Vocabulary.com Blog
Articles from October, 2013
Tasty MorselsGood stuff from Vocabulary.com
What's Your "Happiest Moment" With a Dictionary?
It's National Dictionary Day, so let the love flow
Today is National Dictionary Day! And as big fans of the dictionary as a concept, an object, and an online tool, we are celebrating by asking Vocabularians to let us know their "happiest moment" with a Dictionary.
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Dept. of Word Lists
"Sordid" and "Blatant" Attacks: Ten Words in the News You Need to Know
Get confident with vocabulary from headline news!
Between Congressional brinkmanship and a bullying related arrest, the rhetoric of outrage is placing words like "blatant" and "sordid" in the news.
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As a teacher, writer and editor, I spend a significant portion of my life reminding others (and myself) that certain pairs of words are not interchangeable, although they might seem to be. Now isn't the same as know, and affect can't pinch-hit for effect. Lose vs. loose is a particular frustration as of late. However, in all of my many years of teaching and writing, no one has ever asked me whether they ought to use O or oh, and this makes me sad.
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Blog Excerpts
Happy Dictionary Day!
October 16th is National Dictionary Day, commemorating the birth of the great lexicographer Noah Webster. Celebrate by delving into our archive for articles about Webster and the world of dictionaries. A sampling: "Noah Webster at 250: A Visionary or a Crackpot?," "The Case for Dictionary Day," "The Birth of Webster's Dictionary," and "Dictionary Day and the Quest for All-American Words."
Topics:
Dictionaries
Lately I've been noticing the phrase as such everywhere. It's not just a recency illusion; according to corpus data, it really is on the rise. And with that rise comes a shift in function and a corresponding effort to halt that shift.
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Dept. of Word Lists
Oscar Wilde: Quoted More Often Than Jesus?
He remains popular among Vocabulary List makers as well!
Tomorrow is the birthday of beloved Irish playwright, novelist, and poet Oscar Wilde, born in 1854. Celebrate his life and writing with three vocabulary lists from "The Importance of Being Earnest," and an infographic detailing his quotability factor.
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As Americans celebrate Columbus Day, it's worth reflecting on the complicated cultural and linguistic legacy that Christopher Columbus left behind. There's a single word that aptly illustrates this legacy and all of its contradictions: Indians, the mistaken name that Columbus gave to the native peoples of the Americas.
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