On August 11, 1973, Clive Campbell—aka DJ Kool Herc—and his sister Cindy organized a back-to-school party for mostly high-schoolers in the Bronx, bringing together the elements that would form the foundation of an art form, a culture, and a phenomenon: hip-hop. On the occasion of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, we set out to capture its trajectory from cultural mashup to source of global influence by highlighting …
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 …
We’re already halfway through 2019, which means we had to look back at our word search data! We love data, OK. Plus, the search trends on Dictionary.com from April through June 2019 did not disappoint. Politics, of course, drove many of the searches. And, uh, a quick warning: there are some references to adult content ahead. (Hey, we don’t control the words, folks. We document …
It’s no surprise that many of our place names are relatively new to English. Some (like Far East) were born during British colonization, but “Near East” and “Middle East” are more modern than that. The word “east” is derived from the Sanskrit word “usās” meaning “dawn” or “morning.” From the perspective of Europe and Asia, this makes sense because the sun rises in the east. …
by Min Straussman In 1585, a mining expert named Joachim Gans landed on Roanoke Island in the New World. He is considered the first Jewish person to visit the Americas. Almost 70 years later, in 1654, the first Jewish community was founded in what was then known as New Amsterdam, and what we today call New York City. They came, like so many other early …
Self-coup, latine, rage farming, petfluencer, nearlywed, hellscape, talmbout, cakeage. Explore the explosive variety of new terms and meanings just added to Dictionary.com. by Nick Norlen, Senior Editor Historically significant moments. Stunningly advanced AI. Very expensive eggs. There is a lot happening out there, seeming as if it’s everything, everywhere, all at once. The events are relentless, but so is the pace with which language adapts …
Nauseous and nauseated originally had different definitions. In current common usage, though, the words have evolved to become practically interchangeable. Let’s explore the differences between the two a bit closer. What does nauseous mean? The word nauseous describes “something that causes a feeling of nausea or disgust.” Here’s an example: “The nauseous odor made the boy feel sick.” In this sentence, the word nauseous …
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 …
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 …
When we communicate with others using words, we’re using language. We’re also using a dialect and an accent, whether we’re aware of it or not. But what do all of these words mean? How are languages, dialects, and accents different from each other? In this article, we will talk about the differences between languages, dialects, and accents while providing examples of each. The word language …
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 …
