There’s a funny scene in the 2002 romcom My Big Fat Greek Wedding in which the main character, Toula, introduces her fiancé to her aunt and explains that he’s a vegetarian. The aunt asks what that means, and when he replies that it means he doesn’t eat meat, she says in shock, “What do you mean you don’t eat no meat?” They stare at each other …
A regina such as yourself deserves to relax with this week’s Word of the Day Quiz. | March 4 – 10, 2019 If the quiz doesn’t display, please try opening in the Chrome browser. Tell us your favorite word from this week (and share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter)!
by Ashley Austrew and John Kelly In late February 2019, the House of Representatives voted to block President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border. Trump’s declaration—issued on February, 15, 2019 and based on the emergency powers granted to the presidency by the Constitution—would build a wall with funds not approved by Congress, which has authority over the nation’s finances and budget. …
by Ashley Austrew Swearwords, these days, aren’t just more common than ever. They are also more colorful. A quick warning: there will be a lot of strong language ahead.Douchnozzle, shitgibbon, cockwaffle—these unique swears are created by taking a common profanity and pairing it with an unlikely noun. And, they’re becoming so popular that The New York Times Magazine has dubbed the people who coin these …
Compliment and complement are commonly confused terms because they’re pronounced alike and originally shared some meanings. But over time, they’ve become separate words with entirely different definitions. What does complement mean? Complement with an E is the older of the two terms. Its noun sense has been around in English since the 1300s. The term derives from the Latin complēmentum, meaning “something that completes.” So, that means if …
Don’t get cozened out of a good time, sit down with this week’s Word of the Day Quiz. | February 25 – March 3, 2019 If the quiz doesn’t display, please try opening in the Chrome browser. Interested in Words of the Day from the past? Check out this one that we brought to life … Tell us your favorite word from this …
The 12 episodes of the Netflix show that you watched on Saturday. The full pint of Ben & Jerry’s you ate last Thursday night. The entire series of books you read in one week. When we enjoy things, it’s normal for us to indulge in them. There’s even a handy little word we pull out just for these instances of indulging in something we love: binge. …
by Ashley Austrew After the debut of Marie Kondo’s smash hit Netflix show, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, in January 2019, much fuss has been made about her directive of removing items in our homes that do not, as she calls it, “spark joy.” How can household objects “spark joy”? The idea of household objects sparking joy was first mentioned in Marie Kondo’s books, The Life-Changing Magic …
Brace yourself for this week’s behemoth Word of the Day Quiz. | February 18 – 24, 2019 If the quiz doesn’t display, please try opening in the Chrome browser. Interested in Words of the Day from the past? Check out this one that we brought to life … Tell us your favorite word from this week below (and share it with your friends …
You would not be wrong if you interchange loan and lend—they do in fact mean the same thing in most instance. The words loan and loaned are the present and past tenses of to loan. Lend and lent are the present and past tenses of to lend. As verbs, loan and lend are often used interchangeably. For example, “A bank loans people money to buy a home. …
Few words are as fun to say as onomatopoeia, but what the heck does it mean? Despite its complex look and sound, onomatopoeia actually has a simple function in the English language. It’s defined as “the formation of a word, as cuckoo, meow, honk, or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent.” To put it simply, it’s a word …
Traditionally, the word ninja is defined as “a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenary agents, highly trained in martial arts and stealth (ninjutsu), who were hired for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination.” These ninjas have captured the Western pop culture imagination since at least the 1960s, when the word was borrowed into English. Since then, ninja has expanded to describe “a …
