Wordplay

Science & Nature

'Tis the (Flu) Season: The History of ‘Influenza’

The stars aligned so you could feel miserable.

A Cast of 12 Astrological Words

It's written in the stars

9 Superb Owl Words

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

The Many Origin Stories of 'Nerd'

Theories from there to back again

12 Pairs of Commonly Confused Animal Words

The animal words went in two by two, hurrah, hurrah!

7 Common Idioms That Come from Chickens

Don't ask us which came first

12 Bird Names that Sound Like Compliments

From the godwits at your favorite dictionary

'Opossum,' O Lovely 'Possum'

On a marsupial with various names

'Blue Moon,' 'Wolf Moon,' and Other Moons to Look for Throughout the Year

More moons than you can shake a stick at

What Is a 'Coulrophobe' So Afraid Of?

Unusual Phobias, Vol. 2

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

A bouquet of floral origin stories

12 Words for Signs of Spring

Spring is springing

7 Especially Fitting Common Names for Plants

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

Fruit vs. Vegetable

Are you sure you know which is what?

When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words (or Phrases) Birds Seem to Be Saying

12 Words That Secretly Come from Body Parts

Anatomy As Etymology

Ten Words from the Harvest

A bumper crop for the feast.

Civil Twilight & Calculating The Day

It's not part of the vampire book series.

How many scruples in a dram?

The origins of 8 units of measurement

An Effective History of 'Placebo'

The active ingredient is knowledge.

9 Slang Words With Academic Origins

Class is in session.

A 'Ladybug's' Spots

No, there are no gentlemanbugs
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