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Planet Word Launches “Eyes on Reading,” a Free Discussion Series Illuminating Research, Perspectives and Possible Solutions to the Literacy Crisis in America
Planet Word announces “Eyes on Reading,” an in-depth discussion series dedicated to illuminating the challenges and potential solutions to the literacy crisis in America. With free in-person and virtual events…
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Planet Word Launches “Eyes on Reading,” a Free Discussion Series Illuminating Research, Perspectives and Possible Solutions to the Literacy Crisis in America
Planet Word announces “Eyes on Reading,” an in-depth discussion series dedicated to illuminating the challenges and potential solutions to the literacy crisis in America. With free in-person and virtual events…

Will Shortz, Deborah Tannen, Jason Reynolds All Honored by Planet Word for Work in Words, Language and Reading
On Oct. 11 in a private ceremony held at Planet Word, three luminaries in the fields of words, language and reading were honored for their contributions to literacy. Will Shortz,…

Planet Word Museum and ASHA Announce New Digital Exhibit on Word-Finding Problems Like Aphasia
Planet Word and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association announced today the launch of a new collaborative digital exhibit spotlighting word-finding problems. Through voice-activated “beacons,” visitors learn how and why word-finding challenges…
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Did you know?
Perhaps ironically, the word “sesquipedalophobia” means “the fear of long words.” -
Did you know?
“Contronyms” are words that contain multiple meanings that are complete opposites of each other. For example, “oversight” means both “the action of overseeing something” and “a failure to notice something.” -
Did you know?
There are over 7,000 languages worldwide, but more than half the world’s population speaks only 23 of these languages. -
Did you know?
The first entirely artificial language was the Lingua Ignota, a private mystical cant recorded in the 12th century by St. Hildegard of Bingen. -
Did you know?
The 10 most-used letters in English are E, A, R, I, O, T, N, S, L, and C. -
Did you know?
Eels, llamas, and aardvarks, ooh my! In English, there are only four letters that appear as double letters at the beginning of a word: A, E, L, and O. -
Did you know?
A “deipnosophist” is a person who’s really good at making conversation at the dinner table. -
How do you get a dog to stop eating your books?
Take the words right out of its mouth! -
What's the difference between a cat and a comma?
A cat has claws at the end of its paws, but a comma’s a pause at the end of a clause. -
The past, the present, and the future walk into a bar...
It was tense. -
Is there a word that uses all the vowels including y?
Unquestionably. -
Riddle me this
What did the intransitive verb say when told it was pretty? (Answer: Nothing. Intransitive verbs can’t take complements.) -
Riddle me this
What does an island and the letter T have in common? (Answer: They’re both in the middle of water.) -
Riddle me this
What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? (Answer: Short) -
Riddle me this
What starts with an E, ends with an E, and contains just one letter? (Answer: An envelope!) -
Riddle me this
What begins with a T, ends with a T, and has T in it? (Answer: A teapot!) -
Riddle me this
What’s in centuries, hours, and years, but not minutes, days, or seconds? (Answer: The letter R!) -
Quote them on it
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” — Groucho Marx -
Quote them on it
“The past is always tense, the future perfect.” — Zadie Smith -
Quote them on it
“If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.” — Toni Morrison -
Quote them on it
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies...The man who never reads lives only once.” — George R.R. Martin -
Quote them on it
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” — Nelson Mandela