Write for Us
Write for Us at Idiom Insider means contributing a genuine, well-sourced article about English idioms, phrases, or language history to idiominsider.com. To submit a guest post, email a short pitch to [email protected] with your idiom, angle, and earliest source. It is free to submit, we do not pay, and we never sell links.
Quick facts
- What we accept: idioms, English, language, grammar, linguistics, etymology, vocabulary, words, writing, literature, and education pieces about how phrases began.
- Word count: 700 to 2,500 words depending on format (entries shorter, origin essays longer).
- Cost: free to submit. We charge nothing, and we do not pay contributors either. No rate card exists.
- Where to send it: pitch first to [email protected] (put the pitch in the email body, not an attachment).
- Typical response time: 7 to 10 working days from an editor who reads every pitch.
- What you get: a byline, an author page, careful editing, and an editorial link where it genuinely helps the reader.
- What we never do: sell links, run sponsored posts, or publish AI-spun or unsourced folk etymology.
Idiom Insider is an editorial publication about the real origins of English idioms and phrases. We date first attestations, quote the earliest sources in their original spelling, and reach an honest verdict on every claim: Attested, Partly true, Unproven, Folk etymology, or Origin unknown. This page is a real invitation to write for us. If you are a writer, teacher, linguist, lexicographer, translator, or a serious etymology enthusiast, and you want to publish careful work on language, you are exactly who we are looking for. What follows explains how to write for Idiom Insider, what you can pitch, whether we pay, how to submit a guest post, our guidelines, what we decline, and what you can expect in return.
How do I write for Idiom Insider?
You write for Idiom Insider by pitching one clear idea to [email protected] and then, if we commission it, writing a sourced, dated, honestly judged piece. You do not need a login, a form, or an account. You do not need academic credentials or a professional writing history. You need one phrase worth investigating, at least one checkable early source, and the discipline to write “origin unknown” when the evidence runs dry.
The whole point of the write for us programme at idiominsider.com is to widen the pool of people doing this properly. Our best contributors share a single trait: they would rather publish a modest, well-sourced conclusion than a confident, invented one. If that describes how you think about language, the rest of this page is your map.
Who should become a writer here?
Typical contributors include English and ESL teachers who explain idioms daily, historical linguists and philology students, dictionary and corpus enthusiasts, translators who live between languages, and readers who fell down an etymology rabbit hole and came back with citations. You do not have to be any of those things. If you have ever chased a phrase back through Google Books until the trail went cold, you already know the work. People decide to become a contributor for different reasons — a classroom resource, a portfolio piece, or simply the satisfaction of getting one stubborn origin right — and all of those reasons are welcome, provided the evidence comes first.
What can I write about?
We take submissions across a broad set of language topics, so the “write for us” search that brought you here almost certainly fits one of them. In practice, people arrive looking to write for us about idioms, write for us about English, write for us about language, or write for us about etymology; all of those belong here. Specifically, we welcome work on:
- Idioms and phrases — the core of the site: where a saying began and how its meaning moved.
- English and its history — usage, dialect, and how expressions cross between British, American, Irish, Australian, and Indian English.
- Etymology — the documented trail of a word or phrase through printed sources, letters, plays, and newspapers.
- Language and linguistics — semantic change, borrowing, calques, and the mechanics of how meaning shifts.
- Grammar — the grammar embedded in fixed expressions, and why idioms resist the ordinary rules.
- Vocabulary and words — individual words with a story worth dating and checking.
- Writing and literature — phrases popularised by a specific novel, play, poem, or author, with the date pinned down.
- Education — teachable guides for ESL and English classrooms on how to research and explain idioms.
Some angles we especially like: phrases with a contested origin such as “the whole nine yards”; idioms with a documented turning point in a play, advertisement, or news event; trade and craft language (printing, weaving, farming, legal) that survived as idioms; cross-linguistic borrowings dated to their source; and myth-busting of the acronym origins (“posh,” “tip,” “golf”) that corpus evidence flatly contradicts.
Do you pay contributors, or is it free?
Here is the honest answer to the two questions people ask most: it is free to submit, and we do not pay. If you searched “write for us and get paid,” we want to save you time. Idiom Insider is a small editorial operation that currently works with contributors on a credited, non-paid basis. There is no money moving in either direction. We do not charge a publication fee, we do not offer a “free guest post” placement in exchange for anything, and we do not have a writer payment budget.
What you receive instead is genuine: a permanent byline on idiominsider.com, an author page, real editing from people who take the subject seriously, and a piece of work you can point to. If our arrangements ever change and we begin paying, we will state it plainly on this page rather than in a private email.
How do I submit a guest post about language or etymology?
To submit a guest post about language, etymology, or any idiom, email [email protected]. Lead with the phrase and the earliest source you have already found; that single detail tells us more than a paragraph of introduction. We prefer a short pitch before a finished draft, because it lets us steer the angle and word count before you invest hours. If you already have a complete draft, you may send it, but paste the text into the email body rather than attaching a document.
The submission itself is deliberately low-friction. There is no portal, no sign-up, and no waiting on an approval queue. One person reads the inbox, and one person will reply. Because this is a language blog write for us programme built around evidence, the fastest way to a yes is to show your sourcing up front. If English is not your first language, that is no barrier at all; a translator’s eye for how a phrase moves between languages is often exactly what a strong etymology guest post needs, and our editors will help polish the prose once the facts are sound.
What are your guest post guidelines?
Every piece on idiominsider.com follows the same rules. These are not style preferences; they are the reason readers and search engines trust the site. Treat this as the contributor guidelines and the guest post guidelines in one place.
- Date the first attestation, and cite it. Give the earliest reliable printed appearance you can find, with the year, the work, and enough detail that a reader could locate it. “Medieval” or “centuries old” is not a date.
- Quote in original spelling. When you cite an early source, preserve the original orthography and punctuation. Add a bracketed gloss if the reader needs one, but never silently modernise the quotation.
- Say “origin unknown” when it is true. A large share of idioms have no securely documented origin. Writing that honestly is a feature of our work, not a failure of your research.
- Separate evidence from folklore. Popular origin stories are welcome as subject matter, but they must be labelled folk etymology or unproven, never presented as fact.
- Cite checkable sources. Name specific references inline: the Oxford English Dictionary, Green’s Dictionary of Slang, historical newspaper archives, Google Books, EEBO, and reputable corpora. A short reference list at the end is welcome.
- End with a verdict. Every claim-based piece closes with one of our five verdicts and a one-line justification.
- British or US spelling. Either is fine; be consistent within a single piece, and keep original spelling intact inside quotations regardless of your house choice.
Content types, word counts, and what we look for
Match your pitch to one of these formats so we can picture the finished piece. This table is the quickest way to see where your idea fits.
| Content type | Word count | What we look for |
|---|---|---|
| Idiom entry | 700–1,200 | One phrase: meaning, earliest datable attestation, sense-shift, and a clear verdict. |
| Origin essay | 1,200–2,500 | Narrative history of a phrase or family of phrases traced through primary sources. |
| Myth file | 900–1,600 | A forensic look at a shaky origin story: where it came from and what the record supports. |
| Guide | 1,000–2,000 | Teachable method: how to date a phrase, read corpus results, or use the OED and EEBO. |
How do the verdicts work?
The verdict is the backbone of a piece. It tells the reader, in one word, how much weight the evidence carries. Use them precisely.
| Verdict | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Attested | There is a datable, reliable early source and a clear documented path. |
| Partly true | Part of the popular story checks out, but a key detail is wrong or unproven. |
| Unproven | A plausible claim exists, but the evidence is too thin to confirm. |
| Folk etymology | A widely repeated origin that the record contradicts. |
| Origin unknown | No securely documented origin can be established from the evidence. |
What we do NOT accept
To keep the site coherent and trustworthy, we turn down some submissions even when they are competently written. We want to be blunt about this, because it is the heart of how we work.
- Paid or sponsored links. We do not sell links, run advertorials, or accept “guest posts” whose real purpose is to place a link. There is no rate card; please do not ask for one.
- AI-spun filler. We do not publish machine-generated articles or unsourced folk etymology dressed up as research. We can tell, and so can readers.
- Unsourced folk etymology. If a claim rests only on internet repetition, it is unproven; label it that way or leave it out.
- Plagiarism. Work must be original and unpublished elsewhere. Quoting sources is expected; copying another writer’s prose or structure is not.
- Promotional pieces. Articles built to sell a product, course, app, or service are not for us.
- Shallow round-ups. “50 idioms you should know” collections; we prefer real depth on a few over a thin sweep of many.
How to pitch (step by step)
A good pitch is quick for you to write and quick for us to assess. Send it to [email protected] with these four things, in this order:
- The phrase and format. Name the idiom or word, and say whether you have an entry, origin essay, myth file, or guide in mind.
- The angle and your earliest source. Two or three sentences on the story, and — crucially — the earliest datable source you have already located.
- Your provisional verdict. Attested, Partly true, Unproven, Folk etymology, or Origin unknown, and one line on why.
- A one-line bio. Who you are and any relevant background. Links to previous writing are welcome but not required.
That is the entire process to become a contributor, and it is the same whether you are pitching a single idiom or hoping to write for us on a recurring basis. If you would rather become a writer here regularly, say so, and after a first accepted piece we can talk about a steady cadence and a run of topics you would like to own.
What contributors get
- A byline on the published piece at idiominsider.com.
- An author page collecting your work, with a short bio.
- An editorial link to your site or profile where it genuinely helps the reader, at our discretion. This is a courtesy, never a sold placement.
- Careful editing from people who take etymology as seriously as you do.
- A permanent home for work you can be proud of, in a publication built on evidence rather than guesswork.
Our review process and timeline
An editor reads every pitch. We usually reply within 7 to 10 working days. If we commission the piece, we agree on a format, angle, and rough deadline. Drafts are edited for accuracy first and style second: expect us to ask for a citation, a date, or a sharper verdict. Nothing goes live until the sourcing holds up. If we pass, we try to say why, briefly, so your next pitch lands better. Because guest blogging here is editorial rather than transactional, there is no fast lane and no paid queue — only better-sourced pitches moving ahead of thinner ones.
Our integrity policy, stated plainly
The reason this write for us page reads differently from most is that our incentives are different. We publish genuine editorial contributions only. We do not sell links and we do not accept paid or sponsored placements of any kind. Contributor links are editorial, added at our discretion where they genuinely serve the reader, and never guaranteed. We do not publish AI-generated content or unsourced folk etymology. Every claim must trace to a checkable source, and every claim-based piece must end in an honest verdict.
To be completely clear: if the purpose of your piece is the link, Idiom Insider is not the right home for it. If the purpose is the language, and you can prove what you say, we would be glad to read your pitch.
That standard is why an idioms guest post or an etymology guest post published on idiominsider.com means something. Thank you for considering writing for us; we read every pitch that reaches [email protected].