play video title attorney generals
Commonly Confused

Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.


'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

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play video title attorney generals
Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

play video his or her
Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

 

The awkward case of 'his or her'

play hot mess
Hot Mess

 

Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings

play calendar that says day today
Is It 'Day today' or 'Day-to-day'?

 

What about Day Tomorrow?

play video how a word gets into the dicionary
How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

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How to Remember 'Affect' and 'Effect'

 

A simple way to keep them apart. (Most of the time.)

play video cynic
The History of 'Cynic'

 

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.