http://www.visualthesaurus.com?ad=rss The Visual Thesaurus Online Edition is a magazine available to Visual Thesaurus Subscribers about language, writing, and the creative process. The Visual Thesaurus is an online thesaurus and dictionary of over 145,000 words that you explore using an interactive map. Copyright 2010, Thinkmap Inc. All Rights Reserved. en Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/images/common/logo_on_white.gif http://www.visualthesaurus.com?ad=rss Search for a word in the Visual Thesaurus word http://www.visualthesaurus.com Word of the Day http://www.visualthesaurus.com?word=mistletoe&utm_source=rss We're past the season now when mistletoe plays its cultural cameo, but we?re still well in the heyday of the parasitic plant, when deciduous trees have no leaves and this opportunist, which attaches itself to them, can soak up all available sunshine. The word is an English original, going back to Old English misteltan, and having cognates in other Germanic languages. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wd/1422 Announcements http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/announcements/2202?utm_source=rss We are very pleased to announce that Ben Zimmer, executive producer of the Visual Thesaurus and Vocabulary.com, has just been named the "On Language" columnist for The New York Times Magazine. He will be replacing William Safire, who passed away last year after writing the "On Language" column for thirty years. Beginning with the March 21 issue of the Magazine, Ben will be writing the column on a biweekly basis. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/announcements/2202 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2200?utm_source=rss Michael Lydon, a well-known writer on popular music since the 1960s, has for many years also been writing about writing. Lydon's essays, written with a colloquial clarity, shed fresh light on familiar and not so familiar aspects of the writing art. Here Lydon explores how short words are more potent than long words. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2200 Word Routes http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2199?utm_source=rss If you watched the Oscars on Sunday, like many other viewers you were probably left scratching your head when, after "Music by Prudence" won for Best Documentary Short, there was a struggle for the microphone between two of the film's creators. Elinor Burkett snatched the microphone from Roger Ross Williams, in what was almost immediately dubbed a "Kanye moment." Or you could say Burkett "pulled a Kanye," or that Williams simply got "Kanye'd." Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2199 Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/2198?utm_source=rss Michele Dunaway teaches English and journalism at Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Missouri, when she's not writing best-selling romance novels. Here Michele continues her discussion from last month about how choosing the right literature to read is the key to getting students excited about books. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/2198 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2196?utm_source=rss I'm a big believer in the magic of three. You know — the three little pigs, the three Musketeers, the three Stooges. There's something ineffable but magical about a list of three. So, when I had three unrelated people forward me a Wall Street Journal article on the Pomodoro technique in less than a week, well, I took it as a sign. This was something I needed to investigate! Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2196 Word Routes http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2195?utm_source=rss One of the frontrunners for Best Picture in Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony is Kathryn Bigelow's tense depiction of a U.S. bomb squad unit in Iraq, The Hurt Locker. The movie's official website says of the title, "In Iraq, it is soldier vernacular to speak of explosions as sending you to 'the hurt locker.'" In fact, like so much American military slang, hurt locker (along with related hurt expressions) dates back to the Vietnam War. Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2195 Behind the Dictionary http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2193?utm_source=rss For National Grammar Day, linguist Neal Whitman takes a look at a long-standing source of contention among grammar enthusiasts: singular they. (Grammar purists, prepare yourselves for some unconventional rules!) Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2193 Blog Du Jour http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogs/2194?utm_source=rss Today is National Grammar Day, established in 2008 by Martha Brockenbrough. This year Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. "Grammar Girl," is presiding. Here are some links to get you into the spirit. National Grammar Day (http://nationalgrammarday.com/) Your Role in National Grammar Day (http://johnemcintyre.blogspot.com/2010/03/your-role-in-national-grammar-day.html) Ragan's Grammar Day Contest (http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=B6F82EA3313F4FCBB43B3858F6576538&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A) Who Cares About National Grammar Day? (http://illinois.edu/db/view/25/23536?count=1&ACTION=DIALOG) Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogs/2194 Evasive Maneuvers http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/evasive/2192?utm_source=rss When you obsess about words as much as I do, it's hard to pick a favorite. It's like Batman picking his favorite criminal lowlife. How do you choose between the Joker, Two Face, the Penguin, and the scum who killed your parents? It's just too painful. But what the heck, here's a good candidate, and it's also exhibit Q in the case of why I love the Dictionary of American Regional English: peedoodle. Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/evasive/2192 Word Routes http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2191?utm_source=rss During President Obama's health care summit last week, Republican House Whip Eric Cantor suffered a bit of a misspeak, saying: "We have a very difficult bridge to gap here." Whoops! It's the gap that needs bridging, of course, not vice versa. Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2191 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2189?utm_source=rss You're right on the money if you guess that this month's Lounge has something to do with nouns. Specifically, we've been digging up data on these very three nouns — person, place, thing — as a result of hearing a news snippet on the radio a few weeks ago, when a speaker characterized a situation as "a Kumbaya thing." Huh? What exactly is a Kumbaya thing? Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2189 Contest http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/contest/2188?utm_source=rss With the Academy Awards around the corner, we're feeling cinematic with an Oscar-themed crossword puzzle. Solve it and you could win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt! Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/contest/2188 Word Routes http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2187?utm_source=rss An oft-heard word of the Winter Olympics is podium, the raised platform where medalists stand. As I wrote about recently for The New York Times Magazine, during the Olympics podium even gets used as a verb, as in "The Canadian alpine skiers failed to podium." The verbing of podium bothers a lot of people, but the noun presents problems too. Away from the Olympics, podium often gets conflated with another word, lectern. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2187 Candlepower http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/candlepwr/2186?utm_source=rss I've been seeing a lot of You lately. Not specifically you, dear reader, but You, the second-person advertorial. Yes, after years of talking about us, marketers have taken a shine to You. And they're eager to tell You just how important you are to their business. Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/candlepwr/2186 Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/2183?utm_source=rss The New York Times is a vocabulary-learning bonanza for students at all levels, employing a larger number of what teachers would call "vocabulary words" than any other American publication. And inside The Times, every day, there's a bonanza within that bonanza, the succinct and telegraphic television listings page, whose capsule movie reviews employ more vocabulary — including words, terms and expressions — than any other page in the paper. And quite enjoyably, too. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/2183 Blog Excerpts http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2185?utm_source=rss Inspired by Elmore Leonard's "10 Rules of Writing," the Guardian asked noted authors for their own rules for writing. Everyone from Margaret Atwood to Zadie Smith chimes in. Read part one here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one) and part two here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/10-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-two). Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2185 Word Routes http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2182?utm_source=rss The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament has come to an end, and with it the end of Tyler Hinman's amazing five-year reign as champ. Meet the new alpha dog of the crossword world: the one and only Dan Feyer. Puzzlemaster Brendan Emmett Quigley joins us again with his wrap-up of the action from Brooklyn. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2182 Word Routes http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2180?utm_source=rss Live from Brooklyn, puzzlemaster Brendan Emmett Quigley is providing exclusive commentary from the 2010 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (http://www.crosswordtournament.com/). Brendan's got the scoop on all the action at the end of the first day of competition. Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2180 Word Routes http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2179?utm_source=rss It's time once again for the cream of the crosswording crop to converge on the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Brooklyn, New York. Last year the nail-biting final round (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1748/) saw Tyler Hinman emerge victorious for the fifth consecutive year (his thrilling first win was captured in the documentary Wordplay). Will Tyler manage to pull off #6, or is it time for a new winner — like, say, last year's breakout star Dan Feyer? Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2179 Blog Excerpts http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2178?utm_source=rss Earlier this month on Blog Excerpts we featured Alexandra D'Arcy's OUPblog post, "Ode to a Prescriptivist (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2161/)," which drew a sharp dichotomy between linguistic descriptivism and prescriptivism (personified by D'Arcy and her stern grandmother, respectively). D'Arcy's post inspired Stan Carey, a professional editor from Ireland, to write a typically thoughtful post on his blog, Sentence First (http://stancarey.wordpress.com/). Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2178 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2176?utm_source=rss Michael Lydon, a well-known writer on popular music since the 1960s, has for many years also been writing about writing. Lydon's essays, written with a colloquial clarity, shed fresh light on familiar and not so familiar aspects of the writing art. Here Lydon looks at how writers from Shakespeare to Tolstoy have understood the power of bringing opposites together. Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2176 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2170?utm_source=rss Erin Brenner of Right Touch Editing provides "bite-sized lessons to improve your writing" on her engaging blog The Writing Resource. Here Erin tackles the tricky distinction between compose and comprise. Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2170 Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/2169?utm_source=rss We welcome back Michele Dunaway, who teaches English and journalism at Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Missouri, when she's not writing best-selling romance novels. Here Michele argues that to get students excited about books in this highly distracted era, choosing the right literature to read is key. Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/2169 Behind the Dictionary http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2168?utm_source=rss Just in time for the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, linguist Neal Whitman has been thinking about a phrase that seems to guarantee victory: win-win situation. What does this "no-lose" proposition really mean? Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2168 Blog Excerpts http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2167?utm_source=rss "Here's one safe prediction for the Winter Olympics," writes Visual Thesaurus executive producer Ben Zimmer in the New York Times Magazine. "Competitors and commentators will use podium as a verb, as in, 'She can definitely podium here today.' And just as predictably, some observers will shudder at the word." Read the rest here (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/magazine/07FOB-onlanguage-t.html). Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2167