1. Vertigo was up in searches the week of March 1–7, 2018 by 339%. Here are a couple reasons why: Reader’s Digest did an expose on vertigo in general. Here’s what you need to know, according to them: “What Causes Vertigo? 15 Things Neurologists Wish You Knew”. Digital Trends wrote about some biofeedback headphones that can help people out who have vertigo. So, we have the explanation and the cure …
Sometimes a dictionary is too heavy to carry around for some light reading and too daunting to listen to as an audiobook. For all your language needs from etymology to grammar to more creative ways to curse, check out our recommendations below for the best language podcasts. And, because this is an article about language podcasts, we can’t help but mention our newly-launched Dictionary.com Word …
Buzzwords and catchphrases often surface in our culture. Many come from landmark news events, and, before you know it, that term is everywhere and firmly embedded in our collective conscience. Why do they strike such a chord? If there was a secret sauce to creating one of these memorable expressions, we’d all be copywriters. Let’s look at some from the world of news (and we’ll …
Catty It seems horribly unfair to adorable cats that catty is a human descriptor meaning “devious or spiteful” (and usually in reference to female behavior). What gives? The word cat has been around since the year 700. But then, in the Middle Ages, cat became one of the many offensive terms against women and was slang for “prostitute.” The association might have been made because …
1. Posthumously trended this week (increasing in searches by 102%) as the country still isn’t over the Parkland, Florida school shooting and neither are we. As Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students went back to school this week, the country (for the most part) applauded the heroism and activism that they’ve displayed. And, they’ve inspired action in all of us too—Dick’s Sporting Goods for the …
Have you ever wondered how to pluralize some of the most common words you use everyday? Some plural forms are pretty strange . . . and most people don’t know them. Take our quiz below to see if you’re up on some of the most obscure plural words in the English language. If the quiz doesn’t display, please tryopeningin the Chrome browser.
The word meme, coined in 1976 by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, goes way beyond social-media pixels. Meme captures the concept of “cultural transmission” of ideas in general, where customs and ideas spread from brain to brain. Which means memes have been around longer than Success Kid or Kermit sipping tea. Wildfire ideas have been around as long as humans have—in fact, discovering fire is …
Inept was up 186% in searches this week . . . and this time it’s about somebody else’s dysfunctional government and leadership team. The Times helped us explain this one: “Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister, and his deputy, Barnaby Joyce, traded extraordinary public barbs yesterday over an adulterous affair that has gripped the nation and fractured the government. Mr Turnbull said his deputy had ‘appalled everyone’ …
There are different types of travelers, and we’ve created some names for a few of them. Whether you’re a minimalist, budgeter, collector, storyteller, or germophobe, traveling is your game, right? But, which type of traveler are you? Think you know—well, take our personality test just to be sure . . . . Don’t forget to share your results (so your friends and family will know …
WARNING: Your brain is about to experience conflict and interference, while executing a suspiciously mundane task. Do not scoff. Different-colored words will slow down your mental processing, and there’s almost nothing you can do about it—except read the rest of this article to learn more. You are at the mercy of . . . the Stroop effect! Get ready: The following is a group of words, written …
Most people know a handful of official languages in countries around the world—French in France, Italian in Italy, Russian in Russia, Spanish in Spain. But, those are really easy, and with 195 countries and 7,000 different languages, the handful you think you know is really only a teeny-tiny sampling! So, try your hand at guessing the official languages of these 20 countries. Some of them …
Mendacity Mendacity was our top trending word the week of Feb. 9–13, 2018, peaking at an 845% increase in searches. So, what’s mendacity? Lying, untruthfulness, falsehoods—all mendacity. Here’s why it’s newsworthy this week: Trump has some mendacity, for sure. Even his lawyers know it, which is why they are advising him not to meet with Mueller re: the Russia investigation, because lying to the FBI, even if …
