Tag Archives: interest-pop-culture

  1. There’s A Word For That: Our Dictionary Additions For Winter 2024

  2. new words square

    New Words Drop! Get The First Look At Our Fall 2023 Collection Of Dictionary Additions

    Information pollution, jawn, decision fatigue, jolabokaflod, grandfamily, NIL, algo, amalgagender. Unbox the new terms and meanings just added to Dictionary.com. by Nick Norlen, Senior Editor, and Grant Barrett, Head of Lexicography Our fall new words drop is here!  The words don’t stop coming, so we’re updating the dictionary more frequently than ever. And not just with any words: this update includes an incredibly useful concentration …

  3. ¡Oye! Do You Know What Cinco De Mayo Is Really About?

    If you live in the United States, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with Cinco de Mayo. You may even know that it means the “fifth of May,” and that it’s a holiday celebrating an important event in Mexican history. There’s also a good chance that you’re familiar with how Mexico is often tokenized on this day with, well, lots of beer and sombrero …

  4. Essential Language From The Star Wars Universe

  5. boy with hand over mouth

    Dagnabbit! Minced Oaths And Curse Word Alternatives

    Let’s get real. Life is tough, and tough times call for tough words. But sometimes even the toughest of times call for … gentler words. Imagine: you’ve stubbed your toe and dropped your coffee too, and while you might want to let out a string of expletives (*&$@#*!!!), you’re painfully aware you can’t. Maybe the “little pitchers” have big ears. Or Great Aunt Edna is …

  6. image of unimpressed cat

    “Happy Monday” Alternatives From The Dictionary.com Staff

    By Nick Norlen, Senior Editor “Happy Monday!” Do you cringe a little every time someone says this or, worse, you find yourself saying it? “Happy” indicates celebration, right? “Happy Birthday!” “Happy New Year!” “Happy Friday!” These all make sense. But “Happy Monday”? Slow down, Captain Positive. For many of us, Monday morning begins a Monday mourning the end of Sunday Funday. Here at Dictionary.com, we …

  7. man puzzling over game on his phone, blue filter.

    12 Of The Weirdest Wordle Answers By Dictionary.com

    Six guesses, five letters, infinite boasting rights. Since the word puzzle Wordle first released publicly online in October 2021, it has become a blockbuster hit. The principle of the game is simple: each player has six chances to guess one five-letter word. After each guess, the letters change color: green for right letter, right location; yellow for right letter, wrong location; and gray for wrong …

  8. flowers in a pitcher

    Cottagecore, Dreamcore, Normcore, And Other -Core Words

    You’ve probably seen the hashtags on TikTok: cottagecore, royalcore, normcore. It’s clear they’re associated with a specific aesthetic and that people are major fans, but what’s the deal with every social trend suddenly getting its own unique -core name? Fandoms naming themselves isn’t a new thing—just ask Taylor Swift’s Swifties or Beyonce’s Beyhive. But the -core trend takes the idea of fandom and applies it …

  9. names of types of effects on blue background

    The Mandela Effect, Streisand Effect, And Other “Effects”

    You know that thing that happens when you first learn about something and then you start seeing it everywhere? Or when participants in a medical trial start to feel better even though they’ve been taking the pill with nothing in it? Helpfully, there are names for these things.   In the context of psychology, these “things that happen”—these phenomena—are often referred to as effects, especially in …

  10. spell book with magical aura around it, green filter.

    Wand At The Ready! These Magic Words Will Cast A Spell On You

    Hocus pocus, abracadabra, alakazam! These are the words we invoke when magic is at work—even if it might just be a card trick at home. While a few of these words and phrases have wholly crossed over into entertainment magic or originated there from the start (e.g., presto change-o), some of these words are rooted in older commands that called upon higher powers to influence …

  11. Doxing, Sealioning, and Rage Farming: The Language of Online Harassment and Disinformation

    We know all too well that the internet isn’t all fun memes and hamster videos. The darker side of online life is home to trolls, spammers, and many varieties of toxic behavior, spanning from tactics intended to harass one person to nefarious attempts to spread harmful disinformation as widely as possible. For many of the practices that play out exclusively online, specialized terms have emerged, …

  12. Photo of four young friends doing the "Gangnam Style" dance, blue filter.

    16 Words From The 2010s So Lit We Should Bring Them Back

    The 2010s were the era of Instagram, Beyonce’s Lemonade album, and arguing about whether a viral photo showed a blue dress or a white one. The decade may not seem like that long ago, but a lot has changed since then, including many parts of our language. Vocabulary evolves quickly, especially when you’re talking about the words associated with slang and pop culture. Take yeet, …