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Word History

The History of 'Cynic'

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

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The History of 'Cynic'

 

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

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Is there one standard way?

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Old-School Grammar

 

Many of today's grammar rules can be traced to the opinions of one 18th century writer.

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'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

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Affect vs. Effect

 

Here's the lowdown on what may be the most confusing pair of words in the English language.

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English was never the same after the Norman Conquest

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Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings

Games & Quizzes

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
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