Word for the Wise : Teddy Rooseveltian terms
Today we mark the birth anniversary of Teddy Roosevelt with a look at some language associated with our twenty-sixth president. Just a few months before winning his first presidential election, Roosevelt assured an associate that he was “as strong as a bull moose.” The moose image went public when Roosevelt’s Progressive party adopted it as [...]
Word for the Wise : Split infinitive
Today is Saint Jude’s Day, commemorating the saint called upon by those who attempt the impossible. In his honor we attempt what may be impossible: we try to convince folks that it is okay to occasionally split the infinitive. Sounds like heresy? Listen up. For starters, the term split infinitive is a bit of a [...]
The Lighter Side of Language
How long has hip been hot? Why are folks from Delaware called Blue Hens? Did William Shakespeare really coin alligator and be-all-and-end-all? People have been asking Merriam-Webster questions like those for decades. Now the Lighter Side of Language series provides the fascinating (and sometimes surprising) answers.
Collegiate Dictionary Jargon
Animal cracker. Chain of command. Greeting card. The very first Collegiate Dictionary was published, that jargon was as fresh as Internet and E-mail are today. Each year, Merriam-Webster publishes a new copyright of the Collegiate Dictionary that includes the newest words and meanings that have become established in our language. Our editors constantly monitor language [...]
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
What makes this America’s best-selling dictionary? Noah Webster wrote the Great American Dictionary, and Merriam-Webster turned it into the second best-selling book in history, outsold only by the Bible! This is the dictionary of choice in government offices, schools, the editorial offices of major publishing houses, and homes around the world.
Word for the Wise : Jane Austen
Today we remember Jane Austen, the British writer born on this date in 1775. Austen depreciated herself as a “miniaturist” and a domestic novelist of restricted scope, but her literary legacy is large. She was also able to lay self-deprecation aside, however, and in Northanger Abbey she declared that novels — her chosen genre — [...]
Word for the Wise : Several and few
The legislation establishing the position of American Poet Laureate/Consultant in Poetry was signed into law on this date in 1985. When Robert Penn Warren was designated the first U.S. poet laureate two months later, he joined a three-century-long procession of British poets laureate. Or is that poet laureates? Both plurals are considered acceptable, but it’s [...]
Word for the Wise : Parkinson’s disease
Today we mark the anniversary of the passing of James Parkinson on December 21, 1824. The Parkinson we honor today was not the satiric historian credited with observing that “the number of subordinate’s increases at a fixed rate regardless of the amount of work produced.” Nor is he the fellow who believed that “work expands [...]
Word for the Wise : Perigean spring tides
The moon reaches its perigee — that is, the point in its orbit when it is closest to earth’s center — at 6:00 this morning. Six and a half hours later, at 12:31 this afternoon, the moon enters its full phase. Given those two pieces of information, can you name what astronomical event begins today? [...]
Word for the Wise :Dear
Think you know a thing or two about our language? Test yourself with this simple quiz about a common word. Which of the following senses of the adjective dear is now considered obsolete: highly valued, beloved; scarce; or expensive? Remember, a sense is considered obsolete when there has been no evidence of its use since [...]
