State-of-the-art technology now allows the Loungeurs to detect usage infractions in real-time; this month we share recent findings with our visitors, along with tips that will help you slip your weasel word into the mainstream. Continue reading...
After months in a teeming sea of words, the Loungeurs have crawled to shore to issue a report. It turns out that computers have as much to teach us about language as we have to teach them! Continue reading...
The editors at Oxford Dictionaries have selected their choice for 2014 Word of the Year, and it is "vape," defined as "to inhale and exhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device." Check out Oxford's announcement here. Our contributor Nancy Friedman was on the case back in 2010, in her column, "But Wait, There's Less!" (Nancy also named "vape" one of her Words of 2013.) Continue reading...
In this weekend's New York Times Magazine, I'm the guest writer for the "On Language" column while William Safire is on vacation. I use my pinch-hitting spot to look at recent developments with the word fail, which in online usage has transformed from a verb to an interjection and a noun (and even sometimes an adjective). But truth be told, fail is only the most prominent example of a much wider phenomenon, with a whole series of expressive words getting similar treatment. Continue reading...
In writing about Harvard Medical School faculty member Dr. Angelo Volandes and the films he is making to help terminally-ill patients decide to opt out of medical intervention, The Atlantic contributing editor Jonathan Rauch uses mesomorph to describe Volandes' physical appearance. Continue reading...
Join us for this week's flash Vocab Jam! You'll team up with the folks here at Vocabulary.com and other players from all over the map for ten minutes of fast, fun wordplay. Continue reading...
Earlier this week, we interviewed Anne H. Charity Hudley and Christine Mallinson about their new book, Understanding English Language Variation in U.S. Schools. One intriguing section of the book discusses how students from culturally diverse backgrounds can be assisted in developing academic vocabulary. Here we present an excerpt describing how one creative student approached learning SAT vocabulary via rap. Continue reading...