You're right, I'm using -r even when it's not necessary. To my defense I think it's a good habit to have since without it regex expressions are painful to write. I didn't considered that using -E it's a better choice but I'll correct that now. (one might argue again that typing -r is easier than -E :D ).
Regarding the definition of words - I also thought of that when I wrote that snippet. I know it's not the complete regex for a word and that word regex patterns might differ. And I was probably a bit lazy - but I'll correct it presently.
I'd also like to say that I didn't write this as an absolute and ultimate reference. If I'm honest I wrote this as much to teach others as to solidify this knowledge myself. Now since it seems it gained traction I'm kinda obligated to make this better, no? Darn. :)
PS: if you'd like to help me make this better please submit a pull request or leave a comment here. Looking at your profile I see that you try to limit your online time so I probably shouldn've asked. :P