Search Results for: harry%20potter

  1. hit dog

    Hit dog comes from the expression a hit dog will holler, meaning that a very defensive reaction to an accusation can be an admission of guilt.
  2. The Origin Of Dog Days

    It’s hot again, up in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s that time of year when the sun shines its most unforgiving beams, baking the ground and, indeed, us. It’s the portion of summer known as the hottest time of the year. Or, more delightfully, the dog days. Contrary to common conjecture, the dog days do not take their peculiar name from weather that “isn’t fit for …

  3. Cue vs. Queue

      When do you cue, and when do you queue? Cue typically refers to a signal that encourages someone to take an action, while queue indicates an ordered line or file. Both cue and queue are pronounced like the letter Q, and are considered to be homophones. Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings. Additionally, both cue and queue can be …

  4. New Terms We Added To Our Slang Dictionary

    Why is everyone suddenly tweeting about OK boomer? What is that Baby Yoda meme all up in our feeds about? And who are Becky and Karen, anyways? Oh, we’ve got this. We love keeping up with the latest terms in slang and getting to the bottom of the funniest, strangest, and, yes, thorniest trends in pop culture and social media. We love it so much, …

  5. 2 champagne glasses and a heart-shaped box of chocolates, pink filter

    Fall In Love With 14 Captivating Valentine’s Day Words

    Love is a many splendored thing. That must be why there are so many ways to talk about it. Thanks to love songs, poetry, music, movies, and art, the language of love seems to be constantly expanding, and what better time to brush up on the myriad ways to express your love and affection than on Valentine’s Day? You might be working on a few …

  6. trending words, blue text and blue background

    Rizz And 7 Other Slang Trends That Explain The Internet In 2023

    Now more than ever, there’s a firehose of slang terms flowing from TikTok vids, Twitch streams, Twitter memes, and the other outlets of the extremely online. What’s a menty b? Why are TikTokers adding -ussy to everything? What does it mean to be told to touch grass? You might be sorry you asked, but we’re going to explain it all. We’ll also provide insights into …

  7. 🌭 Hot Dog emoji

    The hot dog emoji is most often used to accompany messages about food, baseball, small dogs—and penises. Related words: baseball emoji dog face emoji hamburger emoji slice of pizza emoji eggplant emoji
  8. chatgpt made up words; green text and background

    We Had ChatGPT Coin Nonsense Phrases—And Then We Defined Them

    by Nick Norlen, Senior Editor Like everyone else, we’ve been playing with ChatGPT, the program that uses AI to generate text modeled on a vast database of existing writings. But instead of prompting it to produce a natural-sounding passage, we wanted to find out: can it compile unnatural-sounding phrases—ones that don’t exist in any known piece of published writing? The base prompt was simple: “Compose …

  9. Can You Run For President Using A Nickname?

    In the upcoming presidential election, Americans will get to choose between the two major candidates: Donald Trump of the Republican Party and Joe Biden of the Democratic Party. Or, as his name will more than likely appear on the ballot, Joseph R. Biden. “Joe” is such a common nickname of “Joseph” that we often forget that celebrities such as Joe Jonas and Joe Frazier aren’t …

  10. light blue text on dark blue background: "TM"

    40 Genericized Trademarks You Probably Say (And Use) Every Day

    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 …

  11. i'm feeling lucky

    I’m feeling lucky

    I’m feeling lucky conveys hope for or optimism about a chance outcome, especially gambling. It is also the name of a Google search function.
  12. Celebrating 20 Years Of Word Of The Day!

    It’s hard to believe, but this month marks 20 years of daily lexical morsels from Word of the Day. What started as a small audience of intrepid logophiles, who braved spotty dial-up connections for their quotidian word fix in 1999, has blossomed into a vibrant community of Word of the Day devotees, who bring context, conversation, inspiration, and personal connections to our selections every day. …