Why You Whet Your Appetite but Wet Your Whistle

Editors' choice

Stories You'll Love

Idioms

6 MIN READ

5 LIKES

Why You Whet Your Appetite but Wet Your Whistle

Why do we "make do" instead of "make due," or wait with "bated breath" rather than "baited breath"? The answers lie in the origins of these historical homophones.

Advertisers help keep Word Smarts free

Person Touching Black Two-bell Alarm Clock

Vocabulary

2 MIN READ

45 LIKES

Why Do We Say "O'Clock"?

From sundials to mechanical clocks, a simple phrase reveals centuries of time-keeping history.

Woman relaxing listening to music on the ground

Grammar

2 MIN READ

18 LIKES

When Should You Use "Lay" vs. "Lie"?

One of the trickiest (and most easily forgotten) lessons seems to be the difference between "lay" and "lie" and when it's appropriate to use one over the other.

Slang

3 MIN READ

3 LIKES

Where Did These Internet Abbreviations Come From?

While older shortcuts are still in use, the internet age has given us plenty of new acronyms for a wide variety of digital and real-life scenarios.

Advertisers help keep Word Smarts free

Image option one: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/appetizing-carrots-gm1276763699-376171289 Olga Chzhu/ iStock Image option two: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/cute-dog-lying-in-garden-in-back-yard-gm1310342688-399783895 freemixer/ iStock

Idioms

4 MIN READ

14 LIKES

Can You Decipher These Idioms From Foreign Languages?

Foreign languages have clever idioms, too. Check these out for some witty sayings from all over the world that you might want to add to your repertoire.