How we source

Word histories are full of good stories, and a lot of them aren't true. So we keep a few rules.

• 📚 No source, no history. If we say where something comes from, there's a link under “Where this comes from”. If nobody knows, we say nobody knows.
• 🔍 The picture is just the picture. “What it's actually picturing” describes the words themselves. “What it takes for granted” is our reading, and you're welcome to a different one.
• ⚖️ Everything gets its best defense. If we can't make a good case for keeping it, we haven't finished.
• ✏️ We fix mistakes in public. Tell us what we got wrong and we'll correct it, and say what changed.

The starting percentages on a new card are our own guess. They move as soon as people vote, and we only ever show real vote counts.