All Posts


Why You Should Be Wary of the Term ‘Revenue’
As you get older, people might try to get you to invest in things, buy certain products, etc. Sometimes they attempt to prove their...
Jul 20, 20212 min read


Key Takeaways From Netflix’s ‘Operation Varsity Blues’
If you have a chance to watch Netflix’s “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal,” you really should. We all know the...
Mar 21, 20213 min read


Season 2 Finale (And a Peek Behind the Scenes!)
After around 20 new episodes, season 2 of the Vocabbett podcast is coming to a close! In episode 76, I dive into how I might be growing...
Feb 24, 20211 min read


Margo Durrell—Quite the Character!
If you’ve seen The Durrells in Corfu, you’ll undoubtedly remember the slightly dotty daughter in the series, Margo. When I finished the...
Feb 21, 20214 min read


Cleopatra's Little Sister: The Cooler of the Two?
We’ve all heard of Cleopatra, but how many people know she had a little sister — and a pretty remarkable one at that? Arsinoe IV was...
Feb 16, 20211 min read


Endlessly Exiled...But She Still Didn't Quit
When most of us think of suffragettes (a.k.a. women who fought for the right to vote), we think of Susan B. Anthony or Emmeline...
Feb 10, 20211 min read


18th-Century Heiress-Turned-Pirate? Tell Me More!
“18th-century heiress-turned-pirate” may sound like the tagline of a cheesy romance novel, but remarkably, it’s a fairly accurate...
Feb 8, 20211 min read


The *Other* British Warrior Queen
If you’re an Anglophile (lover of the English) like me, you’ve probably heard of Boudica, the warrior queen who took on the Romans. But...
Feb 3, 20211 min read


Kudos and Magical Glory
I don’t remember the first time I heard the word “kudos,” but I distinctly remember thinking that it was 1970’s slang. How wrong I was! I...
Jan 27, 20211 min read


The Beak Where People Speak
Amid the recent inauguration news, I kept hearing the word “rostrum.” “As he approaches the rostrum tomorrow…”“Donald Trump began his...
Jan 25, 20211 min read


What Everyone's Missing With the Latest SAT News
With colleges dropping the SAT left and right — and the recent announcement that they’re dropping the essay and subject tests — it’s...
Jan 20, 20211 min read


Are We in an 'Era of Schadenfreude'?
Imagine not knowing how to say you’re tired. It wouldn’t make sense, right? And yet there’s an emotion that most of us experience all the...
Jan 18, 20211 min read


Why We Call It 'Soccer' (When Everyone Else Calls It 'Football'!)
You may already know that what we in the U.S. call “soccer,” most of the rest of the world refers to as “football.” But do you know why...
Jan 14, 20211 min read


Theseus THE Pig + Helen of Troy
If you’re a fan of Greek history, you’re probably familiar with the story of Theseus and the minotaur. But did you know that the word...
Jan 6, 20211 min read


The Juicy 'Tell-All' Novel That Changed the Word
The WORD, get it? Haha, wordplay. You tend to hear the word “anecdote” in two contexts these days. Either it’s a fancy stand-in for...
Jan 4, 20211 min read


Don't Be a Blatherskite—Learn This Amazing Word!
Blatherskite – “A person who talks at great length without saying much of sense.” Basically, a blatherer. What a great word. Definitely...
Jan 1, 20211 min read


The Powerful Woman Behind 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' (And Thanksgiving!)
“Mary had a little lamb…” Be honest. Did you mentally go, “little lamb” after you read that? Those five words are so catchy, they were...
Dec 31, 20202 min read


Why the Months Make No Sense
Have you ever looked at a calendar and thought, "Well that makes no sense"? October starts with “oct,” but it’s not the 8th month....
Dec 28, 20201 min read


A College Admissions Secret You Won’t Believe
I’ve been scouring the latest college admissions research lately (so you don’t have to!), and holy moly, did I find a gem. Buried...
Nov 29, 20205 min read


How to Write the Perfect Common App Essay (Formula!)
With college admissions season in full swing, it’s time to talk about one of the most important components of the application: your...
Nov 1, 20204 min read