Vocabulary.com Blog
Articles from September, 2013
Some punctuation marks hog the spotlight, like the versatile, omnipresent comma and the flirty, oft-abused semicolon. Question marks and exclamation marks — the good cop, bad cop of punctuation — are forever in your face. The period subtly but emphatically makes its presence known, while parentheses are off gossiping and tittering like teenage girls. These are the usual suspects most people think of when it comes to punctuation.
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Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon
Of Pinpricks and Slam-Dunks: The Rhetoric of the Syrian Conflict
The situation in Syria has revived a number of well-worn foreign-policy phrases, from "boots on the ground" to "slam-dunks" and "smoking guns." As the American response to the conflict has involved far more in the way of words than deeds, it's worth taking a closer look at the words used by officials and commentators, no matter how hackneyed.
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Tasty MorselsGood stuff from Vocabulary.com
Vocabulary Shout-Out: Is the iPhone at an "Iterative Dead End"?
Has Apple "chamfered" all they can "chamfer"?
Reacting to Apple's "iPhone bonanza" on Tuesday, Wired writer Kyle VanHemert used iterative when reflecting on the new iPhone 5C.
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Under the HoodThe science of vocabulary building
Want to Learn Vocab? Try Two Methods That Actually Work
Psychologists call it "distributed practice "and "practice testing." We call it a game.
When you're learning new words on Vocabulary.com, you're engaging in what psychologists call "distributed learning" and "practice testing," and a new study shows they're the best way to learn.
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As a teacher of English as a foreign language, I've developed a bit of an aversion to adjectives. Show me too many and I break out into a prolonged, painful and unpleasant rash. Or should that be painful, prolonged and unpleasant? Or...?
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Tasty MorselsGood stuff from Vocabulary.com
Ten Words from "The NY Times" - Sept. 11, 2013
Ten Words from "The NY Times" - Sept. 11, 2013
Learn Ten Words from The NY Times - Sept. 11, 2013. Then see "Vocabulary Begets Vocabulary: The More You Know, the More You Learn" to understand why learning these words will help you absorb even more as you read.
Tasty MorselsGood stuff from Vocabulary.com
List of the Week: Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations"
Three new interactive Vocabulary Lists!
Learn three new interactive Vocabulary Lists drawn from Charles Dickens' great, classic novel Great Expectations.
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