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Behind the DictionaryLexicographers Talk About Language
"Dadbod": A Word That Let Itself Go... All Over the Internet
It's a little early to know what the 2015 Word of the Year will be, but I'd say we have a contender: dadbod (or dad bod). After appearing in an essay by Mackenzie Pearson, this term went viral, then nuclear, then possibly intergalactic. Dadbod has become so commonly used that I wouldn't be surprised if, somewhere near the Mars Rover, the term is validating the flabby physiques of retired Martian warlords.
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Lying is one of those embarrassing things that demands euphemisms. No one wants to say "I lied" or "I fibbed" or "I wrote fan fiction." So when called on the carpet for a lie, people reach into the lexical abyss for euphemisms.
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How do you get kids, especially younger ones, aware of the importance of word learning? Through stories, of course. And there's no better place to start than with Debra Frasier's award-winning classic Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster.
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In The Atlantic, Peter Beinhart called out a euphemism that was somehow common and under-the-radar at the same time: "Newspaper editors, lend me your ears: Please, never allow the phrase 'muscular foreign policy' to blight your pages again."
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As keynote speaker at the 2015 American Copy Editors Society meeting, lexicographer Ben Zimmer showed off the resources in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary as part of a talk on "Nitpickery, Debunkage, and the Joys of Getting It Right." Not surprisingly, ACES attendees live-tweeting the address were more likely to take note of Zimmer's singing, rapping, and discussion of language anachronisms in "Mad Men" and "Downton Abbey."
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Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon
A Heart-Stopping Finish in the 2015 Crossword Showdown
At the 2015 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, it came down to a neck-and-neck battle between Dan Feyer and Tyler Hinman, the two titans of speed-solving. And in an absolutely heart-stopping finish, Dan beat Tyler by half a second.
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Vocabulary Shout-Out
NCAA Star Nigel Hayes Nails 3-Point Vocabulary
"I actually like words," Hayes explains
There's a lot to love about Nigel Hayes of the Wisconsin Badgers. Now NCAA fans can add his impressive vocabulary to that list. In a press conference held this Saturday in Omaha, Hayes decided to make things interesting for the stenographer in the room by working a string of 3-point vocabulary into his statements. "I actually like words," Hayes said.
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