Legally, to trademark something means to make it so that only one company can make money off of something with that name. You might not realize it, but many of the seemingly generic words we use all of the time are or were registered trademarks. This is often a problem for companies who want to avoid their lucrative trademarks being killed by “genericide,” meaning they …
If you’ve watched (or even tried to avoid) the news as a presidential election heats up, you’re probably well aware that political pundits like to use the color red to represent the Republican Party and blue for the Democratic Party. A “red state” votes Republican in presidential elections and Senate races, while a “blue state” leans Democratic. No matter which news program you favor, they …
Perhaps you’ve scrolled through social media and seen someone comment: Classic self-own. Greatest self-own of the year so far. Olympics-level self-own. Hall-of-fame self-own. This is both a self-own and a universal truth https://t.co/xbHhqovnnL — John Haltiwanger (@jchaltiwanger) January 30, 2020 What are these self-owns, and why are they epic? To understand what self-own really means, we must first know the meaning of the slang term …
Let’s say that your favorite movie is The Godfather. If you held a copy of it in your hand, would you use the word titled or entitled to say what the name of the movie is? Which word is correct? Are they both correct? In this article, we will break down the difference between titled and entitled, explain how they are typically used, and give …
Advice and advise are closely related—they’re used in the same contexts and they’re separated by only one letter. But they’re pronounced differently. The challenge is really remembering which spelling to use for the noun and which spelling to use for the verb. Take our advice: after we advise you on the difference, you’ll never get them mixed up again. Advice is a noun that means …
This September, we released our biggest update to the dictionary ever. Our dictionary editors touched over 15,000 entries in a sweeping effort to reflect the many ways language is evolving. From capitalizing Black to adding a separate entry for Pride to revising references to suicide, our update addresses topics that touch us on some of our most personal levels: race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, …
When you hear the phrase red carpet, what comes to mind? Chances are that it’s not the questionable red shag from the ’70s that covers the living room in your relative’s aging home. For many people, the red carpet is synonymous with prestige, status, celebrity, ceremony, and a whole lot of pomp and circumstance. Hollywood’s big night, the Oscars, is a prime example. But this …
Maybe you’re a diehard hoophead. Or maybe you fill out your March Madness bracket based on mascots. You might know the difference between a double bonus, a double-double, and a double dribble. Or between a one-and-one, one-on-one, and and one. But do you know… What’s the difference between a flagrant 1 and a flagrant 2? Where does the point in point guard come from? What …
Are you mid? Is based a compliment? Do you have opps? TikTok, like all social media, is a place where slang, acronyms, and spicy memes live their best (and worst) lives, popping up in videos, in comments, and as hashtags. Even if all you’re doing is browsing TikTok for the most highbrow of cat videos (sure you are), it’s nearly impossible to avoid terms like …
As you likely know, English is spoken all over the world. At the same time, there are many different types of English, such as American English, British English, and Australian English. Regardless of whether you live in Chicago, London, Toronto, or Sydney, many English words exist everywhere with the same meaning. However, there are quite a few words used by Americans and Canadians that aren’t …
Do the words embed and imbed mean different things or not? In this article, we’ll look at the meanings of the words embed and imbed, explain whether they’re used in different ways, and also cover the forms embedded, imbedded, embedding, and imbedding. Embed has many different meanings. It’s most commonly used as a verb meaning “to fix into a surrounding mass” (embed stones in cement) …
