It’s always a good time for soul food. And June is an especially good time because June is National Soul Food Month. But before you dig in, do you know what soul food really means, and where it comes from? The rich history and vocabulary of soul food are rooted in the cultures of the African diaspora, and its dishes and traditions were shaped by …
We use a lot … a lot. But ask someone to define a lot and they’ll probably start by saying “A lot means … a lot!” That’s because it’s so commonly used that it can be hard to think of how to explain it. A lot can seem like it should be a single word—and maybe one day the spelling alot will appear in this …
So you have an important test coming up. Standardized tests like the SAT, ACT, GRE, and GED are a major part of the high school, college, and even graduate school experience, but prepping for these tests isn’t exactly everyone’s favorite activity. Each of these tests serves a different function in the high school and college admissions process, but no matter which one you’re signed up …
By Mariel Jungkunz, Research Editor at Dictionary.com The long-awaited movie version of In the Heights—based on the hit Broadway musical—is in theaters and streaming. Everyone’s talking about it, and you’ve got questions. You might be wondering if you need to speak Spanish to understand its lyrics and many cultural references—and if so, you’ve come to the right place. Dictionary.com is collaborating with Lexico.com, an online Spanish dictionary and translator, to …
Summer is here, which means Cancer season is upon us. We’re talking about people born between June 21–July 22, meaning they are born under the Cancer sign of the zodiac. Cancer is the fourth sign (after Gemini and before Leo) in the zodiac calendar. Cancer (the word is Latin for “crab”) is also one of the four cardinal signs—specifically, it is the cardinal water sign. …
Evoke and invoke are both fairly formal words that look and sound a lot alike—and, for what it’s worth, you can summon a spirit with either one (we’ll get to that, don’t worry). But the contexts in which they’re used are often quite different. Evoke is typically used when talking about how something produces or draws out feelings, memories, or reactions. Invoke is often used …
Summer is the season for basking in the warm sun and rejoicing in the freedom of vacation. Summer officially starts in late June — but try telling that to the students who’ve been enjoying their school break for weeks by that point! So let’s take a look at the name summer and what it actually means, while answering that age-old question: when exactly does summer …
Every year on June 14 in the United States, a holiday comes and goes (perhaps without you even noticing): Flag Day. The gist of the holiday is right there in the name. It’s a commemoration of the adoption of Betsy Ross’s American flag in 1777. It’s also a chance to flex your vexillology trivia facts and knowledge about US history. The first official Flag Day …
Most of us landlubbers live out our dry lives on solid ground, so it can be easy to forget that Earth is primarily an ocean planet that’s 71% covered in water—most of which connects in a giant blue mass around our little green islands. Ocean, sea, it’s all the same salt water, right? Yes and no. In general use, it’s extremely common for the two …
Many people around the world agree that doughnuts—those small sweetened or unsweetened pieces of dough fried in deep fat—are delicious. What is less agreed on (at least in the United States) is the spelling: is it doughnut or donut? Technically, it can be both. Dictionaries and popular style guides like the AP Stylebook list doughnut as the preferred spelling. However, donut is a common variation …
There has been a lot of buzz around cicadas recently—you’ve probably heard about Brood X by now (if not, read on). But do you know what a cicada actually is? Are they the same as locusts? Are they all just a kind of grasshopper? Telling cicadas and locusts apart can be a bit complicated, especially since the words are sometimes used interchangeably and the particularly …
June is a great month. School’s out. The days are long. The weather’s warm. Perhaps the Anglo-Saxons — who spoke that linguistic ancestor of English known as Old English — were onto something when they collectively called June and July Liða. That’s pronounced like [ lee–thuh ], with the character ð having the voiced th-, like this. Liða itself may mean “calm” or “mild.” On its own, June was sometimes also referred to …
