There are word nerds, and then there’s the woman who set up a folding chair on sidewalks throughout the country, cheerfully dispensing tips about grammar. She recounts her adventures in a new book. And the story of the brilliant pioneer of computing...
The word antidisestablishmentarianism first appeared in the 1890s, denoting “opposition to ending the Church of England’s status as the official state church”—the disestablishment of the church, in other words. This word didn’t take off in the U.S...
Don from San Mateo, Florida, recalls that when he asked his mother what he was getting for Christmas, she’d reply with: I got you a fastareus. It’s bigger than a breadbox and smaller than an elephant. His father also used fastareus as a placeholder...
So you think you can spell? Youngsters in modern spelling bees are expected to memorize a wide range of words, from chemical processes to names of rare animals. Also: In many languages, the word for “mother” begins with the letter M — but not in all...
J.P. in Temecula, California, is a high schooler studying French and Spanish. He notes that the Spanish word con means “with” and English has some linguistically related words, such as congress, which suggests “coming together” and compress...
The phrase old as Methuselah describes someone quite advanced in years. In ancient scripture, Methuselah was a man who somehow lived to the ripe old age of 969. Plus, a heartwarming book for children tells the story of how a Puerto Rican family...