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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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On Contractions of Multiple Words

 

You all would not have guessed some of these

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Webster's Dictionary of 1864

 

The landmark edition that transformed the way dictionaries are made.

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Words of the Year: 1066

 

English was never the same after the Norman Conquest

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'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'?

 

We're gonna stop you right there

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Ending a Sentence with a Preposition

 

An old-fashioned rule we can no longer put up with.

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Drive Safe: In Praise of Flat Adverbs

 

You don't have to end all your adverbs in -ly to talk right.

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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 You can make only 12 words. Pick the best ones!
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
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Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...