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  • cool color Cool facts about the word "orange" Annie Rauwerda
  • fajita scheme Fascism and fajitas have the same etymological roots Thom Dunn
  • PBS The origins of the word "monster" Gareth Branwyn
  • words are weird How the etymology of "Arctic" complicates the cryptic etymology of "bear" Thom Dunn
  • Snickers An etymologist explains how Halloween candy favorites got their names Rusty Blazenhoff
  • spook The racist history of the word "spook." Thom Dunn
  • christopher columbus Never forget Christopher Columbus's linguistic crimes and horniness for manatees Thom Dunn
  • lexicography Famed lexicographer's new book "Word Perfect" released with a ton of typos David Pescovitz
  • barrels A "buttload" is apparently a formal unit of imperial measurement Thom Dunn
  • Bannatyne Manuscript The oldest written record of "fuck" has been discovered — and it comes from a plague quarantine Thom Dunn
  • plays The word "robot" originated in this 1921 Czech play David Pescovitz
  • ok OK, here's a great explainer on the origins of the word "OK" Andrea James
  • breasts Breasts aren't "boobs" or "titties" but rather "tiddies" or "titays" David Pescovitz
  • not square The story of 'cool' Rusty Blazenhoff
  • dialect Some folks call green peppers "mangoes" for a centuries-old reason Andrea James
  • ewwww What's the story with "gross?" David Pescovitz
  • dictionaries "Post-truth" is the Oxford Dictionaries word of the year David Pescovitz
  • golden ticket Scrumdiddlyumptious and other Roald Dahlesque words now in the Oxford English Dictionary David Pescovitz
  • etymology Weird has a weird history David Pescovitz
  • baby names Find out when your name was popular with Baby Name Explorer app Xeni Jardin
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