Archives
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Here Are Some New Words Added To Dictionary.com
In a spring 2015 update to the dictionary, we added more than a thousand new and modified definitions including gaming words like esports, permadeath and completionist, terms to prepare you for the 2016 elections like slacktivism, and gender-related terms agender, bigender, and gender-fluid.But how do lexicographers (the people who compile and update dictionaries) stay on top of language change? Luckily, we have a number of …
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What Does Calling Someone “Mom” On The Internet Mean?
While Kim Kardashian was busy “breaking the Internet” with her controversial photoshoot for Paper in November of 2014, New Zealand singer/songwriter Lorde was teaching the world—or at least her Twitter and Tumblr followers—about a new slang use of the word mom. How is mom used on the internet? These three little letters tweeted out by Lorde in response to Kardashian’s cover photo caused such confusion that the 18-year-old …
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3 Trending Words from the Week’s News
This week’s trending words touch on the debate surrounding the legalization of marijuana, the earthquake in Nepal, and the latest economic report.smugness: contentedly confident of one’s ability, superiority, or correctness.The story of Shona Banda, a 37-year-old woman in Kansas who has lost custody of her 11-year-old son after he allegedly told school officials that there was drug use at his home, provoked comment from television …
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Comprise vs. Compose
English is comprised of many confusing words. Or is it … composed of many words? Case in point: comprise and compose look very similar and have very similar meanings, so it’s no surprise that it can be hard to keep these two straight. Let’s explore comprise and compose, how they are used, and how you can tell them apart. What do comprise and compose mean? The …
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Wearable or Personal Computer: Which Came First?
The popularity of the Apple Watch has given the noun wearable some additional prominence. This leads to the question of which term came first: wearable or personal computer? As with so many such questions, there is no simple answer.
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You Didn’t Invent That: Shakespeare’s Spurious Neologisms
One of the most cherished beliefs of people who collect facts about English is that Shakespeare is the greatest linguistic inventor the language has ever seen. You cannot travel very far online before coming across some article or listicle asserting that he was responsible for giving birth to some exceedingly large portion of our vocabulary, and giving examples of numerous common words that began with …
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Moot Point vs. Mute Point
You may have heard coworkers or acquaintances refer to an inconsequential or irrelevant point as a moot point, or maybe you’ve heard mute point instead. Fans of the TV show Friends may have heard a third variation: moo point (because, according to Joey, a cow’s opinion doesn’t matter). But which expression is correct, and what exactly does it mean? The correct phrase is moot point. …
