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  1. Behind the Dictionary

     Snownados in Hothlanta: The World of Weather Blends
    Tue Feb 11 00:00:00 EST 2014
    In just about every city, people repeat variations of the saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait an hour." And for good reason. Weather is an ever-changing — and, on our stressed-out globe — increasingly extreme phenomenon. Weather never stops: it just keeps shifting and mutating into something else. That sounds like another natural phenomenon I know: language.

  2. Blog Excerpts

     Remembering the "Gear" Language of The Beatles
    Tue Feb 11 00:00:00 EST 2014
    When the Beatles invaded America 50 years ago, it wasn't just their music and hairstyle that struck Americans as novel, but their Liverpudlian language as well. In his latest column for the Wall Street Journal, Ben Zimmer looks at how words like "gear" and "fab" emerged out of the Liverpool dialect known as Scouse. Read the column here.

  3. Word Count

     Time and the Writer
    Mon Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2014
    "Try reading books by your favorite writers in the order they were written, and you'll find the effects of time on each writer's spirit," says Michael Lydon, who considers how time shaped Leo Tolstoy into a mature prose stylist.

  4. Word Count

     Plain English: It's the Law
    Fri Feb 07 00:00:00 EST 2014
    The Plain Writing Act, which Congress passed into law in 2010, is well intentioned. Too much public writing — that includes government, business, and legal writing — is confusing and disorganized. But the law can't work, because language can't be legislated.

  5. Word Count

     Killing More Zombies: "Curate" and "Reveal"
    Thu Feb 06 00:00:00 EST 2014
    Last summer I wrote a lot about zombie rules, usage rules that really aren't rules but that we teach, follow, and pass along with little thought anyway. I have two more zombies to share with you, about using the verbs curate and reveal.

  6. Evasive Maneuvers

     Clear Communication That Didn't Get Accomplished
    Wed Feb 05 00:00:00 EST 2014
    Welcome to another roundup of the euphemisms — new and old, fresh and stale, sweet and salty — that have lately come to my attention. I hope they tickle your funny bone and baffle your think bone.

  7. Language Lounge

     Quo Animo? The Case for Studying Latin
    Tue Feb 04 00:00:00 EST 2014
    If you read the Visual Thesaurus Word of the Day you know that it often explores word origins. Even without keeping count, you are probably vaguely aware that the language mentioned more often than any other besides English is Latin. Statistics about the English lexicon reflect this.

  8. Blog Excerpts

     Dog Blends, from Wienerhuahuas to Peekapoos
    Tue Feb 04 00:00:00 EST 2014
    One of the commercials run during the Super Bowl this year was one from Audi featuring an imagined "Doberhuahua," a cross between a Doberman and a Chihuahua. But as VT contributor Mark Peters explained on OUPblog, real-life canine hybrids often have blended names that are just as fanciful, whether it's "wienerhuahua" or "peekapoo." Read Mark's blog post here.

  9. Word Routes

     "The Twelfth Man": A Football Phrase with Disputed Roots
    Mon Feb 03 00:00:00 EST 2014
    After the Seattle Seahawks shellacked the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl last night, the Seahawks players, coaches, and owners all made sure to thank "the twelfth man," as the team's boisterous fans have come to be collectively known. But the Seahawks only have the right to use that phrase because of a licensing agreement worked out with Texas A&M University, the trademark holders. Texas A&M claims the expression goes back to a legendary 1922 game, but its true history is far more complex.

  10. Contest

     The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: January Edition
    Fri Jan 31 00:00:00 EST 2014
    Brrr! In many places, it's been outrageously cold lately. Stay warm and cozy up to our winter-themed crossword. Solve it and you could win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt!
64 65 66 67 68 Displaying 651-660 of 3488 Results