When you’re born, the first words you speak are so often mommy or daddy. (In some garbled, gurgled form or another—translation is often required.) So, let’s explore this commonality that connects us all and learn the different words people have come up with to describe their moms, dads, and grandparents. We might just toss in the random uncle, aunt, and cousin, too. Most of these …
Whether it’s CNN host Jake Tapper tweeting or Canadian officials making statements to the press, the news tends to make an impact on what people search in the dictionary. Here’s a peek at the words that had folks guessing the week of June 8–15, 2018! Ad hominem Tensions between the United States and our northern neighbor, Canada, are at an all-time high this week, with …
Given the size and manpower of the US Army, it’s no surprise that its lingo has gradually invaded everyday conversation. Not many of us keep a Purple Heart framed on our desk, though (i.e., we have no idea what these words and phrases mean even though we hear them all the time). Here’s the best explanations we can come up with as to what these military phrases …
From the president’s Twitter account to a horse with an unusual name, searches for the meaning of words took folks into some unusual areas of Dictionary.com the week of June 1–June 8, 2018. Pardon President Donald Trump’s assertion that he can pardon himself didn’t just have the Twitterverse talking. It also sent searches for the meaning of pardon up 328% this week. We can’t say …
For twenty years, rap artists like C-Note, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, and A$AP Mob have been spitting about “sip- sip- sipping on some sizzurp,” or barre.
From a Twitter meltdown by Roseanne Barr to a word dropped on Westworld, Hollywood had a major impact on the Dictionary.com trending word list the week of May 25–June 1, 2018. Racist, abhorrent, and repugnant A series of tweets by Roseanne Barr hit the news cycle this week, and they also helped boost a number of searches on Dictionary.com. Barr, star of the eponymous show …
Most people recognize Ancient Greek and Latin as the primary donors to the English language. However, some of the most ancient words in English actually trace back to Ancient Egypt. Distinct from the contemporary Egyptian Arabic spoken today, Ancient Egyptian is a unique Afro-Asiatic language that doesn’t really share similarities with other languages in the family (like Arabic, Hebrew, or Berber). Its 5,000 year-old …
The royal wedding taught the world a few new words, but it wasn’t the only thing driving our trending searches the week of May 18–25, 2018. Fascinator, pomp and circumstance, and ginge The royal wedding didn’t just bring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle together in holy matrimony. It offered up a vocabulary lesson or two! Searches for the fancy hats traditionally worn to royal shindigs—fascinators–climbed …
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 …
From lawsuits on the gridiron to scandal in the Oval Office and a jump over the pond into the land of K-pop, trending words were all over the map the week of May 4–11, 2018!Toadyism and oleaginousWriter George Will can always be counted on to fill his columns with interesting words, and his latest Washington Post article titled “Trump Is No Longer the Worst Person in …
From rapper Kanye West to satirist Andy Borowitz to—who else—President Donald Trump, the trending words for April 28–May 4, 2018 were driven by a star-studded cast of characters. So, what word really soared into the stratosphere?UnhingedRumors that White House Chief of Staff had called President Donald Trump “an idiot” and said he was “becoming unhinged” helped boost searches for unhinged this week. But, it may …
“One toke over the line . . .” That 1971 hit by the duo Brewer and Shipley was written as a paean to marijuana. On Last.fm, Tom Shipley commented, “‘When we wrote ‘One Toke Over the Line,’ I think we were one toke over the line.” Back in that day, marijuana was lumped in with all sorts of drugs deemed to be forbidden. But now, …