march madness bracket
It’s time to vote on round three of our slang competition at Dictionary.com! There’s no basketball on television, but March Madness has continued safely here at Dictionary.com. We’ve been asking you to vote your way through a bracket while you’re hunkered down at home, and you’ve let us know in no uncertain terms that it was time for some words to go! Take the match-up …
Let’s face it: There’s never a bad time to educate your kids on some of the classic movies from “the good old days.” Yes, we are talking about ’80s movies, films made back when everything was gnarly, and you steered clear of anything that seemed bogus. Want to add an extra dash of education into the mix? We’ve got you! Introducing part two of the Dictionary.com …
By Lindsay Barrett Children have lots of ideas. When they begin to communicate these ideas on paper, it’s a window into their thinking that’s both endearing and fascinating. Now, every child is unique, of course, but early writing usually progresses through recognizable stages: scribbling, pretend writing, and approximated spelling all lead up to the real thing. Here’s a rundown on what you’ll likely see between …
What’s the deal with these two useful words? With only a two-letter difference, it can seem at first that spelling may be the only distinction between them. But, of course, you know us … and we wouldn’t be here talking about these two words if there weren’t more differences between them. So how can we more easily tell the difference between these two? Luckily for …
The words amicable and amiable are sort of like fraternal twins. They certainly have a lot in common, but upon a closer look, there are differences that truly set them apart. Admittedly though, spotting the differences between amicable and amiable even gave us pause. First, they practically look the same and sound the same, so it is easy to understand how one could mix them up. …
Chances are that, during times of … let’s say biological outbreak, you’re bound to hear the words afflicted, affliction, and inflict or inflicted used a lot—and to varying degrees of accuracy. It’s OK, this is normal: the English language is particularly confusing when it comes to usage of words that share a similar element. In this case, it’s –flict, ultimately based on the Latin verb …
This one’s for you, DIY fans. Jury-rigged means something was assembled quickly with the materials on hand. Jerry-built means it was cheaply or poorly built. Jerry-rigged is a variant of jury-rigged, and it may have been influenced by jerry-built. While some people consider it to be an incorrect version of jury-rigged, it’s widely used, especially in everyday speech. What does jury-rigged mean? The word jury has …
Update: March Madness voting for round two has ended! See the winners below, and go vote in round 3! It’s time for round two of our slang competition at Dictionary.com! Last week, you told us how you really felt about popular slang words in round one of voting on our March Madness bracket. Favorite words and phrases like OK boomer, big mood, and snacc came out …
What do you do when you want to say “goodbye” to something (or someone), but don’t really feel the good part of that sentiment? Whether you’re late to a meeting and stuck on the phone, or just nodding your head in mock agreement as someone prattles on endlessly (with no clue they lost you 10 minutes ago), we’d like to offer you advice. It’s true, …
