This web tool instantly shows how a word translates across about 30 European languages, displayed on a color-coded map. Type in English words like "cat" or "thank you" and the translations appear in their geographic locations. The color codes show linguistic families like Romance and Slavic languages. Proszę bardzo! — MF

I discovered a delightful five-minute word puzzle game called Bracket City. The gameplay is simple — you just start typing words to solve crossword-like clues in brackets that are nested within other clues. What makes it addictive is how the clues build on each other, with each solution revealing new parts of connected puzzles. Here's the tutorial example: [where [opposite of clean] dishes pile up] or [exercise in a [game played with a cue ball]]. You can peek at the first letter of any clue if you're stuck. I’ll bet the NY Times will end up buying it. — MF

A fascinating collection of proverbs from cultures worldwide, organized into 100 categories. It makes centuries of human insight accessible for modern readers.

• "People seek out big-shots as flies seek out the elephant's tail." (Indonesian)

• "The full person does not understand the needs of the hungry." (Irish)

• "Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow." (Swedish)

• "A greedy person and a pauper are practically one and the same." (Swiss)

• "When money speaks, truth keeps silent." (Russian)

— MF

The online Merriam-Webster.com dictionary regularly adds new words based on usage and last month 690 words were added. Here is just a sample list of them, including new slang and words made popular by online culture, like edgelord noun, slang : someone who makes wildly dark and exaggerated statements (as on an internet forum) with the intent of shocking others. Also the word “hallucination” has an new definition meaning “a plausible but false or misleading response generated by an artificial intelligence algorithm.” Worth checking out to stay in the know. — CD