‘Tis the season for… seasons! We all know that the year is divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn/fall, and winter. However, we also have a number of unofficial seasons to go along with these main four. For example, we have cozy season, spooky season, and everybody’s favorite, pumpkin spice season. Each of these “seasons” is anticipated or observed in different ways. These “seasons” have …
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 …
So you have an important test coming up. Standardized tests like the SAT, ACT, GRE, and GED are a major part of the high school, college, and even graduate school experience, but prepping for these tests isn’t exactly everyone’s favorite activity. Each of these tests serves a different function in the high school and college admissions process, but no matter which one you’re signed up …
As the saying goes, there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. This saying dates all the way back to 1716, and the word tax is even older than that. Tax, meaning “a sum of money demanded by a government,” comes from the Latin taxare, meaning “censure, charge, tax with a fault,” and dates to around the 1200s. For centuries, taxes have been …
The pronunciation of words in English is not always straightforward. Unlike some languages, such as French or Spanish, there is not always a direct relationship between the spelling of words and how they are said aloud. In technical terms, there is not always a consistent relationship between graphemes (basically, writing units) and their phonemes (sounds) in English. There are a couple of reasons for this. The English …
Want your kid to build their English vocabulary and have fun? We’ve collected over 10 vocab activities aimed at middle school students to build vocab, explain different parts of the English language, and answer those common English language questions. You might even have a little bit of fun. Learning about words in the news Read the following coronavirus informational texts. What does COVID-19 mean? Coronavirus: …
In politics, having a catchy nickname will go a long way to help you stand out from the crowd and be remembered throughout history. After all, we still recall how much people liked Ike and how they loved listening to the Great Communicator. But a nickname doesn’t have to be that fancy to stick in people’s minds. Sometimes, all you need are a couple of …
According to the World Health Organization’s international studies, an estimated 1 in 270 people has autism spectrum disorder. This prevalence has inspired the declaration of April as Autism Awareness Month or Autism Acceptance Month. The United Nations also observes April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day. With this recognition comes the expectation that people will be inspired to learn more and share information about autism spectrum disorder, …
Yeah … these two words seem the same but which one should you use? Yea vs. yeah Yea can be used as an informal adverb meaning “yes” or “to affirm,” or as a noun to indicate an affirmative vote. When used in a vote, yea can be pronounced like “yay.” Yea can also be used as an adverb to amplify an adjective or to say …
