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  1. Word Routes

     A "Scalawag" in the Family Tree
    Fri Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013
    Scalawag, "a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel," is a fun word to say. It sounds like something a pirate on the high seas might call a rival. In fact, it originated in western New York in the 1830s, and a young genealogy buff recently turned up some fascinating early evidence on the word when he was investigating an ancestor.

  2. Word Count

     Back to (the) School(s): Definitive Rules for the Definite Article
    Thu Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2013
    It's September and students of all ages are heading back to school. But why is it back to school and not back to the school or back to schools? Certainly if I were to write about one specific school, I would write the school. If I were talking about schools as a category, I can say schools.

  3. Word Count

     Agreeing to Disagree: Why We Use "Notional" Agreement
    Wed Nov 14 00:00:00 EST 2012
    None takes a singular verb if what it refers to is singular and a plural verb if its referent is plural. But why is that? If none means "no one, not one," shouldn't it always be used with a singular verb? Formal agreement dictates that a singular subject pair with a singular verb and a plural subject pair with a plural verb. Yet the result doesn't always make sense. When formal agreement fails us, we reach out for notional agreement.

  4. Blog Excerpts

     Dictionary Day and the Quest for All-American Words
    Tue Oct 16 00:00:00 EDT 2012
    Today is National Dictionary Day, celebrating the birth of lexicographer Noah Webster, who wrote An American Dictionary of the English Language, which defined an American version of the English lexicon for the first time. To celebrate, let us know your favorite all-American word.

  5. Contest

     The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: December Edition
    Fri Dec 28 00:00:00 EST 2012
    As 2012 draws to a close, we're celebrating with a New Year's-themed crossword. Figure it out and you could win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt!

  6. Teachers at Work

     New Year, Nuance: Synonyms in Teaching Vocab
    Mon Jan 31 00:00:00 EST 2011
    A cold and brisk hello from snowy New York City! Winter is a great time to, as a friend of mine said, "Cozy down," at home and in the classroom. To that end, I've been knitting, reading and cooking a lot at home, and digging in with my kids to improve our practices at school.

  7. Backstory

     John Elder Robison, author of "Look Me in the Eye"
    Fri Dec 28 00:00:00 EST 2007
    I'm often asked how I came to write Look Me in the Eye. This is the story. As my readers know, I've had an unusual life. It began with a crazy home environment, which I left behind at age sixteen when I joined a local band. Within a few years, I found myself on the road with the biggest tour of the decade -- KISS. Having reached the top of the world in music, I quit to work as an engineer in a toy company. But a few years later, I left that behind, too, when I quit electronics to repair cars in my driveway. And over the next decade I built that business into the largest independent Land Rover, Rolls Royce and Bentley specialty shop in New England. In the midst of that, I discovered photography, with my photos landing in galleries, museums, on record jackets and on billboards. And to top it all off, I began writing articles for car magazines.

  8. Contest Corner

     Vocabulary Goes to the Movies
    Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2010
    In the Teachers at Work article "A Daily Vocabulary Bonanza for Teachers," Bob Greenman extols the New York Times television listings (of all places!) as a rich source for classroom vocabulary instruction.

  9. Word Count

     Coming Attractions for Books. At a Computer Near You.
    Wed Jun 21 00:00:00 EDT 2006

    "The need to tell stories" inspired author, director and entrepreneur Liz Dubelman to create something called Vidlits. What are VidLits? Think "movie trailer for books." They're creative, short animations of stories and book excerpts that you play on the web. Publishers have started using VidLits to showcase their authors. In the past year, Liz and her partner, award-winning sound designer Paca Thomas, have created entertaining online shows for Warner, Penguin, Harper Collins, Little, Brown & Company, Rodale and other major imprints. Liz tells us more about her unique kind of storytelling - and why she thinks they're important for books.

  10. Language Lounge

     What's Happening?
    Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2013
    Few of us get through a week without asking some version of the question, "What's happening?" There's always a lot going on and there are always a lot of people who want to know about it. Authorities want to know about it too, if what's going on threatens the safety or security of a population that is under their protection. A 21st-century way that authorities try to find out what's going on is called event detection.
154 155 156 157 158 Displaying 1551-1560 of 3460 Results