Vocabulary.com Blog
Articles from December, 2011
Word CountWriters Talk About Writing
Word Tasting Note: "Hark"
"Hark! The herald angels sing..." Or is it "Hark the herald, angels sing"?
On his Sesquiotica blog, writer, editor, and designer James Harbeck has a regular feature that he calls "Word Tasting Notes." "Words are delicious and intoxicating," Harbeck writes. "So why not taste them like a fine wine?" Here, he delves into the history of a word we frequently hear (or mishear) during the holiday season: hark.
Continue reading...
Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon
Passing Away or Kicking the Bucket? The Lexicon of Dying
How English, like other languages, provides many expressions for death.
Death has been in the news lately, with the passing of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il and former Czech president Vaclav Havel within hours of each other. Despite the very different legacies of the two world leaders, most English-language news outlets used the same wording to describe their deaths: in obituaries, both Kim and Havel simply died. But English, like many other world languages, has a rich vocabulary of terms for dying, from the blunt to the euphemistic.
Continue reading...
Just in time for the holiday season, Merrill Perlman takes a look at the origins of some yuletide expressions.
Continue reading...
Announcements
Super-Charging Your Vocabulary Lists
A new look and feel for exploring and creating vocab lists.
We at Vocabulary.com are very excited to announce some great new improvements we're rolling out for making vocabulary lists. Vocabulary lists were already a popular feature of the site, and with these changes we're confident that the experience of exploring and making lists will be better than ever.
Continue reading...
Topics:
Vocabulary.com News
Dog EaredBooks we love
"From Elvish to Klingon": An Impressive Overview of Conlang-ology
A new book explores the fascinating world of constructed languages.
When word nerdom and sci-fi nerdom collide, what do you get? A dictionary-bot that recites definitions while performing the duties of a butler? Someday, I hope that's true. For now, the answer is From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages: a thorough look at invented languages (also known as conlangs, short for constructed languages) from sci-fi and elsewhere.
Continue reading...Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon
The Year in Words, 2011 Edition
Taking a look back at some lexical favorites.
Yes, it's time for that annual tradition: picking the words and phrases that best define the past year. Did occupy occupy your attention? Were you talking about tiger moms or tiger blood? Or were you paralyzed by the condition known as FOMO (fear of missing out)?
Continue reading...
A dictionary definition is a place to start (or end); it cannot capture a word's essence or connotation. Students need to learn that words — like people — have personalities. Some get along with everybody. Some only get along with other select words. Some are comfortable everywhere, while some have special hangouts or niches.
Continue reading...
Topics:
Language arts
Sign up now (it’s free!)
Whether you’re a teacher or a learner,
Vocabulary.com can put you or your class
on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.