Mendacity Mendacity was our top trending word the week of Feb. 9–13, 2018, peaking at an 845% increase in searches. So, what’s mendacity? Lying, untruthfulness, falsehoods—all mendacity. Here’s why it’s newsworthy this week: Trump has some mendacity, for sure. Even his lawyers know it, which is why they are advising him not to meet with Mueller re: the Russia investigation, because lying to the FBI, even if …
OAKLAND, Calif., March, 2017 – From pop culture to pot culture, alt-right to Kpop —the trends, movements, and news of today continue to influence the words and language we use. Today Dictionary.com, the leading online and mobile English-language resource, announced more than 300 new words and definitions were added to the dictionary, sharing trends and insights into how and why words within cultural and political …
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 …
Chances are, when you started reading you encountered plenty of new words. That’s great for you—you were learning, after all—but here’s the catch. Your skill at pronouncing these words didn’t necessarily keep up with your reading skills, leading to some funny mishaps. Did colonel’s pronunciation confuse you? What about choir? Or hors’d’oeuvres? (Did you try “horse divorce” or “hers dervs”?) This might seem silly now, but …
We all know by now that Twitter raised their character limit to 280 in 2017. Predictably, this change has inspired hilarious reactions online. Most users are downright gleeful they have a wee-bit more space to tweet. Others are upset, claiming this expansion will ruin Twitter by making it more like Facebook. A few grumpy tweeters have solemnly vowed to never compose a tweet that’s longer …
A mysterious New York Times op-ed writer. A beloved TV-show star. A struggle to log into email. What do they all have in common? Spots on the Dictionary.com Trending Words of the Week for August 31–September 7, 2018! Lodestar, amorality, and deep state The identity of a mysterious New York Times op-ed writer has yet to be revealed, but it isn’t for lack of examining …
While the bald eagle is a national symbol for the United States, the two major political parties that govern it are often represented by two different animals: a donkey for the Democratic Party and an elephant for the Republican Party. These animals are commonly linked with these two parties in everything from political analysis to bumper stickers. Why these two animals, though? Why not an …
