Just for Fun

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving is widely recognized as "Giving Tuesday." The point of this social movement is to encourage people to give instead of get, and it's cleverly timed to follow the gluttony (both culinary and commercial) of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday has become an important fundraising event for charitable and nonprofit organizations around the world.

Attention, Holiday Shoppers! Stock up on these words related to consumer culture. They're a real bargain, and a great vocabulary never goes out of style. Read the full article: Attention, Shoppers! The Pricey Language of Consumerism.

We’ve all been advised to not talk with our mouths full. It makes you wonder why there are so many words related to hunger and the act of eating. Whether you are feasting or on a diet, here is some essential eating vocabulary. Feast on this related article: A Cornucopia of Words: Thanksgiving Lingo is Food for Thought

We've scoured this week's entertainment news and rounded up our favorite vocab words from the stories that everyone's buzzing about.

This marvelous menagerie of descriptive words includes terms that we don't want to end up on the endangered vocabulary list, so learn them and use them! Read the full article: The Serpentine Path of Animal Adjectives

World Kindness Day is November 13. Whether you're making a special effort to practice kindness today — or thanking someone else for a thoughtful gesture — these words will come in handy.

We've scoured this week's entertainment news and rounded up our favorite vocab words from the stories that everyone's buzzing about.

Vote for vocabulary! Learn these words associated with elections.

This disorderly group of words will come in handy the next time bedlam breaks out or pandemonium erupts. Use them with extreme caution. Read the full article here: Havoc! Bedlam! Mayhem! The Lingo of Pandemonium

Study these paleontology terms and bone up on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. You'll also unearth information about fossils, geology, and more.

Archetypal grumpy-old-man W.C. Fields famously quipped: "Start every day off with a smile and get it over with." Whether you are a curmudgeon yourself or just know one, take a moment to delight in the lingo of grouchiness. Read the full article: The Cranky Lexicon of Curmudgeons Day

Harvest this crop of freshly picked words related to farming, and cultivate a fruitful vocabulary.

Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but don’t hang your head in shame if you don’t know how to say you're sorry. Here’s your chance to atone for your shameful vocabulary. Read the full article: "Sorry, Not Sorry: Playing the Blame Game and Remorse Roulette"

These punctuation terms are good to know, period. Learn what an apostrophe’s purpose is; find out what a semicolon is for. Are you confused about question marks? Probably not (although you may be mystified by parentheses). This list is sure to make you as excited as an exclamation point!

International Talk Like A Pirate Day is celebrated on September 19. In the swashbuckling spirit, this list covers words every self-respecting pirate should know: parts of a ship, sailing jargon, terms for pirates, etc. With these words at your command, you can take the whole pirate thing way beyond "arrgh," eyepatches, and annoying birds that perch on your shoulder. For more, check out the full article: Buccaneer, Bilge and Booty: Words Every Self-respecting Pirate Should Know

For Fido's next new trick, teach him some of these words that describe canine companions. What's even more amazing than a talking dog? A spelling bee.

Looking for a variety of words to choose from when complaining about how hot it is? You're in luck! There are plenty of ways to gripe about just how stifling the summer months can be. For more, check out the article: Sweltering Words for the Nuclear Summer.

Jay Aubrey Jones pronounced more than 36,000 words for Vocabulary.com (including laurel). Here are some of the most esoteric. See if you can spell them while listening to the dulcet tones of Jay's voice!

National Pack Rat Day is May 17th. Here's a hoard of highly collectable words that'll help you amass an impressive vocabulary. Read the related article: Highly Collectable Words for National Pack Rat Day

Even if it’s not Derby Day, you can’t say neigh to this list of horse vocabulary. Quit stalling and practice these 20 words!

Rejoice, Star Wars fans! May the 4th is National Star Wars Day! The epic film series launched plenty of words—like Jedi and Wookiee—but it also made use of existing words, giving them a new spin, and a new force, if you will. Our Star Wars lexicon will serve you well in any galaxy. Read the full article here.

Add to your formidable vocabulary arsenal by learning these words inspired by "The Avengers" movies.

If you suffer from triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13), you may want to stop reading now. Different cultures have considered Friday and the number 13 unlucky for thousands of years. Even today, some believe that the combination of the two is an especially jinxed event. The words on this list all relate to superstition, belief, luck, and unexplained phenomena.

Whether you're a cat-person or have a case of feline phobia, here are 13 words to describe these lithe, stealthy creatures.

Whether or not you're practiced in the art of deception, learn these words related to tricks, traps and illusions. Read the full article: Seeing Through the Lexicon of Smoke and Mirrors Day