play video 20014 word of the year
Words of the Year

2014 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

The inside scoop behind our 2014 Word of the Year selections.


The inside scoop behind our 2014 Word of the Year selections.

Up next

play video 20014 word of the year
2014 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

The inside scoop behind our 2014 Word of the Year selections.

play serenity carr next to an illustration of a refrigerator with the letter d in it
Why is there a 'd' in 'fridge' but not in 'refrigerator'?

 

Thawing one of the mysteries of English

play video title attorney generals
Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

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

play video how a word gets into the dicionary
How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

play body parts video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

play video old school grammar humorsome
Old-School Grammar

 

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