From the diamond to the big screen to the Beltway, here’s a look at what sent folks scurrying to Dictionary.com the week of August 10–17, 2018! Dinger The Little League World Series is back, and all eyes have been on Alfred Delia—known back in his New Jersey hometown as “Big Al.” The youngster scored a viral video with his on camera introduction, in which he announced …
by Kimberly C. Ellis, PhD I remember that Sunday so clearly. I saw something called “#RedWedding” trending on Twitter and when I clicked on the hashtag, I discovered it was related to the hit television show Game of Thrones already into its third season. I decided that night I would find out about the show, watch it for the first time, and learn about this Red …
A popular donut shop changed its name, and the president threw a press conference. How did this affect word searches on Dictionary.com? Dive into the September 21–28, 2018 trending words list to find out! Dunking It’s a name change we probably should have seen coming: After years of using the catchphrase “everything runs on Dunkin,” Dunkin Donuts is officially dropping the word “donuts” from its …
From lawsuits on the gridiron to scandal in the Oval Office and a jump over the pond into the land of K-pop, trending words were all over the map the week of May 4–11, 2018!Toadyism and oleaginousWriter George Will can always be counted on to fill his columns with interesting words, and his latest Washington Post article titled “Trump Is No Longer the Worst Person in …
Sanskrit is an ancient language that dates back to the Bronze Age. It is the language at the root of many languages of the Indian subcontinent, including Hindi, and it is used in ancient literary texts and sacred texts of the Hindu and Buddhist religions, particularly the Vedas. The holy and poetic nature of the language is hinted at in the meaning and origin of …
Word Tied to Trending Data, Global News Events OAKLAND, Calif., November 27, 2017 – Dictionary.com today announced it has named ‘complicit’ as 2017’s Word of the Year. Defined as “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others,” the word is indicative of larger trends that resonated throughout the year, hitting every aspect of today’s culture from politics and news, to …
Rapper feuds. Football celebrations. There’s a lot going on in the trending word list from September 7–14, 2108. Payola A feud between rappers Nicki Minaj and Cardi B ballooned to new heights this week, with Cardi allegedly throwing a shoe at Nicki and the Starships singer accusing the “I Like It” rapper of earning her success thanks to payola. So what’s payola? Clearly that was the …
The Democratic candidates squared off this week in their second, two-night debate in Detroit, Michigan, ahead of their party primaries. As the candidates made their pitch to voters for why they should top the Democratic ticket against Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, we were watching some of the standout or hot-button words they were using—and that drove viewers to look them up in …
From a Twitter meltdown by Roseanne Barr to a word dropped on Westworld, Hollywood had a major impact on the Dictionary.com trending word list the week of May 25–June 1, 2018. Racist, abhorrent, and repugnant A series of tweets by Roseanne Barr hit the news cycle this week, and they also helped boost a number of searches on Dictionary.com. Barr, star of the eponymous show …
From Beyonce to Britain, here’s why you were searching for meaning on Dictionary.com the week of August 3–8, 2018. FUPA Vogue got the Beyonce treatment this week, and so did the Dictionary.com trending words list. The singer got frank about the changes her body has undergone as she’s aged and carried babies, even praising her own FUPA. If you’re not familiar with the acronym, you’re …
Thanks to the holidays, we’re serving up two weeks worth of words that have trended on Dictionary.com! From Santa Claus to outer space, here’s what had folks searching for meaning December 21, 2018–January 4, 2019. Ultima Thule Space fans spent the week watching as NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by the most distant space object ever explored. Dubbed Ultima Thule, the object is some 4 billion miles …
During the holidays, kids hope to receive that one toy they have been dreaming of all year. Popular toys come and go, but some of them are still fondly remembered by multiple generations. One reason is because of their catchy, memorable names. That being said, the origins of the names of many classics range from simple to odd to downright mysterious. We decided to dive …
