Vocabulary.com Blog
Articles about Word Origins
Technically speaking, the Presidential Inauguration only refers to when the president-elect takes the oath of office. It is important to keep in mind that the peaceful transition of power in this country rests on a few powerful words.
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Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon
What is Nog, Anyway?
Considering the Meaning of Holiday Words
Too often during this time of year, we can lose sight of the meaning in what it is we are doing. In the spirit of discovering the new in things we thought we understood, some familiar holiday words are explored.
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Word CountWriters Talk About Writing
The Etymology of Emolument
An Obscure Law and the Crucial Role of an Obscure Word
One of the controversies surrounding President-elect Trump has been the separation (or lack thereof) between his previous life as a businessman and his future career as president. Yet the Constitution prohibits him from accepting any emolument. The soon-to-be president's actions may be limited by this word, so let's examine it in detail.
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The final Presidential Debate of this campaign season took place on October 19th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Dept. of Word Lists
The Return of Braggadocious, and More!
Words Heard at the First Presidential Debate
The first presidential debate between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump was held on September 26, 2016. Whatever your political affiliation, from a vocabulary perspective it was an intriguing contest.
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The periodic table of elements is an iconic image familiar to anyone with even the rudiments of education and it is perhaps one of the most successful visual representations of information ever conceived: it brings a high level of order to a field of knowledge that is too complex to organize in memory and it rewards study at every level.
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As the United States celebrates Presidents' Day, it's a good time to mull over how we ended up calling the national leader "president" in the first place. Executive editor Ben Zimmer spoke to NPR's All Things Considered about the term's history.
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