Tag: vocabulary

There are many unbelievable words in the English language–some so strange that they are rarely used. There are words for things most of us did not even know we need a word for. “There’s a word for that?” Some may deepen our vocabulary, but sometimes it is just entertaining to pick through the dictionary for…

Most misunderstood words are born in spoken speech; at one time, they would only gradually bleed into writing. Whether due to an honest typo or a flat out error, confusion in grammar and misunderstood words can now fly across the planet at lightning speed, thanks to email forwarding and “copy/paste” in social media. Continued exposure…

Oxford University Press has one of the largest language research programs in the world and continuously scours the internet, popular fiction, science journals, and even song lyrics for words creeping into the English language. At one time, 2-3 years of use was required before a new word/term appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary, but the…

If you’ve ever looked up words in a dictionary, you’ve contributed to the noble cause of understanding English. Up to the highest levels of our society, the intricacies of vocabulary occasionally escape our grasp. Former President George W. Bush’s verbal mishaps epitomize this fact. At the beginning of his first campaign, for example, Bush reportedly expressed…