Vocabulary.com Blog
Articles from February, 2014
Under the HoodThe science of vocabulary building
Sisyphean in a Good Way: Vocab Learning by the Numbers
New OED Chief gives perspective on the enormity of the word learning task
Learning words on Vocabulary.com? Oxford English Dictionary new chief editor Michael Proffitt brings perspective to the sheer enormity of the task in a recent video interview with Christiane Amanpour.
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Vocabulary Shout-Out
A Cooking Word Escapes the Kitchen: "Interlard"
It describe a technique for "greasing" writing or speech
Writing for The New York Times last week about the tricky process of translating dialect from one language to another, literary translator Anthony Shugaar used the not-often-seen interlard.
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Topics:
Vocabulary
Welcome to another roundup of the euphemisms — new and old, fresh and stale, sweet and salty — that have lately come to my attention. I hope they tickle your funny bone and baffle your think bone.
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Dept. of Word Lists
A Quick Current Events Vocab Quiz: Are "Nihilistic" Dissidents Threatening Sochi?
Meanwhile, CVS sacrifices revenue to avoid "incongruous" product lines
Follow this week's news coverage from a vocabularian's perspective by learning 10 words from this week's New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post coverage.
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Blog Excerpts
Dog Blends, from Wienerhuahuas to Peekapoos
One of the commercials run during the Super Bowl this year was one from Audi featuring an imagined "Doberhuahua," a cross between a Doberman and a Chihuahua. But as VT contributor Mark Peters explained on OUPblog, real-life canine hybrids often have blended names that are just as fanciful, whether it's "wienerhuahua" or "peekapoo." Read Mark's blog post here.
Dept. of Word Lists
Choice Words from Philip Seymour Hoffman's Roles
Words on which the actor left a mark
With "Choice Words from Philip Seymour Hoffman's Roles," we honor the actor in a Vocabulary List of eleven words he spoke on stage and screen.
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Topics:
Vocabulary
Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon
"The Twelfth Man": A Football Phrase with Disputed Roots
After the Seattle Seahawks shellacked the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl last night, the Seahawks players, coaches, and owners all made sure to thank "the twelfth man," as the team's boisterous fans have come to be collectively known. But the Seahawks only have the right to use that phrase because of a licensing agreement worked out with Texas A&M University, the trademark holders. Texas A&M claims the expression goes back to a legendary 1922 game, but its true history is far more complex.
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