Wordplay: For the Love of Language | Merriam-Webster

Popular

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

Heads up: one is 'vulgar'

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Our maraca shake brings all the hautbois to the yard

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words (or Phrases) Birds Seem to Be Saying

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

Look what you made us do

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels

We'd like to not buy a vowel

12 More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Words beloved even by cranky fans and pettichaps

9 Superb Owl Words

Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all? We do!

15 Words That Used to Mean Something Different

Including the secret history of 'secretary'

Word Choices

Gabrielle Zevin

Emily Flake

New Yorker Cartoonist

Celeste Ng

Eli Cymet

Video Game Writer/Producer, Cuphead

Emma Straub

Novelist and Children’s Book Author

Arts & Culture

What Does 'Eighty-Six' Mean?

We won't refuse you service

11 Words Used to Great Effect by Edgar Allan Poe

The Vocabulary in the Rue Morgue

Has ‘supper’ always meant ‘dinner?'

Your grandmother might answer differently.

10 Phrases from Shakespeare

Where the "wild goose chase" comes from

7 Words from Political Scandals

Behind the smoke-filled rooms

Foreign

17 English Words That Come From Japanese

Some borrowed words don't get returned

All About Latin Plurals

Check your dictionary

8 Words We Stole from French

Spoiler: We stole way more than 8

Digging Up the Latin Roots of 14 Abbreviations

Beyond 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Skunk, Bayou, and Other Words with Native American Origins

You've used more than you might think

Games & Hobbies

10 Words for Lesser-Known Games and Sports

Are you ready for some stoolball?

A Player's Guide to 'Q' without 'U' Words

Remember this and win.

Know Your Baseball Idioms

Our national pastime. No, the other one.

Why 'Love' Means "Nothing"

In tennis. This is about tennis.

The Scoop on 'The Proof Is in the Pudding'

A delicious question

Science & Nature

Fruit vs. Vegetable

Are you sure you know which is what?

7 Especially Fitting Common Names for Plants

So you don't mix up your Swiss Cheese plants with your Dutchman's Breeches

12 Words for Signs of Spring

Spring is springing

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

A bouquet of floral origin stories

What is a 'coulrophobe' so afraid of?

Unusual Phobias, Vol. 2

Word History

Quick: Read This!

'Quick' once had a very different meaning

'Handsome,' 'Geek,' and 8 More Words That Changed Their Meanings

Language evolves

13 New Words for Old Things

When did 'mail' become 'snail mail'?

7 Run-Down Words That Have Seen Better Days

They've taken a hit but are still standing.

Compound Words That Used to Make a Lot More Sense

How 'jack' met 'pot.' How 'wed' met 'lock.'