If you’ve ever purchased a product, read a book, or watched a movie (read: everyone currently on this page), then you’ve likely seen four symbols time and time again: ™, ®, ©, and ℠. They can be large or close to microscopic. No matter how small, however, they are powerful and convey a lot of meaning. So what’s the deal with each, and what makes …
The word addict has been around in English since at least the 1500s, adapted from the Latin addictus, meaning “assigned, surrendered.” But the way we talk about people with addiction is changing, and here at Dictionary.com, we’re changing along with it. In a major update to Dictionary.com, our lexicographers have replaced all instances of addict used as a noun with “a person addicted to” or …
We know all too well that the internet isn’t all fun memes and hamster videos. The darker side of online life is home to trolls, spammers, and many varieties of toxic behavior, spanning from tactics intended to harass one person to nefarious attempts to spread harmful disinformation as widely as possible. For many of the practices that play out exclusively online, specialized terms have emerged, …
Concave and convex are literal opposites—one involves shapes that curve inward and the other involves shapes that curve outward. The terms can be used generally, but they’re often used in technical, scientific, and geometric contexts. Lenses, such as those used in eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, binoculars, and cameras are often described as concave or convex, depending on which way they curve. In geometry, both words can …
Usually, triangles only strike fear and terror into the hearts of trigonometry students. However, there is one particular triangle that has captivated and terrified people the world over for quite a long time: the Bermuda Triangle. Is the Bermuda Triangle actually real and is there really any good reason to be afraid of this three-cornered geographic area? Let’s brave the unknown together and travel deep …
The internet keeps on supplying us with an endless stream of trendy slang words that come from anywhere—from bizarre TikTok streams and YouTube videos featuring sentient toilets—and everywhere in between. Why are grown men called babygirl? What is the scuttlebutt on tush push and gyatt? What does it mean to be delulu? Are we doomed to a fate of enshittification? We have all of the …
Awards season kicks off each year in November with the Emmy Awards and culminates with the Academy Awards in February. (The Tonys are a summertime outlier.) Rare talents can sometimes win all four of the major performing arts awards—an almost mythic achievement known colloquially as an EGOT: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. There are relatively few EGOT recipients, but they include …
“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” This pithy quote by famed science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein (among earlier variations) nicely frames the basic difference between climate and weather: climate refers to average, long-term conditions, while weather refers to specific, short-term conditions. Of course, it’s more complicated than that. We talk a lot about climate these days, especially in the context …
Not many side dishes can claim to be staples the world over. Of those, few are as beloved as French fries. Frites, chips, salchipapas—the list of names for fries is long, but regardless of the moniker, variations on fried pieces of potato can be found on restaurant menus on just about every continent. Summer is as good a time as any to learn a little …
Now more than ever, there’s a firehose of slang terms flowing from TikTok vids, Twitch streams, Twitter memes, and the other outlets of the extremely online. What’s a menty b? Why are TikTokers adding -ussy to everything? What does it mean to be told to touch grass? You might be sorry you asked, but we’re going to explain it all. We’ll also provide insights into …
If you sail off the coast of northwestern Europe and keep to the east of Ireland, you’ll find yourself in a country rich with history and royal magnificence. But what, exactly, is this country called? England? The United Kingdom? Great Britain? Or just Britain? Are any of these names correct? Are all of them? In this article, we’ll take a tour of the British Isles …
All brains are not the same. This is part of what the word neurodiversity is often used to express. But both the word and the concept are subject to varying use and interpretation. In this article, we’ll discuss the evolving conversations and preferences around words like neurodiversity, neurotypical, neurodivergent, and others. We’ll focus on some of the key terms you need to know to be …
