Do you have your eyes on the news? Here are the words that made headlines and drove searches December 14–21, 2018 on Dictionary.com! Prognosticator The word prognosticator tends to get its biggest use in February, when a groundhog is hauled out to forecast the arrival of spring. But the noun, which means “one who forecasts or predicts (something future) from present indications or signs,” jumped onto …
From the sentencing of the president’s former attorney to the holiday season, there’s plenty going on to drive word searches on Dictionary.com. Here are some of the biggest search spikes of December 7–14, 2018! Synergy Searches for the meaning of synergy spiked 1,561% in response to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s use of the word in court filings. Mueller alleged that Michael Cohen, former attorney for …
From the funeral of a former president to an international soccer trade, here’s what made words trend on Dictionary.com the week of From the funeral of a former president to an international soccer trade, here’s what made words trend on Dictionary.com the week of November 30–December 7, 2018! Jefe The loss of President George H.W. Bush was felt across the nation, and his long-time friend …
It. If you’re anything like us, this two-letter word makes you think of a Stephen King novel or, maybe, a certain cousin from the Addams Family. That’s most likely because It in King’s novel (and the horror movies it spawned) was the word used to describe Pennywise the Clown. And, Cousin Itt was a rather hairy human … yup, Cousin Itt was human. And these …
Food, food, glorious food made its presence known in a big way on this Thanksgiving week edition of the Dictionary.com Trending Words list. From a rarely used plural for beef to a beef over the proper way to describe cheesecake, here’s what had you searching November 16–23, 2018! Cheesecake If there’s one thing Americans love, it’s food. We have a whole holiday centered around consuming …
From the loss of one of the world’s superheroes to the happenings on the world stage, take a look at the news stories that made people scurry to Dictionary.com November 9–16, 2018 to find meaning. Excelsior Marvel fans mourned the loss of one of the comic book industries superheroes November 12. Stan Lee died at age 95, leaving behind the legendary characters he created or …
Boys will be boys. It’s an idiom we hear tossed around far too often. But, what does it actually mean, and why did we ever start saying it? And … what about girls—who or what will they be? Who decided boys will be boys, anyway? The phrase boys will be boys was first recorded in English in 1589. It originated from a Latin proverb: “Children (boys) …
We've collected some of the terms and phrases that make up social justice, which is itself a catch-all phrase for movements that work toward greater equality.
The midterm elections weren’t just sending folks to the polls. Plenty of you landed on Dictionary.com the week of November 2–9, 2018 looking for answers. So what did we learn? Let’s review this week in words! Incumbent, House of Representatives, and gubernatorial The midterm elections dominated headlines this week, so it’s no surprise that more than a few election-related words showed up in our trending …
Halloween. Cardi B. And, of course, the goings on in Washington D.C. They all had an effect on Dictionary.com’s trending words list for October 26–November 2, 2018. But, how much and what words? Dig in, and find out! Footages Convinced Cardi B had made up the word footages in an Instagram video, thousands of fans rushed to Dictionary.com to find out whether the “I Like …
From NASCAR tracks to Washington, D.C., here are the words that were blowing up the Dictionary.com trending charts October 19–26, 2018. Funner Semi-retired NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped the word funner on Twitter last weekend, drawing out the language snobs to correct him on his usage. There’s just one problem: Funner is, in fact, a word! Informal though it may be, the word that spiked …
