Looking for a more academic word for the opposite of "hostile".

You know those words where the pronunciation makes sense, but the spelling feels unnecessarily complicated?

If you could redesign the spelling of one English word, which one would you fix?

Has anyone here noticed an uptick in the use of the word "decimating" used to mean "totally annihilating"? I see that the widespread modern use is close to this. I always learned growing up that it meant reducing the number of something by 1/10th. Every time I hear that we are decimating a species or an ecosystem, my brain immediately goes "Oh that's not that bad" when yeah, it really is.

what would be next step of this natural progression?

I love finding out that a completely ordinary word has a strange story behind how it came into the language.

What’s one word whose etymology surprised you?

Just heard a 48 hours commentator say “vanished out of thin air” 😆

Hi everyone, I made a daily spelling bee game called Beeswax (spellbeeswax.com) that I'd love for people to try out. It has had people spell words a few hundred thousand times now and been covered by LifeHacker, Morning Brew, and Scripps co-host Mina Kimes since its launch in June 2026. It's five words each day that get progressively harder, with classic spelling bee hints (audio only). Please give it a shot and let me know what you think. Thank you!

It drives me nuts when people use amount to me number. A DJ just said, "I would like to thank the amount of you who send in requests... "

People are not amounts.

I was wondering if someone could explain why the term “lived experience” might be problematic and what a better term would be. I heard an interview on a podcast where someone said they didn’t like the term but they didn’t explain why or what to use instead. Thank you!

One of my favorite word schemes is a set of three related words, the first two rhyming, and the third word as alliteration with the second rhyme word. Here are some examples like this:

Grubs, Pubs, and Pudding.

Melon, Lemon, and Lime.

Lunch, Brunch, and Breakfast.

I just really love this sequence, it itches my brain good. I can't figure out if it has a word tho, other than just explaining it as Rhyme-Rhyme/Alliteration-Alliteration.

Title. I LOVE complex words and concepts, and they give me very much an "umph" feeling. Some examples include "tactical", "manipulation", "disciplines", etc. Is it the novelty of these words if they're mainly used in academic writing or something else?

I was today years old when I realized these are often used interchangeably as verbs.

“Marinate the chicken in soy sauce and ginger.”

“Marinade the chicken with soy sauce and ginger.”

I always thought “marinade” was the noun and “marinate” was the verb. Am I wrong?

They're incredibly entertaining!

I need help settling something -
Question: When you live near a named geographic feature, like a river or a mountain, you almost never refer to that feature by it's name - am I right about this? Like if I live near to the Snake River I'm probably just calling it "the river", and everyone knows what I mean, or if I live near Mt Hood I would just call it "the mountain" instead of saying "Mt Hood" all the time. This is a thing people do, right? This is not a regionalism?

Sorry if this question is ridiculous, but I'm arguing with an English major, and I need backup.

Hello, folks! I wonder if you all could help me out. I need to vandalize something.

My son randomly got me this hat the other day.

It is the best hat I own now, except for the fact that it is WHITE. Fortunately, I have also recently purchased some permanent acrylic paint markers.

My plan is to add some bad words. I’m looking for words in any language, including fictional, and particularly words in Modern or earlier English. Phrases consisting of three words or less are also welcome. The caveat is I do not want any cussing, cursing, swearing, or slurs (unless they are so archaic as to be no longer recognizable by average people, and not effectively offensive to anybody). I would welcome words that recent terminally-online youths have attempted to cancel based on misunderstood etymology or some other nonsense.

Here are some ideas/examples:
- Gay (as in that “don’t say gay” crapfest)
- Avada Kedavra (included only to illustrate the concept—fuck JKR)
- The weird Minecraft lettering for one of the cursed enchantments
- something jn Tolkien’s Black Speech
- whatever word would be funniest in Klingon

Thank you, and may everyone’s language benefit from some added color… 🌈💫

A noun describing the situation where a brilliant plan falls apart because of one overlooked detail :D

I was thinking about the word “separate” and realised how weird it is that we pronounce the exact same spelling differently depending on its use.

For example:

“Separate the two groups.” → SEP-uh-rayt

“They’re in separate groups.” → SEP-uh-ruht

Obviously we understand which pronunciation to use without consciously thinking about it, but now that I’ve noticed it, I can’t stop thinking about how strange that is..

There are heaps of other examples too, like:

record: REK-ord / ri-KORD

present: PREZ-ent / pri-ZENT

produce: fresh PROD-yoos / to pruh-DYOOS

I know these are heteronyms, and apparently there are patterns involving stress depending on whether the word is being used as a noun, verb, adjective, etc. But I’m curious about the phenomenon more generally.

Does anyone know why English developed this tendency? Is it mostly a consequence of stress patterns and vowel reduction, or is there something more historical behind it?

Also, what are your favourite examples?

Back in the day, before airbags, it made sense to refer to them as spokes because they were long and basically just metal rods, but it seems weird to call the current little arms spokes Even the term "arm" doesn't seem quite right to me since they're sometimes as wide as they are long and are sometimes control hubs.

I have noticed an unusual uptick in the frequency I am seeing this word. It's wild. Anyone else noticing this?

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone would be able to perhaps help with this phrase that I used the other day. Pomp and stance which is essentially just the shorthand for Pomp and Circumstance.

I actually really didnt know too much about Pomp and Circumstance, however used Pomp and stance rather freely in a discussion the other day.

The friend asked, what it meant and I told them generally the same Idea as pomp and circumstance, but then wanted to check myself and Google essentially told me its not a phrase.

I have my doubts. I would not have ever used the term Pomp and Circumstance. And even when I googled it I did it similar to happenstance. Like Pompenstance. Meaning it wasnt a phrase that I read, and rather heard. All and all-- I felt quite silly.

Anyway, does anyone have any clues or references to maybe where I picked up this shorthand for pomp and circumstance.

In reference to how I used the phrase- we were discussing Whit Stillman dialogue, and I said something generally like The pomp and stance of his dialogue is half the point.

Any way, the only lead is an urban dictionary post, dated 2018 by Your Moms Butt.

Thank you

Ossicones: (noun) the bony protrusions on a giraffe’s head [from a sign at Blackpool Zoo]

Thigmotactic: (adjective) describes how a living thing moves toward or away from physical touch or contact with a solid object [from Blindsight by Peter Watts]

Morphometric: (adjective) relating to the quantitative measurement and statistical analysis of the shape, form, and size of living organisms, organs, or physical landforms [ibid]

Oogenesis: (noun) the biological process by which female gametes, or egg cells (ova), are produced and mature in the ovaries [ibid]

Attenuate: (adjective) reduced in strength, value, or made thin and slender [ibid]

Apical: (adjective) relating to, located at, or forming an apex, which is the top, tip, or highest point of a structure [ibid]

Panegyric: (noun) a formal speech or piece of writing that expresses high and elaborate praise for a person, group, or institution [from the podcast Echoes of Empire]

Ormolu: (noun) finely cast bronze, brass, or copper decorated with a thin, durable layer of high-carat gold [from the ITV programme Poirot]

Gravamen: (noun) the core, essence, or most serious part of a complaint, charge, or legal action [from this tweet https://x.com/wesyang/status/2093156167086149640?s=46]