Vocabulary.com Blog
Articles from December, 2013
Dept. of Word Lists
Scroogey Words from Dickens's "A Christmas Carol"
Before the big day, learn all the big words
Stop getting lost among Dickensian thickets as you traipse behind Ebenezer Scrooge on his Christmas Eve journey. Instead give yourself the gift of word learning.
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In a comical scene in the film The Princess Bride, the character Inigo Montoya has finally had enough of hearing the bad guy Vizzini say "Inconceivable!" when things are not only conceivable, but just keep happening. Montoya is finally moved to say, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
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Blog Excerpts
Oh Come "Lettuce" Adore Him? Christmas Carol Confusion Explained
In time for Christmas, learn what the songs you're humming actually mean
Isn't "Don" is that guy from accounting? Does "gay apparel" mean I think it does? And what are the cattle doing again? Just in time for Christmas, clear up carol confusion.
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Tasty MorselsGood stuff from Vocabulary.com
What Got These Middle Schoolers So Excited About Vocab?
Competition is the name of the game
In heated competition, Corkscrew Middle in Naples, FL topped the Vocabulary.com school leaderboard for the month of November and were awarded the Vocabulary.com Champions' Banner to display in their school. What's their secret? Making competition fun.
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Dec. 21, 2013 marks the hundredth anniversary of the crossword puzzle. But the crossword has come a long way since Arthur Wynne's first creation for The New York World. In a lively new book entitled The Curious History of the Crossword, Ben Tausig, himself a noted constructor and editor of crosswords, argues that the day Will Shortz took over the New York Times crossword 20 years ago marked a watershed moment in the puzzle's history.
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We had so much fun watching the 500-plus vocabulary videos sent in the Vocabulary.com-New York Times Learning Network vocabulary in video contest that we just couldn't narrow the winners down to a logical five, but had to choose seven, and list a hefty number of honorable mentions.
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Dept. of Word Lists
On Torch-Bearing "Ineptitude" and Fed "Conclaves": Ten Words in the News You Need to Know
Stay on top of Vocabulary you read every day
This week's news is marked by Olympic torch bearing ineptitude leading up to the Sochi Games, speculation as to discussion topics at a Fed conclave, and the Indian government's diplomatic retaliation after a member of its corps was arrested and strip searched while on a mission in the United States.
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