It’s in human nature to tell stories and in many ways, our stories—our mythologies—work their way into every aspect of our daily lives, from meme culture to the language we speak. You may be familiar with some of the words derived from the names of Greek and Roman gods and characters (herculean, echo, narcissist, to name a few). But some of the words with similar …
Meteors, meteorites, meteoroids, asteroids, comets … that’s a lot of terms (and space objects) flying around! Not to mention shooting stars and meteor showers. Are they all the same thing? Even though some of them may appear pretty similar to us, the answer is no, they’re not the same thing—especially not to the scientists who study them and who use different terms for specific reasons (more …
Bright and breezy? You’ve got serotonin to thank. Gloomy and grumpy? A big ol’ hug and a burst of oxytocin will perk you up. As it turns out, there’s a chemical side to happiness and positive mental health. Lifestyle factors and genetics certainly play a role in this—the latter accounting for 50 percent of your high spirits, research says. Still, how happy you are is …
In the US, the classic image of election day is of people standing in line to cast a ballot inside a voting booth. But this image is changing, particularly with the increase in the use of absentee and mail-in ballots. With this change, there is a lot of confusion—and misinformation—around these methods, which vary widely state by state. What’s more, some people use these terms …
Say cheese! There are a ton of different cheeses out there, and many of them have unique toponyms, or names that are derived from the name of a place. In fact, many cheeses are officially designated by international cheese organizations—yes, that’s a thing—as so-called “protected cheeses,” meaning only a specific place can legally make a certain kind of cheese. Whether they are protected or not, many …
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 …
pandemic: life upended, language transformed 2020 has been, well, a lot. At Dictionary.com, the task of choosing a single word to sum up 2020—a year roiled by a public health crisis, an economic downturn, racial injustice, climate disaster, political division, and rampant disinformation—was a challenging and humbling one. But at the same time, our choice was overwhelmingly clear. From our perspective as documenters of the …
We’ve got our mind on our money and our money on our mind. And while we’re mulling over all this moolah, we’re also thinking about the many words we use to refer to cash. Don’t believe us? We’ll put our money where our mouth is and show you all the words we could find. (And best of all, it won’t cost you a dime! … …
Whether you were born with a stick in hand or only watch ice hockey during the battle for the Stanley Cup, there are plenty of terms to know during a game of hockey. You’ve likely heard of a slapshot, but can you define a gongshow? Do you know … What do you call a particularly tough goal? Who’s the duster in the game? Why is …
Ableist language doesn’t only consist of slurs. It comes in many forms, including some so familiar that you may have never stopped to think about their origins or implications. The term ableist language has two definitions in this dictionary, accounting for the different things it can refer to: words and phrases that devalue disabled people by using disability language or historical descriptions of disabilities as …
Are you mid? Is based a compliment? Do you have opps? TikTok, like all social media, is a place where slang, acronyms, and spicy memes live their best (and worst) lives, popping up in videos, in comments, and as hashtags. Even if all you’re doing is browsing TikTok for the most highbrow of cat videos (sure you are), it’s nearly impossible to avoid terms like …