Video games have come a long way over the years. They hit the scene in the 1970s with basic graphics but have morphed into sophisticated works of art that cover every genre. Throughout their evolution, we’ve been introduced to a fascinating cast of characters who star in these games. They range from lifelike personalities to strange and wonderful creatures that spring from the imaginations of …
The widespread attention on the conservatorship case involving pop star Britney Spears has a lot of people who aren’t lawyers wondering: What is a conservatorship? What does it entail? And how is a conservatorship different from guardianship? It’s difficult to provide a short answer. That’s because, in the US, conservatorships and guardianships are both governed by state law, and the specific definition varies from state …
People in the Western world debate many things, from whether cheesecake is actually a cake to which airplane seat is the best—aisle or the window? What year it is generally does not fall into the category of debated facts. However, how to refer to said year and the past years from ancient history—BC and AD or BCE and CE—does. Both sets of abbreviations have history. One …
If you take a tour of the English language, you can find some unbelievably long words like antidisestablishmentarianism, pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism, and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. As long as these words are, they have got nothing on the longest words you’ll find in some of the world’s languages. If you find that hard to believe, you should know that the list you are about to read includes words like kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedenplan …
Christmas is a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. Most Christians celebrate the holiday on December 25. (Fun fact: it is actually celebrated on January 7 in the Orthodox Church due to the use of a different calendar.) Everyone knows this holiday as Christmas, right? But did you know there’s also another name for it? First, what does …
Some young people may find it hard to believe, but there was once a world without emoji (the plural can be either emoji or emojis—take your pick). These bright, little, expressive images didn’t come into existence until 1999, when the first ones were created by Japanese artist Shigetaka Kurita. Today, there are more than 3,000 emoji … and counting. They add a pop of personality to …
Salt-N-Pepa would approve of this list. But even if their song is stuck in your head (you know you’re singing “Let’s talk about sex!” now) actually talking about sex is anything but easy. It’s overwhelming to have “the talk” with your kids, which is why experts suggest having an ongoing conversation on the topics of sex, consent, and reproduction as they grow instead of having …
Have you been overcome with wanderlust lately? If you’re antsy to travel or are already planning a trip to a faraway locale, you might want to take a moment to consider the name of your destination. It’s possible that you may not even know how to pronounce the name of this city! As it turns out, even the most well-known cities around the globe can …
The 2010s were the era of Instagram, Beyonce’s Lemonade album, and arguing about whether a viral photo showed a blue dress or a white one. The decade may not seem like that long ago, but a lot has changed since then, including many parts of our language. Vocabulary evolves quickly, especially when you’re talking about the words associated with slang and pop culture. Take yeet, …
We’re only a quarter of the way through 2019, but already we’ve seen some significant trends in searches on Dictionary.com. Politics, as ever, has propelled many of the lookups, but that’s not the only driver. Sneak peek: Top terms range from pad thai to deep space. Here are the words setting the search trends through March 2019: 1. Exonerate Our top lookup in early 2019 …
Doomsday is one of those evocative words that paint a very vivid picture. We define doomsday: “the day of the Last Judgment, at the end of the world; nuclear destruction of the world; given to or marked by forebodings or predictions of impending calamity; especially concerned with or predicting future universal destruction.” As you can see, it’s about as bottom-line as it can get. Other words associated …
Q: What do you get when you combine Dictionary.com with a Dad Joke Contest? A: 3,500 submissions and 5,200 votes, apparently! For our Dad Joke Contest, we gave you a classic setup with a twist—“Why did the dictionary cross the road?”—and asked you to submit the corniest, punniest, dad-jokiest punch line you could muster. Dads and non-dads delivered big time—submitting more than 3,500 entries! After …