Karen Joy Fowler's PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (now shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize as well) is narrated by a character with an outsize vocabulary. Here, Fowler speaks with Vocabulary.com about the process of finding the words to create that character and the fun of breaking the rule, "Never use a 100-dollar word when a one-dollar word will do." Continue reading...
This month in the Language Lounge, we take a look at an underappreciated grammatical category: submodifiers. We hope that by shining the spotlight briefly on the term, we might win over a few converts, as well as alert readers to the nuances of the delightful class of words so designated. Continue reading...
The latest holiday no one gets off from work is National Fragrance Day — March 21. In the spirit of the smelliest of holidays, take a whiff of these odor-related words. Continue reading...
Bellaire High School in Bellaire, TX won the school leaderboard banner for October, competing not only against schools across the country, but also with two schools in their own back yard. What does this prove to fans of our yearlong Vocabulary Bowl? Don't mess with Texas. Continue reading...
This year's Vocabulary Bowl has just kicked off, and already one school has big dreams. A teacher celebrates his school's strong early showing with a video. We challenge you to watch it without smiling. Continue reading...
December was all about surprises on the Vocabulary Bowl Leaderboards, with Nimitz High of Houston catapulting to the top and claiming the Champions Banner. Continue reading...
At Chavez High School, which took home back-to-back monthly leaderboard wins in November and December, students and teachers are making word learning part of school culture and school pride. And the student engagement's taking even Chavez teachers by surprise. Continue reading...
High school grads: Before you start rocking out to "Pomp and Circumstance," make sure you're ready to receive a diploma from a vocabularian perspective. Continue reading...
Here's our shortlist of books to read with your students before, during, and after Black History Month, each paired with a ready-made vocabulary list. Continue reading...