A popular donut shop changed its name, and the president threw a press conference. How did this affect word searches on Dictionary.com? Dive into the September 21–28, 2018 trending words list to find out! Dunking It’s a name change we probably should have seen coming: After years of using the catchphrase “everything runs on Dunkin,” Dunkin Donuts is officially dropping the word “donuts” from its …
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 …
by Molly Rosen Marriner It’s another installment of Last Month in Pop Language, a column where the most popular (statistically) song, book, and film of the month will have their words analyzed in hopes of drawing a conclusion about language’s current usage—and future. At the end of each monthly column, we’ll draw a conclusion: Was last month’s pop language masterly, malevolent, or merely meh? Film: Ant-Man and the Wasp …
LeBron James was as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve and so were football fans. So, what effect did that have on the Dictionary.com trending words of July 27th–August 3rd, 2018? Let’s take a look! Inviolability An announcement by Pope Francis sent one word soaring 441% this week: inviolability. The pontiff issued a statement condemning the use of the death penalty, “because it is …
From Final Jeopardy to toothbrushes made from panda’s favorite snack, the trending words on Dictionary.com took us all around the world and back again during the week of July 20–27, 2018. Get ready, get set, go word-crazy! Outercourse An attempt by Brock Turner’s lawyer to have his sexual assault conviction overturned—based on a claim that Turner only intended to have outercourse with his victim—sent hundreds …
by Molly Rosen MarrinerThis is our fourth installment of Last Month in Pop Language, a column where the most popular (statistically) song, book, and film of the month will have their words analyzed in hopes of drawing a conclusion about language’s current usage—and future. At the end of each monthly column, we’ll draw a conclusion: Was last month’s pop language masterly, malevolent, or merely meh?————- Movie: The Incredibles 2 …
From LeBron James’ performance in the Eastern Conference finals to some reality stars on MTV, here’s a look at the vocabulary lessons we got from the news the week of May 11–18, 2018. BTFO No athlete wants to send people to the dictionary to find out that BTFO means “blown the f–k out,” least of all find out that searches for the acronym climbed 2455% after …
As 2017 comes to a close, we reflect on the words that impacted all of us, for better or for worse. American leadership made bold communication choices in 2017: Fury replaced diplomacy. Accusations of collusion distracted from the truth. Covfefe gave us some much needed comic relief in an era of Presidency by Tweet. (No, we’re not adding it to the dictionary…at least not yet.) …
As 2017 comes to a close, it’s time for us to reflect on the words that impacted all of us this year—for better or for worse. At Dictionary.com, the Word of the Year serves as a symbol of the year’s most meaningful events and lookup trends. Our 2017 Word of the Year is complicit. Complicit means “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable …
At Dictionary.com we aim to pick a Word of the Year that embodies a major theme resonating deeply in the cultural consciousness over the prior 12 months. This 2016, some of the most prominent news stories have centered around fear of the “other.” Fear is an adaptive part of human evolutionary history and often influences behaviors and perceptions on a subconscious level. However, this particular …
Part of the drama of hurricane season revolves around the predicting and changing of the severity—or category—of the storm. What category will the hurricane be when it hits land? What kind of damage might it inflict? What is a hurricane category? There are a few classification scales that meteorological agencies use to determine the intensity of hurricanes. The Saffir-Simpson scale is used to measure the strength of …
