Spoiler alert: it is not by saying, “Yeah, well life’s not fair!” Children are not immune to the inequalities and injustices of the world. Sometimes they see more of what is going on around them than their parents and caregivers give them credit for. That being said, sometimes kids still respond to something as simple as not getting their way with cries of inequity. As …
The pronunciation of words in English is not always straightforward. Unlike some languages, such as French or Spanish, there is not always a direct relationship between the spelling of words and how they are said aloud. In technical terms, there is not always a consistent relationship between graphemes (basically, writing units) and their phonemes (sounds) in English. There are a couple of reasons for this. The English …
Every year, Muslims around the world observe Ramadan by fasting during the daylight hours for 30 days. It’s a tradition written into the Qur’an itself, and Ramadan is one of the most important months for followers of Islam. From when it starts (the date changes every year with respect to the Gregorian calendar) to the strict set of dietary rules for the month, here’s what …
When it comes to disease, we’re more and more aware of symptoms, prevention, treatments, and long-term effects. But there’s another, often less-considered factor that can have far-reaching consequences for public health: a disease’s name. What we call a disease—both popularly and officially—can affect how people perceive it, whether they understand how its spread can be prevented, and whether they seek treatment for it. The fact …
The George Floyd protests brought attention to the word systemic—among many other powerful words that speak to this historic time—like never before. Many activists and public officials are calling to dismantle the systemic racism in policing and other social institutions that are disproportionately killing and oppressing Black people. These calls, and our broader cultural conversation around them, have stoked significant interest in—and considerable confusion around—the …
Our 2018 Word of the Year Is … Misinformation The rampant spread of misinformation poses new challenges for navigating life in 2018. As a dictionary, we believe understanding the concept is vital to identifying misinformation in the wild, and ultimately curbing its impact. But what does misinformation mean? Dictionary.com defines it as “false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead.” The …
People around the world have been fascinated by dragons for millennia. From the snake-like dragons of the East to the dinosaur-like dragons of the West, we just can’t get enough of these gargantuan reptiles! They feature prominently in myths and legends (like St. George slaying a fearsome dragon or the Norse hero Sigurd battling the terrifying dragon Fafnir), and even after all of these years, dragons …
What makes certain accents sound sexy and others harsh? “The RINE in SPINE fawls MINELY on tha PLINE!” In the song “The Rain in Spain” from the musical My Fair Lady, phonetics professor Henry Higgins (“’enry ’iggins”) pleads with Eliza Doolittle to say “Ay not I, O not Ow.” By the end of the song, Eliza’s “AY-ing” and “O-ing” and pronouncing all her H’s. The …
The English language is famously full of confusing and often contradictory spelling conventions. You know it’s bad when misspell itself is one of the most common misspellings! To identify the words that consistently give people trouble, we analyzed Dictionary.com search data to compile this list of the most commonly misspelled words. For each word, we prepared tips to help you remember how to spell it …
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 …
Beginning in early 2021 and continuing through 2023, there has been a massive upheaval in the labor market. Hundreds of thousands of workers have voluntarily left workplaces they feel are unsafe, do not pay well enough, or to pursue careers more in line with their interests. This phenomenon was termed the Great Resignation by psychologist Anthony Klotz in 2021. Resignation in this context means to …
The world of movies delivers a lot of memorable words in the form of classic quotes and witty one-liners. Sometimes, though, the big screen also debuts entirely new words or casts an existing word in an entirely new role. Some words, of course, were created with certain movies in mind. For this article, we put out a casting call for words that got their big …
