Word Nerd Day is a holiday that’s observed annually on the 9th of January. It’s a day to recognize the importance of words to the English language as well as to culture. Think of it this way: Our brains are fleshy computers that need software to run, and language is the software that it uses.

It forms the basis of our thoughts and allows us to communicate ideas with other people. This holiday gives us the opportunity to build up our minds by learning new words, by giving our brains the plasticity to use words in creative ways, and by solving word puzzles.

The History of Word Nerd Day

Just about every historian believes that writing began approximately 5,500 years ago in Mesopotamia—an area that is now known as modern-day Iraq. These began as early pictorial signs that would evolve into a complex system of characters representing the sounds of languages such as Sumerian.

These “symbols” began to be impressed onto wet clay tablets using reed styluses beginning in about 2,900 BC. Of course, over the next few centuries, writing would evolve in other parts of the world as well, including Asia and Mesoamerica.

At some point in time, quite recently, someone decided to create Word Nerd Day. Unfortunately, we don’t know who that somebody was or when exactly they created it. All that we currently know is that this holiday has been around for a few years now and is enjoyed by people all over the U.S.

Some Cool Word Facts for Word Nerd Day

Since we’re observing a holiday dedicated to words and their use, we thought it would be appropriate to list some cool word facts for people to enjoy. After extensive research, we came up with the following facts and think that all of our readers will find them to be quite enjoyable.

• In the English language, one out of every eight letters written is an “e.”
• The most common way to start a word in English is with the letter “s.”
• Shakespeare added over 1,000 words to the English language.
• The U.S. doesn’t have an official language.
• Snollygoster is a word used to describe a shrewd but unprincipled person, such as a politician.

Observing Word Nerd Day

Enjoying this holiday is easy as well as fun. All a person has to do is enjoy some word activities. This can include word puzzles, riddles, and word games of all different types. People can also buy special gifts for the word nerds in their lives. And, of course, people can also spread the word about this holiday using the hashtag #WordNerdDay on social media.