, You’re Among the English-Speaking Elite

It starts out easy and gets progressively harder.

5 Words That Are Spelled Weird Because Someone Got the Etymology Wrong

The way a word is spelled tells a part of its history. But for a few words, the spelling gets the history totally wrong.

20 French Phrases You Should Be Using

According to some estimates, 30 percent of the English language—or roughly one in three English words—is derived directly from French.

These words are so wonderful even Santa wants to use them.

19 Long-Lost Words To Revive This Christmas

Every time Christmas rolls around it brings with it its own vocabulary of words you barely hear the rest of the year. Here are a few we should bring back.

Photo illustration by Mental Floss. Images: iStock/chokkicx (flag), iStock.com/JakeOlimb (speech bubble with heart)

15 Adorably Wunderbar German Terms of Endearment

If you're looking for a new nickname for your sweetheart, try hasenfürzchen. (Just don't tell them it means "bunny fart" in German.)

Jimmy Dean is Petitioning Merriam-Webster to Change the Meaning of 'Sandwich'

Does a sandwich need bread to be called a sandwich?

What Is Catgut Made From?

No kitties were harmed in the making of your tennis racket. Or violin. Or sutures.

What Words Were First Recorded the Year You Were Born? Merriam-Webster Breaks it Down

"Meme" is older than you might think.

An American Sign Language Starbucks Has Opened in Washington, D.C.

It's conveniently located near the world's only liberal arts college for Deaf students.

4 Times Caps Lock Got Someone Into Trouble

It's CAPS LOCK DAY today. Celebrate responsibly.

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