“November 19, 2022
This may be shocking — shocking — news, but I really love words. I love how learning a new word can feel like trying an artisan chocolate truffle for the first time. You savor it and ponder it, the shape of it lingering pleasantly on your tongue. (Recently, I learned the word “ensorcell.” Just say it: Ensorcell! Mmm, delicious.) Of course, exploring the peculiarities of language isn’t always so sweet. Take all of the non-American English speakers who get frustrated when Wordle, the ubiquitous word guessing game, includes American slang words like “homer.” Searches of that term spiked so much, Cambridge Dictionary deemed it their word of the year. Other unusual words like “caulk” and “bayou” also saw search spikes after appearing in the game, no doubt fueled by some Wordle-bas
