baka
Anta baka? What are you, stupid? Baka is a Japanese word that means "crazy," "foolish," or downright "stupid." It can also be used as a noun for "a fool" or "a crazy or stupid person."…
Archives
-
-
ham
Ham isn't just a staple for Christmas dinners or sandwiches. It can also stand for hard as a motherfucker. To go ham is to put in an extraordinary, even aggressive, amount of effort. If you went crazy… -
Unprogrammed, Glen Coco, And Other Trending Words On Dictionary.com
Kanye West. Mean Girls. Brett Kavanaugh. What do they all have in common? Spots on the trending words list this week, September 29–October 5, 2018! Let’s get to all the learning, shall we? Unprogrammed Rapper Kanye West announced the creation of a new word over the weekend. Just one problem? Unprogrammed has been around for centuries. The word made its first landing on the trending …
-
What’s Vocal Fry Really All About?
Perhaps you’ve heard of vocal fry, a quality of speech often associated with the likes of Kim Kardashian or Katy Perry. American media stories detailing vocal fry sometimes warn us that it’s damaging to our vocal cords, and that women who use vocal fry are jeopardizing their job prospects. As wonderful as it is that the mass media is paying attention to phonetics, much of …
-
-
Where Did “Cinderella Story” Come From?
The Cinderella that English speakers know and love can be traced to the French story Cendrillon, first published in 1697 by Charles Perrault, though Chinese and Greek versions of this classic tale go back to the 9th century CE and 6th century BCE, respectively. Today, there are over 500 variants of Cinderella in Europe alone. It’s no surprise, then, that describing something as a Cinderella …
-
Who Wrote The Alphabet Song?
Whether you learned your ABCs while hanging out with the gang from Sesame Street, from someone in your family, or you were schooled in everything from A to Z in kindergarten, you probably learned the alphabet with the help of the alphabet song. The clever tune is imprinted in the brains of most of us English speakers. When you look up a word in the …
-
Which Words Did English Take From Other Languages?
English is a more varied (and delicious) melting pot than you think … English—is one of the most incredible, flavorfully-complex melting pots of linguistic ingredients from other countries that’s been left to simmer for (in some cases) centuries. These linguistic ingredients are called loanwords that have been borrowed and incorporated into English. The loanwords are oftentimes so common now, the foreign flavor has been completely …
-
This Word Of The Day Quiz Is So Fun It’s Almost Toyetic!
No applesauce here … sorry if you were hungry. If the quiz doesn’t display, please try opening in the Chrome browser. Interested in Words of the Day from the past? Check out this one that we brought to life … Tell us your favorite word from this week below (and share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter)!
-
👸 Princess emoji
Grab your tiara, ball gown, diamonds, and 👸, girl, because you are ROYALTY! The princess emoji, 👸, signifies everything from gracefulness to fanciness, whether it's a parent doting on their little girl or a diva-in-training expecting… -
☮️ Peace Symbol emoji
Give peace a chance with the peace symbol emoji, ☮, that symbolizes peace, love, harmony, and overall good vibes, man. -
🏹 Bow and Arrow emoji
Been struck by Cupid’s arrow? Or, feeling like robbing from the rich to give to the poor? Time to get out the bow and arrow emoji 🏹. Most literally, the bow and arrow emoji represents the sport of…