Who’s ready for a virtual field trip? During the Covid-19 pandemic, educational spaces like museums, national parks, and even NASA are opening their doors for virtual tours. We’ve already “visited” the Georgia Aquarium to watch their aquatic animal webcams. Next, we’re heading to the Houston Zoo in Texas to get up close and personal with elephants, flamingos, gorillas, ants, and more! The Houston Zoo is offering fun …
It takes two people to have an affair. Despite this fact, there is a clear disparity in the way the public generally discusses extramarital relationships. Heterosexual men who have affairs are just heterosexual men who had affairs. But, the women with whom they have those affairs quickly get labeled with another term, one for which there is no effective male equivalent in English: mistress. As …
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, so too does the repetitive language people are using to talk about it. After a while, it gets exhausting hearing the same words over and over again in every article, tweet, and news broadcast. A few weeks ago, we rounded up the overused pandemic words and phrases our Twitter followers told us they were absolutely tired of hearing. The list …
by Ashley Austrew Most of us are familiar with the concept of being burned out. It’s that feeling you get when you’re stressed, overwhelmed, and simply don’t have any more energy to devote to a given task, activity … or career. Traditionally, the word burnout has been used more as a self-diagnosis or casual expression rather than treated as a medical syndrome or mental health …
It can be particularly hard to know the difference between especially and specially. These two words—that can both mean “particularly“—look similar, have similar origins, and in some cases, are interchangeable. Not only are they both adverbs, but the difference in their definitions is so nuanced, it may seem impossible to know when to use especially versus specially correctly. The distinction may seem small, but once you …
One of the easiest and most fun learning activities to do while distance learning is to take a virtual field trip. During the Covid-19 pandemic, educational spaces like museums, national parks, and even NASA are opening their doors for virtual tours. For kids who love learning about animals and the environment, one recommended stop is Georgia Aquarium. Even if you don’t live anywhere near Atlanta, …
If video conferencing and Zoom happy hours are our new reality, then backgrounds and filters are our new currency. Zoom backgrounds help you hide the dirty laundry you forgot was piled up behind you, and they give you a pass on having to share the details of your living space with your boss, your teacher, or 35 nosy coworkers. We’ve all seen coworkers rocking backgrounds …
New pages added! We’re sure you’ve all been doing a lot of coloring these days … what’s a better activity to pass the time, right? How about printable coloring pages and learning how to define words? OK, that sounds better to us! How to make your own printable dictionary We’ve started to put together a Dictionary.com coloring book. It’s A–Z fun, with a word and …
Before you dive into the unknown, there’s one thing you should clear up: are you preparing to venture into uncharted or unchartered territory? We’ll make it easy for you: the answer here is uncharted, since you’re going to explore the unknown. So then what is unchartered? Keep reading for more on how to use each of these words and when. What does uncharted mean? The adjective …
Terms and concepts to understand coronavirus antibody testing by John Kelly, Senior Research Editor at Dictionary.com Testing continues to be a major story—and concern—amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes diagnostic testing to determine if one is infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. It also includes serological tests to determine if a person has antibodies that can signal immunity to COVID-19. But what does serological …
Since Jack went up the hill with Jill, Jack jumped over the candlestick, and Jack climbed the beanstalk (to name just a few of his exploits,) he must be wiped out. Doesn’t it seem like a disproportionate number of nursery rhymes and fairy tales contain a hero named Jack? Is this just a coincidence? What’s a nursery rhyme vs. a fairy tale? First things first, …
Every once in a while a show comes along and completely transforms bits and pieces of the English language. Parks and Recreation, we’re looking at you. Sure, Friends did it with words and phrases like pivot and how you doing? The Office turned the phrase that’s what she said into one of the longest running jokes in pop culture. But NBC’s Parks And Recreation has …