Words

TMZ rejoices.

Celebrate National Doughnut Day with this regional slang for the tasty treat, brought to you by the Dictionary of Regional American English (DARE).

You may know how to spell “victory,” but here are 25 things you might not know about the country’s best-known gathering of logophiles.

The name may seem like a perfect fit for the eye-catching accessory, but it used to describe a much different type of headgear.

Just because you're putting off work doesn't mean you can't be productive.

After three years at the top, Noah came in second.

Add some new ammunition to your Scrabble arsenal.

These everyday words look and sound perfectly innocent, but they actually have questionable origins.

One missing letter led to the Ministry of Defence accidentally hiring a seaweed expert instead of a codebreaker. Turns out that's just what they needed.

Photo illustration by Mental Floss. Images: iStock.

Better not call anyone a "stoolpigeon."

Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language was published 263 years ago this month.

Welcome to the United States of Amerigo!

The elusive art of poetry isn’t so hard to master if you know how to set the stage.

Celebrate today's International Day of Happiness with these old-school words and phrases.

An incredible number of lines from William Shakespeare's plays have become so ingrained in modern vernacular that we no longer recognize them as lines from plays at all.

"It's a perfectly cromulent word."

If you were never quite sure how to pronounce the name of beloved French kitchenware brand Le Creuset, don't fret: For the longest time, southern chef, author, and PBS personality Vivian Howard wasn't sure either.

George Bernard Shaw, a member of the Simplified Spelling Soesiety

These British reformers wanted to ditch "i before e" for something a little simpler. Who could blame them?

The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary defined 414,825 words. The problem? They forgot one.

Contrary to his well-known slogan “speak softly and carry a big stick,” Theodore Roosevelt was hardly one to speak softly.

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'Embiggen,' a Made-Up Word from The Simpsons, Has Officially Landed in the Dictionary

Here's the Right Way to Pronounce Kitchenware Brand Le Creuset

The Early 20th Century Society That Tried to Make English Spelling More Intuitive

The Time the Oxford English Dictionary Forgot a Word

11 Words and Phrases Popularized by Teddy Roosevelt