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Word of the Day, facts and observations on language, lookup trends, and wordplay from the editors at Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Springfield, MA
Joined December 2009

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    Dictionaries ❌ make up words ❌ endorse the concepts described by the words they enter ✅ describe and document the way language is used and the way it evolves

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  2. Early football fields were marked in a grid pattern rather than parallel lines, which led to the nickname 'gridiron' (previously a type of grill grate used for torture).

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  7. 📈'Perfidy': the quality or state of being faithless or disloyal; treachery

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  8. 'Drunkery' (essentially meaning “place where one gets drunk”) has been in use since the early 19th century.

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  9. 'Cheeseparer' - a skinflint 'Quakebuttock' - a coward 'Bumblepuppist' - a bad whist player

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  10. Retweeted
    Jan 31

    "If you're partial to flat adverbs, you can take comfort in the fact that history—and the dictionary—is on your side. You may even decide to ignore the competing -ly versions entire."

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  12. calumny blindside rube pandemic A look at the words from this last week of January:

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  14. We're running a 2-for-1 special on words today: 'Misologist' - one given to misology (a hatred of argument, reasoning, or enlightenment)

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  16. 'Throttlebottom' (an innocuously inept and futile person in public office) comes from the name of a character in the 1931 musical 'Of Thee I Sing.'

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  17. Happy 100th birthday to these words! (Or, from the English language's perspective, these *children*.)

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  18. How well do you remember all the words of 2020 thus far?

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  19. A nice term for a cold time: 'Apricity' - the warmth of the sun in winter

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  20. 📈Searches are spiking today for 'l'état, c'est moi,' meaning "I myself am the nation."

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