Mental Floss

WORDS

What's in a name? A lot of pronunciation mistakes.

From Sean to Anne, these names confound speakers around the world.

Grab your magnifying glass.

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

Is 'squidgy' better?

Need another word for ‘moist’ (or some other gross word)? We’ve got you.

It’s kind of weird that ‘ghost’ is spelled with a ‘gh.’

Only a handful of English words start with ‘gh’—what gives?

You better knock, knock, knock ... on wood.

Discover the origins of the classic phrase 'knock on wood,' which could be tied to a Victorian-era children's game or have more direct ties to old pagan traditions.

Do you know all of the abbreviations on this list?

See which text abbreviations have people turning to Google.

This or that?

In this episode of The List Show, host and Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy breaks down some commonly confused pairs.

How does your country rank?

It’s probably no #*$@ing surprise who came out on top—but some of the rankings might surprise you.

Grab your magnifying glass.

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

The bookworm in their native habitat.

‘Bookworm,’ which now implies someone is well-read, once meant that you were a total loser.

These things are pretty weird when you think about them.

From polite offers to emphatic exclamations, English speakers have cleverly twisted negative expressions to mean something rather different.

How do you call “dibs”?

You know to say, “I’ve got dibs!” but what if someone else says, “I wackie that doughnut,” or “Let's go snacks on it”? You might lose out on some chocolatey goodness. Be prepared by bulking up your dibs vocabulary.

”Egg on my face.”

This episode of The List Show is all about why we say what we say—from the poem that gave us ‘albatross around your neck’ to the hands that gave us ‘hands down.’

Grab your magnifying glass.

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

budweiser wassup commercial

Before it became a cultural phenomenon, Budweiser’s “Wassup” ad started as a short film.

Take your crossword puzzle skills to the next level with these tips.

If you want to raise your crossword game to the next level, grab a pencil (not a pen!) and follow these tips for success.

Was King George IV the real “Georgie Porgie”?

“Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie / Kissed the girls and made them cry.”

Grab your magnifying glass.

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

Autumn near Killington, Vermont.

From Henry David Thoreau's 'Autumnal Tints' to the origins of the term 'leaf-peeper.'

The Weird Sisters from ‘Macbeth.’

Where did this bizarre word come from, and how has it changed over the centuries?

Keep a look out for the origins of this weird phrase.

Popular theories involve pirates—and police.

In Japanese, ‘ringo’ means both “apple” and “apples.”

Across the world’s languages, nouns are surprisingly chameleonic creatures, shape-shifting and category-hopping in ways that can make your head spin.

Ignorant people are everywhere.

Here are a few words for ignorant people you might want to add to your lexicon, from ‘wantwit’ to ‘dorkmunder’ to ‘ninnyhammer.’

Bees have given us lots of idioms.

Making a beeline for the buffet table? You’re buying into some bee stereotypes.