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Articles from 2013
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Ten Words from "NY Times" History: March on Washington
Ten Words from "NY Times" History: March on Washington
Learn Ten Words from New York Times History - March on Washington - August 28, 1963. 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.
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Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Oasis"
An argument for learning historically topical vocabulary
How learning "oasis" can deepen your understanding of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech delivered 50 years ago today.
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"We have to turn the page on the bubble-and-bust mentality," President Obama said in a recent weekly address. After the economic ruin of the housing bubble, it's hard to argue with that sentiment. But "bubbles" have long been with us — the metaphor of the bubble has been applied to fragile financial schemes for nearly three centuries, originating as a literary device.
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List of the Week: Figurative Language in MLK's "I Have a Dream"
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
Get ready for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington by learning vocabulary from the "I Have a Dream" speech Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered that day, as well as vocabulary from King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
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Word CountWriters Talk About Writing
Lyrical Accidents: When Pop Music Vocab Goes Wrong
Sometimes lyrics are "bad to the bone". . .others are just wrong
"In the mood for dance"? "My heart bleeded"? While creating vocabulary lists of unusual words found in pop music, writer and linguist Adam Cooper ran across some words that go beyond peculiarity and into the realm of error.
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We've been keeping tabs on the fuss over the word "literally" over the past couple of weeks, as commentators have expressed indignation that the non-literal definition of the word can be found in both online and print dictionaries now. In a Washington Post opinion piece, copy editor Bill Walsh, a self-identified "enlightened stickler," ruminates on the "literally" debate, which he thinks is overblown despite his own peevishness over misuse of the word.
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Vocabulary Shout-Out: Azam Ahmed for "Aphorism"
A word to shed light on Afghan culture.
Writing about Afghan poet Matiullah Turab, Azam Ahmed of The New York Times used the word aphorism in describing the importance of poetic language in Afghan culture.
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