by Rory Gory Pansexual, skoliosexual, asexual biromantic. How young queer people are identifying their sexual and romantic orientations is expanding—as is the language they use to do it. More than 1 in 5 LGBTQ youth use words other than lesbian, gay, and bisexual to describe their sexualities, according to a new report based on findings from The Trevor Project’s National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental …
If you’re anything like us—and hello, you’re here, reading this—you’re probably a book lover. Whether those to-read piles on the brink of teetering over are yours or your bestie’s, parent’s, or partner’s, we’re not here to judge the unread stacks. But when it comes to the great responsibility of sharing the love of books through gifts, there are so many options beyond books themselves. To …
![A dark blue background with an upside-down image of a man wearing virtual reality goggles. Imposed on the background is a list of words in white outline: UAP, parklet, memeify, new words [in bold white letters], metaverse, throuple, wabi-sabi](https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220325_newWords_800x800-380x380.png)
by Nick Norlen, Research Editor, and Heather Bonikowski, Lexicographer The latest update to Dictionary.com reflects our mission to help make sense of the world through words. Of the hundreds of newly added terms, some define our times, notably those related to the ongoing COVID pandemic and climate emergency. Other updates cover important changes in how we talk about a vast range of topics, including disability, …
If you haven’t heard, the sport of pickleball is kind of a big dill lately. Many athletes relish the chance to play this fun game taking over the nation. If you’re unfamiliar with the game or have never even heard of it before, you’re likely to be confused by some of the unique lingo used by players. Needless to say, this is quite the tricky …
Cite, site, and sight are classic homophones: they sound the same, but differ in meaning (and spelling). Cite is most commonly used as a verb in the context of facts, sources, and academic papers. Site is most commonly used as a noun in the context of locations and places. And sight is used in the context of seeing and things that are seen. Sounds straightforward, …
Fascist and Nazi: these two words loom large in the history books and in heated conversations about politics—conversations that have far outlasted the regimes that originally embraced them. For many of us, the words fascist and Nazi bring to mind the worst dictators and crimes against humanity. But as these ideologies make the news in 2020, used especially in the context of a growing concern about …
Language is a living thing, and so is Dictionary.com. Our dictionary will always be a work in progress—there’s no day in the future when we’ll mark it “complete” after adding the last word. This never-ending work is the job of our lexicographers, the (amazingly talented) people who write and edit the dictionary. They do more than just add and define words. They also add new …
Like clockwork, we hear the presidential oath of office every four years. Thirty-five words that basically give the incoming Chief Executive the keys to the proverbial car. And the nuclear launch codes. The National Museum of American History says that Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution “requires that before presidents can assume their duties they must take the oath of office.” Once the incoming …
Some young people may find it hard to believe, but there was once a world without emoji (the plural can be either emoji or emojis—take your pick). These bright, little, expressive images didn’t come into existence until 1999, when the first ones were created by Japanese artist Shigetaka Kurita. Today, there are more than 3,000 emoji … and counting. They add a pop of personality to …
Known for recaps and resolutions, each new year often starts with retrospection and … the month of January. But where did the name January come from and can we learn anything about the name of this first month to inspire us to actually keep those New Year’s resolutions intact? January, as we know, is the first month of the year and contains 31 days. The …
The language surrounding climate change is changing right alongside the climate itself. But, it all began with global warming … Climate change was first known to many of us as global warming, a phrase dating to the 1950s that indicates “a longterm rise in Earth’s average atmospheric temperature.” The idea that global warming exists and could be attributed to human behavior, however, was first put forward in 1896 …
The words left and right are closely associated with differing “wings” of the political spectrum. But how did liberal politics become associated with the word left, anyways? And why are conservatives labelled as right? When we discuss the origins of words, we often warn against origin stories that sound too good to be true. Well, in this case, the history of the terms left and …