If you’re anything like us—and hello, you’re here, reading this—you’re probably a book lover. Whether those to-read piles on the brink of teetering over are yours or your bestie’s, parent’s, or partner’s, we’re not here to judge the unread stacks. But when it comes to the great responsibility of sharing the love of books through gifts, there are so many options beyond books themselves. To …
A sequel to a treasured children’s film and a celebration of the nation’s laws both landed on the Dictionary.com trending words list for September 14–21, 2018. Here’s what else had you wondering about words. Prevarication Searches for prevarication climbed 1,209% this week on the heels of its use in a tweet by George Conway, Washington D.C. lawyer and husband of White House staffer Kellyanne Conway. Prevarication …
Black history is American history, but it’s also bigger than that. The reach and influence of Black culture is global. Black history is too vast to be covered or contained in a single month, or a single article. Black History Month is nevertheless a reminder to engage in a year-round, lifelong celebration and exploration of Black history and its many facets. It’s an opportunity to …
Hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic are three words that are commonly used in science. Specifically, they are used to explain how water will flow between two different chemical solutions. Solutions with a lot of stuff in them, such as saltwater, are often referred to as hypertonic while plain ol’ water is said to be hypotonic. But what does this really mean? In this article, we will …
1. What caused the biggest jump in searches on Dictionary.com the week of March 8–15, 2018? The word rehabilitation had a whole lot of people scratching their heads. The term took a 607% leap in searches over the prior week. The spike followed news out of Connecticut that a former University of Hartford student named Brianna Brochu had been sentenced by a judge to “accelerated …
This spring may be a bit steamier than usual, thanks to the return of the hit Netflix show Bridgerton. This Regency romance with a modern twist took audiences by storm last year with its unpredictable plot, historical setting, and very attractive cast of characters. If you watched the first season last year or you’re catching up now, you may find yourself wondering what some of …
If you take a cursory glance at almost any sheet music, particularly for classical music, you will see a hodgepodge of Italian terms such as piano, staccato, crescendo, just to name a few. How did the Italian language come to dominate musical notation? To answer this question, we need to know a little bit about the history of music. The music staff (a set of …
