Today is "Cyber Monday," the day that retailers have anointed as the kickoff of the online holiday shopping season. "Cyber Monday" is a recent coinage, going back to a 2005 press release. "Black Friday," on which "Cyber Monday" is modeled, goes back to the early 1960s, and some newly discovered evidence illuminates its early use. Continue reading...
On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Americans kick off the holiday shopping season with a bang. We look back to a Word Routes column by lexicographer Ben Zimmer exploring the origins of the phrase "Black Friday." It is not, as many believe, the day when retailers' balance sheets change from red to black. Continue reading...
Today is Thanksgiving Day! You are probably in the midst of celebrating with friends and family gathered around a turkey right this very minute. But in case you're not, we invite you to celebrate for a moment here with us by contemplating the difference between Thanksgiving with a capital T and thanksgiving, the word. The difference comes down to simple grammar, but perhaps we can find in the distinction something more? Continue reading...
Last year for Thanksgiving, I did something gastronomically delicious but linguistically impossible: I dry-brined my turkey. The very word brine implies water. Tons of seafaring stories reference the briny deep as a euphemism for the salty sea. So what could a dry-brine possibly be? Continue reading...
Although turkeys were domesticated by Native Americans, turkey itself is not a Native American word. In this excerpt from a new book The Language of Food, linguist and Stanford University professor Dan Jurafsky charts the complicated path the word turkey followed into English, then serves up a slice of etymological pecan pie. Continue reading...
There are many things we can all love about Thanksgiving, but word confusion is not one of them. That's why, as food talk get increasingly hysterical at this time of year, and recipe words blur before our eyes, we bring you clarity. Or, for those of us who find a profusion of new and abundant vocabulary as welcome as the pilgrims found the assistance provided by Native Americans, call it a cornucopia of delight! Continue reading...
Recently we announced a powerful new Teacher Dashboard that gives educators a comprehensive look at exactly how their students are doing in their progress toward vocabulary mastery. Now administrators have a dashboard of their own, with the ability to see how Vocabulary.com is helping teachers and students, allowing them to recognize the efforts of their school's top performers. 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...
The old adage about American and England being "two nations divided by a common language" — wrongly attributed to George Bernard Shaw, who never said or wrote it — may still hold true in some quarters. But in the language of U.S. commerce, it's fast losing its relevance. Terms that once seemed quaintly Olde English to Americans — from "bespoke" to "stockist" — are fast becoming the new normal. Continue reading...