Words

Here's how to figure it out once and for all.

All you need for this easy grammar check is a couple of pronouns you already know how to use correctly.

Here’s how to nail the pluralization of your name—even if there’s a possessive involved.

Pluralizing a last name can seem confusing—and it gets even more confusing when you want to make a name both plural and possessive. Here’s how to correctly do both.

The f-word is often thought of as the most useful and flexible word in English. Whether that’s true or not, the term is so successful that it’s spawned dozens of euphemisms. Here are a few of them.

Bats are homographs, homophones, and homonyms.

Here’s why some homophone examples also work as homograph and homonym examples.

‘Estás como una cabra’ means “you are like a goat.”

If you want to take your Spanish to the next level (or el siguiente nivel), why not brush up on these idioms?

Is it coleslaw or cold slaw? Deep-seated or deep-seeded? There are right answers, but the wrong ones seem kind of right, too.

This kitten is experiencing awe in the traditional sense of the word.

Sometimes words move up in the world. Their meanings change with time, becoming more positive—a process linguists call amelioration.

She's happy because she finally understands that she's lying down—not laying down.

The ‘laying vs. lying’ situation is tricky—but direct objects can help.

Don't call this "barbecuing" in front of a pitmaster.

Though they’re sometimes used interchangeably, grilling and barbecuing describe distinct methods of outdoor cooking.

New York Yankee Domingo Germán pitching a perfect game against the Oakland A's on June 28, 2023.

The perfect game is to a baseball pitcher what Moby-Dick was to Captain Ahab.

In this episode of The List Show, episode, we're breaking out some favorite old-timey insults that people should definitely start using again.

You probably shouldn’t do it—unless there really is a fire.

Back in 1919, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. sort of made it seem like it was against the law to yell “fire“ while in a crowded theater, so we understand if you’re confused.

People really, really hate the word 'moist'—and researchers may have figured out why.

You may think you detest the word ‘moist’ because of the way it sounds, but research indicates that that’s not the full story.

The definition of ‘phobia’ is similar to that of ‘fear’—but there’s a big difference in the threat level.

Atlanta’s culture doesn’t just resonate to the suburbs—it hits every corner of the country. But there’s always a chance you could get caught off guard while visiting, so here’s a handy sampler of terms to know if you decide to hold it down in A-Town.

There’s a reason nobody’s referring to the missing ‘Titanic’ submersible as a submarine.

Use these handy tips to get pronouns right.

A pronoun slip can be embarrassing, especially if you pride yourself on being generally good at using the language people have asked you to use. Why do pronoun slips happen, and why do we seem to mess up pronouns more than names or other gendered words?

A hat being thrown after Mark Stone of the Las Vegas Golden Knights scored a hat trick in game five of the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Final.

The term 'hat trick' is most associated with hockey, but that's not the sport that started it all.

What's the right way to describe a group of worms? A "bunch" may sound like a lazy descriptor, but it's correct.

Ducks would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.

A new iPhone update will spell the end for everyone’s least favorite autocorrect fail.

These linguistic illusions will hurt your brain.

Linguistic illusions—a phenomenon in which your judgment or understanding of a sentence or phrase conflicts with its actual meaning or structure—reveal how we process the world, and remind us that things aren’t always as they seem.

Matthew Macfadyen and Sarah Snook in 'Succession.'

The Roy family of 'Succession' is pretty foul-mouthed, but are they the filthiest TV characters?

The first African American dictionary of its kind is due in 2025.

The years-in-the-making Oxford Dictionary of African American English will offer proper attribution to words and phrases that originated in Black culture.

Where does this literary device come from, and why is it named after a fish?

The figurative phrase is more than 200 years old, but the obscure etymology of a 'red herring' is a fishy story that is itself a red herring.

A Simple Trick for Remembering When To Use ‘Who’ vs. ‘Whom’

To Apostrophe or Not to Apostrophe: How to Pluralize Your Last Name

11 Successful (and Silly) Euphemisms for the F-Word

Homonym vs. Homophone vs. Homograph: What’s the Difference?

20 Spanish Idioms You’ll Love

15 Commonly Misheard Phrases That Actually Make Sense

19 Words That Used to Mean Something Negative

Lay vs. Lie: When to Use Each

Barbecuing vs. Grilling: What’s the Difference?

Perfect Game vs. No-Hitter vs. Shutout: What’s the Difference?

16 Old-Timey Insults For Modern Conversations

Is It Illegal to Falsely Shout 'Fire' in a Crowded Theater?

The Science Behind Why People Hate the Word ‘Moist’

Fear vs. Phobia: What’s the Difference?

20 Atlanta Slang Terms You Should Know

Submarine vs. Submersible: What’s the Difference?

Why It Can be Hard to Get Pronouns Right, According to Linguistics

Where Does the Phrase ‘Hat Trick’ Come From?

50 Collective Nouns for Groups of Animals

Your Ducking iPhone Will Soon Stop Autocorrecting the F-Word to ‘Duck’

5 Linguistic Illusions That Will Make You Go “Wait, What?”

The #@!*~ Most Swear-Filled TV Show Finales of All Time

Scholars Have Released the First Words Chosen for The Oxford Dictionary of African American English

Where Did the Phrase 'Red Herring' Come From?