I am guessing that the average electrician doesn't realize how much history is knocking about in his or her toolbox. Volt, amp, ohm, watt—these electrical units are all eponyms, derived from the names of pioneers in the field. Let's have a tour. Continue reading...
In a commencement address given at Stanford University in 2005, Steve Jobs used words like karma, entrepreneur, intuition, and idealism. What word would you want to give a college grad to equip them for life? Continue reading...
Learning words on Vocabulary.com may seem simple. But in fact, as you play, our game is synthesizing large sets of data on how millions of users interact with the words you're working on. All of this behind-the-scenes number-crunching is intended to make your experience with the game as efficient and enjoyable as possible. Continue reading...
On Twitter, the single word "blessed" has been pressed into service as a popular hashtag, often appended to self-serving portrayals of enviable lifestyles. The overuse of "#blessed" has led to a backlash against the hashtag, and now it frequently appears in tweets sarcastically. Has "#blessed" run its course? Our own Ben Zimmer joined in a discussion about the shelf-life of hashtags on Huffington Post Live. Continue reading...
When you come across a word like eleemosynary, it's time to whip out the binoculars and step into the waders. Reading has become word watching, where, as in bird watching, rarity is the thrill. Continue reading...
This Mother's Day, show Mom a little love (and a whole lot of appreciation) by tweeting or posting our Mother's Day video thank you card — a vocabulary list brought to life. Continue reading...
Writing for Vulture about changes in format for television shows, New York Magazine critic Matt Zoller Seitz called the new, freer-form series "bespoke TV." So what does this word used to describe custom-made clothing mean in a television context? Continue reading...
Writing for Vulture, "the first in a weekly series of six essays looking at hip-hop's recent past, thinking about its distant past, and wondering about the possibility of a future," The Roots' Questlove uses the word trivial in such a knowledgeable and cool way we had to offer up a shout-out. Continue reading...
Once upon a time, fellas, gentleman, and guys roamed the land. Eventually, we become dudes. Unfortunately, many of us became bros. Bro is also a staple of word-making. Based on sheer prolificness, bro may be the affix of the decade. Continue reading...