WORDS

9 Common Phrases Longer Than They Need to Be

The word pleonasm describes phrases that use more words than necessary to get across a point. Sometimes a pleonasm is used for effect. Other times it's just redundant. Here are some examples people use all the time. Add your own in the

12 Really Forced Portmanteaux That Didn't Catch On

There are times when one big word can more effectively do the job of two words. These are not those times.

11 Obscure Regional Phrases We All Should Start Using

Work these into conversation.

19 Obscure Regional Words All Americans Should Adopt Immediately

When traveling across the United States, it sometimes feels like the locals are speaking a whole different language.

"Luck of the Irish" is an Old Mining Expression

"It carried with it a certain tone of derision."

The Meaning of the Word "Moot" is Moot

The adjective "moot" means "open to debate." Yes, really. This is a dramatic difference from its common usage (at least in America), which basically means "not worth debating." A famous example comes from Rick Springfield's lyrics in "Jessie's Girl":

Where Did the Term "Pink Slip" Originate?

The Short Answer: No one knows, but the search has been interesting.The Long Answer: Getting a pink slip usually means you're fired.

11 Obscure 'J' Words Useful in Words With Friends

Someone recently played "jute" on me with devastating results. I decided I didn't know enough quick, hard-hitting 'J' words. Here are 11 that I just discovered: 1. Jute A strong, coarse fiber from two East Indian plants often used in making burlap and gu

What's So Special About the Cat's Pajamas?

Yesterday reader Nyghtbeauty asked, "What’s so special about 'the cat’s pajamas'?" We decided to find

Why Are the Letters in ABC Order?

The alphabet, as best as historians can tell, got its start in ancient Egypt sometime in the Middle Bronze Age, but not with the Egyptians. They were, at the time, writing with a set of hieroglyphs that were used both as representations of the consonants

17 Vowel-Free Words Acceptable in 'Words With Friends'

Don’t be down about your next panel of consonants. Instead, take the challenge as an opportunity to show off your newly acquired vowel-free vocabulary. Three-Letter

14 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent

Earlier this year, Bill DeMain introduced us to 15 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent. Now that you've integrated those into your vocabulary, here are 14

Words used incorrectly: Alas

It never ceases to amaze me how many people (smart people, mind you) don’t know the meaning of the word alas.

The Quick 10: 10 More Trademarked Words

After we published our list of 25 Brand Names People Incorrectly Use as Generic Terms, our wonderful readers responded with a host of other trademarked words and brand names that often get used as nouns and verbs. Here are 10 more! 1. JC wrote that Dumpst

Tony Webster / Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

"Chai" and "Tea" Both Mean the Same Thing

Next time you order a chai tea from your corner coffee shop, take a moment and appreciate your killer multilingual skills.

A Brief History of the Absolutely Amazing "A"

Most modern alphabets start with the letter “A,” or a near equivalent. It was also first in line in the ancient Greek and Phoenician—from which the Modern English alphabet is ultimately descended—alphabets, too. Being the gateway to the other letters and

15 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent

The Global Language Monitor estimates that there are currently 1,009,753 words in the English language. Despite this large lexicon, many nuances of human experience still leave us tongue-tied. And that’s why sometimes it’s necessary to turn to other langu

50 Words You Might Not Know Are Trademarked

Many of the items we use every day, like zippers and escalators, were once brand names. Even heroin (which no one should use any day) was a brand name. Here are some trademarked names that are often used as generic terms.

If you or someone you know collects postcards, there's a word for that.

20 Obscure Words to Describe Collectors

You probably know that numismatists study and collect coins and currency, and you may even know that philatelists study and collect stamps. But other groups of collectors have their own less-heralded nouns, too.

The Elusive Hapax Legomenon

A hapax legomenon (often abbreviated just to hapax) is a word which appears only once -- in a language, a single written work, or the entire body of work of a given author. According to Wikipedia: "Hapax legomenon is a transliteration of Greek ???? ?????

Medicine Cabinet Etymology: 12 Product Names Explained

Most medicines and over-the-counter products have names that sound like unintelligible strings of chemical jargon, or sound like they were born in a focus group. But a few familiar drugs and products have names with interesting origins. Let's take a loo

The 50 Most-Looked-Up Words from NYTimes.com

The New York Times has an online feature that allows users to get dictionary definitions of words within feature articles. Just double-click a word, a question mark appears, click that, and you get a definition. Now they've crunched the numbers and reve

Games and Their Overvalued Points

Carl Bialik of the Wall Street Journal brings us a smart article on overvalued points in games. In short, the issue is that rule changes in games like Scrabble (allowing new words like "qi" and "za") allow players a new way to exploit the system, throwin

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Believe it or not, this sentence is grammatically correct and has meaning: "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."

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