words

Puzzled about whether to serve edamame to a pescatarian? Not sure how to spot the fanboy by the infinity pool?

Fear not, because you can now look up the meanings of those terms and about 100 other new words in the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.

I must note a difference of opinion [between John Scalzi and the poster] with regard to the word "alright", which John proclaims is not even a word. And he thinks it's ugly. Whether it is ugly is a matter of taste, and I shan't argue that. Whether it is a word, though... well, it's definitely a word, since it has boundaries and is used to convey meaning.

What the hell is furth? The answer is that it is yet another English preposition that I had never previously encountered in my entire life. I [was] surprised to come upon any English preposition that we didn't know (neither of us had run into outwith until quite recently). But another one? This is more than just interesting. This is positively embarrassing.

It is sweet to reflect, as you savour a bar of chocolate, that you are also consuming a little of the ancient Aztec language, Nahuatl. The Aztecs called the juice from the pods of the cacao tree xocoatl, which meant “bitter water”. The Spaniards first adopted and then adapted this pretty word, and the English misheard it from Spanish, as chocolate.

Intriguing linguistic delicacies.

There are some words that have just been beaten right to death by book reviewers. Here are Bob Harris’ top seven. What do you think; are these the worst offenders? Which overused descriptors most get on your nerves?

And you thought your vocabulary was good? Try these words on for size.

Let us now praise, admire, commend, extol, honour, eulogize, congratulate and applaud Peter Mark Roget…But let us first tackle the 150-year-old debate over whether Roget's Thesaurus…is the most useful book ever written or, conversely, a blight on the language that has enabled countless lazy writers to bulk up their prose with words they barely understand and immediately forget.

This site brings you Poetry words, like the magnetic ones you would see on the fridge. Make your own sentences, but this time together with the Interwebs community. My description probably sucks, you really need to see to understand. Wordsy if even anything was.

Why do we swear? How has swearing evolved, what is its function and how has it influenced our language? Interesting.

Jeff Deck of Boston is sick and tired of seeing typos on signs, so he has formed the Typo Eradication Advancement League and will be traveling around the country with tape, chalk and whatever it takes to fix the errors. Too funny, but I know how he feels. Should make for an amusing blog. Check it out at http://www.jeffdeck.com/teal/