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I live in the heart of a small lexical explosion—Boulder, Colorado, home to about 100,000 people (of whom 30,000 are university students), and about two dozen retail marijuana dispensaries. The lexical explosion is in the marketing vocabulary of a product that until recently, despite its being universally known and widely used, was contraband. Continue reading...

Greetings, everyone! I've just come back from San Francisco, where I attended the American Dialect Society's annual meeting (held in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America). As is the custom, the linguists and lexicographers in attendance took a break from their scholarly presentations to have some fun selecting the Word of the Year for 2008. This time around, bailout emerged as a powerful frontrunner, and sure enough it ultimately proved to be the winner. Continue reading...

The title character in William Styron's novel The Confessions of Nat Turner uses words with Biblical heft; so many times, in fact, we were able to create a Vocabulary List from one sentence alone. Continue reading...

Explore dozens of recommended titles, each paired with a ready-made word list that you can use for vocab practice, a spelling bee, a quiz, or a Vocab Jam! Continue reading...

Explore dozens of recommended titles, each paired with a ready-made word list that you can use for vocabulary practice, a spelling bee, a quiz, or a Vocab Jam! Continue reading...

Explore dozens of titles recommended for a wide range of readers, each paired with curated vocab lists, adaptive activities, and self-grading assessments. Continue reading...

RIP Tom Clancy. As a tribute, we offer A Tom Clancy Primer, a Vocabulary List of 20 words from Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October. Continue reading...

After seven months of consistent dedication and effort that culminated in a late-season word surge to clinch the title, the Spartans reveled in sweet victory. With Margate's mayor in attendance while the trophy was hoisted and medals were placed on the shoulders of champions, the pride and elation at Margate Middle was palpable. Continue reading...