Vocabulary.com Blog
Articles from 2015
The critically lauded film The Imitation Game just won an Oscar for Graham Moore's screenplay, adapted from Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. Crosswords play an important role in the story of the World War II codebreakers, but it turns out they also mastered the art of the palindrome. Palindromist Magazine editor Mark Saltveit reveals a long-hidden chapter of wordplay history.
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Over the weekend, The New York Times presented an interactive quiz on newly prominent slang terms entitled "Are You On Fleek?" But what does "on fleek" mean, and how did it get to be such a trendy expression, especially on social media? Our resident linguist Neal Whitman investigates.
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In January, I took part in an interesting discussion on Twitter. Washington Post copyeditor Bill Walsh posted a headline: "Hole-in-the-walls: East, west, and downtown, 19 named." He asked, "Would you take your sister-in-laws to such a place?"
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Blog Excerpts
SAT Tip: Don't Just Study for the Big Test. Train.
As with any sport, consistency is key
In a continuing series of SAT study tips provided by Veritas Prep, BloombergBusiness advised students last month to "approach the SAT as if it were an athletic event." The recommended training regimen involves healthful eating, exercise, anxiety avoidance, and most importantly, consistent review.
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An ado is a fuss, and adieu is French for farewell. They sound similar but aren't exactly twins. Ado sounds like "uh-doo" and adieu is like "a-dyoo," you know, in a cool French accent.
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Use the word farther when you mean physical distance, like if you run farther than your friend. Use further for basically everything else. Further refers to abstractions like ideas or thoughts.
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The public radio show "On the Media" notes that "in the age of Snowden and Manning, the term 'whistleblower' is increasingly present in our media. But where exactly did the word come from?" Brooke Gladstone talked to our executive editor Ben Zimmer for some historical background.
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