http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/?utm_source=rss A Monthly Column for Word Lovers Copyright 2010, Thinkmap Inc. All Rights Reserved. en Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/images/common/logo_on_white.gif http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/?utm_source=rss Search for a word in the Visual Thesaurus word http://www.visualthesaurus.com 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 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2156?utm_source=rss "Look it up!" used to be a directive mainly about words in dictionaries; these days it's as likely to be about information on the Internet. A common experience in both cases is that you don't always find what you're looking for. This month in the Lounge we look at some of the overlapping reasons why. Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2156 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2112?utm_source=rss When did shall go out of fashion as the first person marker for the future tense? Or was it ever in fashion? This month in the Lounge we look at the career of English's most mismanaged modal. Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2112 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2082?utm_source=rss The National Museum of Language near Washington, D.C. is putting together an exhibit on the role of the War of 1812 in the development of American English, as we approach that war's bicentennial (or bicentenary, as they still say on the other side). In the Lounge we've been exploring ideas with the museum, and this month we wanted to share some of our findings. Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2082 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2051?utm_source=rss At a scenic dropoff near the Lounge, whereunder flows the mighty torrent of English, we have lookouts posted whose job is to spot trends. Recently they have reported back on instances of a certain class of words that are ready for a closeup: a handful of nouns formed by fusing the two parts of a phrasal verb. Such words are legion in English (setback, breakdown, frameup, washout, etc.) but we lack a handy term to designate them: snaptos? pairups? glueons? In any case, this month's Lounge is a rundown of our lookouts' pickups. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2051 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2004?utm_source=rss A rose by any other name is . . . possibly hex FF E4 E1 or decimal 255 228 225. This month in the Lounge we look at the business and the pleasure of color names in English. Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/2004 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/1969?utm_source=rss The Language Lounge removed to the Netherlands for a short break last month, with the specific mission of observing several of the various putative Dutch contributions to English on their native soil: Dutch courage, Dutch uncles, Dutch ovens, Dutch auctions, Dutch doors, Dutch hoes, and Dutch treats, to name a few. Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/1969 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/1935?utm_source=rss In high school we studied a poem by Robert Frost called "Design." It deposited enduring fragments that echo in our mind from time to time, and recently we spent a quiet afternoon in the Poetry Corner of the Lounge to revisit the poem. Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/1935 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/1904?utm_source=rss As a remedy for the summer doldrums, the Loungeurs have taken up deep questions this month: space, time, space-time, and language. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/1904 Language Lounge http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/1869?utm_source=rss We left off last month (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/1836/) on the horns of the dictionary publishers' dilemma: how do you keep a flagship title in print when it costs far more to produce it than it will ever generate in sales? We noted the lure of electronic licensing rights as a factor that might influence the way dictionaries are put together and marketed in the future; and we heard from a few readers who, not unpredictably, lamented any future in which dictionaries in book form were not available. Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/ll/1869