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List of the Week: Quiz Yourself on "King Lear"

List of the Week: Quiz Yourself on "King Lear"

"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;/They kill us for their sport." Quiz yourself on vocabulary from Shakespeare's "King Lear" with these interactive "King Lear" Vocabulary Lists: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4, and Act 5.

Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon

Letting "Sequester" Fester

CNN Money has announced that it will "steer clear" of the word sequestration, along with its snappier cousin sequester, in reporting on Capitol Hill budget negotiations, branding it esoteric jargon. That might be a good move, considering that, according to a recent poll, two-thirds of voters don't even know what sequester means. How did we get saddled with this bit of Beltway lingo? Continue reading...
Topics: Language Politics Words

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Ten Words from Today's NY Times - Feb. 20, 2013

Ten Words from Today's NY Times - Feb. 20, 2013

Learn Ten Words from Today's Times - Feb. 20, 2013.

Then see "Vocabulary Begets Vocabulary: The More You Know, the More You Learn" to understand why learning these words will help you absorb even more as you read.

Under the HoodThe science of vocabulary building

ESL Tricks for Vocabulary Learning

Teacher Anne Merritt's strategy for learning new words

Writing in The Telegraph recently, a teacher of English as a foreign language described strategies for mastering ESL vocabulary. Here, we digest some of her strategies that work equally well for learning the vocabulary of your native tongue. Continue reading...

Blog Excerpts

That Iconic Boston Accent

The "Today Show" visited Boston on Friday, and as part of the show they included a segment on the accent of the city, so immediately recognizable and so often imitated (but rarely well!). And who did they turn to for background on how the accent came to be? Our very own Ben Zimmer. Continue reading...
Topics: Media Language

Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon

Would You Go on a Date with "Whomever" Has Good Grammar?

In advance of Valentine's Day, the dating site Match.com released some survey results indicating that good grammar is something that both men and women on the dating scene use to judge their potential mates. That finding led to a joke on Saturday Night Live that was supposed to illustrate "good grammar" but, ironically enough, failed to. Continue reading...
Topics: Grammar Language Usage

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A Vocabulary Shout-Out: Charles Isherwood for "Gewgaw"

Gold stars for usage!

In "36 Hours in San Juan, Puerto Rico," which appeared in this past Saturday's New York Times, theater critic Charles Isherwood demonstrated an impressive familiarity with the somewhat fussy gewgaw (pronounced "goo-gaw") when he described shopping in Old San Juan. For extra credit, he even worked in chockablock as well. Continue reading...
1 2 3 4 Displaying 8-14 of 28 Articles
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