Behind the Dictionary
Lexicographers Talk About Language
A "Dumpster Fire" of a Year
January 11, 2017
By Nancy Friedman
Topic : VocabularyBehind the DictionaryLexicographers Talk About LanguageA "Dumpster Fire" of a Year January 11, 2017 By Nancy Friedman![]() Article Topics:Word CountWriters Talk About WritingGetting the Low-down on Up-classify July 14, 2016 By Adam Cooper
Reporting on his investigation of Hillary Clinton's email use, F.B.I. Director James B. Comey mentioned several times that the F.B.I. engaged in up-classifying emails.
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Article Topics:Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexiconThe Year in Words 2015: One Pronoun to Rule Them All? December 23, 2015 By Ben Zimmer
As is the annual tradition, it is time once again to look back at the new and notable words of the past year. In 2015, could the most significant word have been a lowly pronoun?
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Article Topics:Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexiconDon't Eighty-Six That Etymology! December 15, 2015 By Ben Zimmer
For the latest installment of Slate's podcast Lexicon Valley, I look at how the seemingly random number eighty-six became a verb meaning to get rid of something, thanks to a long-forgotten code of hash houses and soda-fountain lunch counters.
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Article Topics:Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexiconThe Hootin'-Hollerin' Origins of "Hootenanny" November 17, 2015 By Ben Zimmer
The latest episode of Slate's podcast Lexicon Valley is a hoot and a half, as I take a look at the origins of hootenanny, a word that emerged from rural America with many meanings before finding fame as a name for folk-music gatherings.
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Article Topics:CandlepowerAd and marketing creativesThe Lingo of Pluto: New Horizons, New Words July 21, 2015 By Nancy Friedman
Pluto is coming into startingly sharp focus, thanks to the first images and data received from the space probe New Horizons last week. As we learn more about this distant cousin of Earth, we're also expanding our linguistic horizons. Here's a closer look at some of the words and names in the Plutonian news.
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Article Topics:Behind the DictionaryLexicographers Talk About LanguageLinguistic "Humdingers" for Sticky Situations July 15, 2015 By Adam Cooper
What sounds do you make when words fail? A garbled stutter? A whistle? Or is there just the resounding bump of your jaw hitting the floor? Turns out, there are words to capture the wordless shock we experience when we're confronted by mess, noise, violence, or otherwise sticky situations. They're linked by sound: repeated syllables and long vowels that are onomatopoeically evocative of the sounds that come out of our mouths when our brains are overwhelmed.
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