Topic : Words

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Word Routes

Exploring the pathways of our lexicon

"Tweet" Named Word of the Year, "Google" Word of the Decade
Sat Jan 09 00:00:00 EST 2010
By Ben Zimmer

After much good-natured debate at its annual meeting in Baltimore, the American Dialect Society has made its selections for Word of the Year and Word of the Decade. As proof that we're truly living in a digital age, the winner of Word of the Year for 2009 was tweet ("to post an update on Twitter") and the Word of the Decade for 2000-09 was google (the generic verb meaning "to use Google or another search engine").  Continue reading...
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Word Routes

Exploring the pathways of our lexicon

The American Dialect Society's "Word of the Year" Nominees
Fri Jan 08 00:00:00 EST 2010
By Ben Zimmer

Greetings from Baltimore, where the American Dialect Society is holding its annual conference. Along with scholarly presentations about American linguistic varieties, the ADS is also making selections for Word of the Year (2009) and Word of the Decade (2000-09). ADS members fixed on a final list of nominees for the different categories that will be up for a vote on Friday.  Continue reading...
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Dept. of Word Lists

Local Words of the Year
Thu Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2010

As the American Dialect Society gears up to vote for Word of the Year, the City Dictionary website has announced its own selection of "words with local flavor."  Continue reading...
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Evasive Maneuvers

Euphemisms old and new

The Euphemisms of the Decade
Wed Jan 06 00:00:00 EST 2010
By Mark Peters

Our own Mark Peters takes a look back at a decade in euphemisms, by trawling through the annual selections of "most euphemistic" words by the American Dialect Society — from courtesy calls to scooping technicians.  Continue reading...
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Language Lounge

A Monthly Column for Word Lovers

Is Now and Ever Shall Be
Mon Jan 04 00:00:00 EST 2010
By Orin Hargraves

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.  Continue reading...
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Blog Excerpts

Scalia vs. "Choate"
Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010

Justice Antonin Scalia recently interrupted a lawyer during a Supreme Court oral argument to chastise him for using the word choate (the opposite of inchoate). What's Scalia's beef? Find out in the latest New York Times Magazine "On Language" column by Visual Thesaurus editor Ben Zimmer, now online here.
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Behind the Dictionary

Lexicographers Talk About Language

A Few Choice Words
Wed Dec 30 00:00:00 EST 2009
By Neal Whitman

We welcome back linguist Neal Whitman, who has noticed that many educators are fond of "choice" language, as in "He made good choices." Neal plumbs the history of this usage and talks to teachers and administrators about how the words "choose" and "choice" have shifted in recent years.  Continue reading...
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