From “Nuclear Winter” to “Carbon Summer”
Ben Zimmer looks at the history of the word “carbon-summer.”
A Few Shining Examples
Anatoly looks at strong and weak past participles.
New Words on the Block: Back When “Movies” Were Young
Ben Zimmer looks at the origin of the word “movie.”
The Word of the Century So Far is…
The winner of our “Word of the Century So Far” poll is revealed.
In a State of Denial, in the Negative Mood
Anatoly takes a look at negative prefixes.
The Shocking Story of “Tase”
Ben Zimmer looks at the word taze/tase.
Monthly Gleanings
Anatoly answers readers’ questions and looks at the origins of bigot.
On Being Pretty Ugly: A Nice But Quaint Oxymoron
Anatoly explores pretty’s myriad of meanings from unlikely origins.
The Birth of Locavore
Jessica Prentice talks about how she coined the word of the year.
Kindle: The Holy Grail or the last gasp of eBooks?
Kindle has arrived! Evan Schnittman reviews the new ereader for us.
“Word of the Year” Mania!
Ben Zimmer looks a little bit more closely at the Word of the Year.
Sneak—Snack—Snuck
Anatoly uncovers how sneaked became snuck.
Oxford Word Of The Year 2007: Locavore
It’s that time of the year again. It is finally starting to get cold, and the New Oxford American Dictionary is preparing for the holidays by making its biggest announcement of the year. The 2007 Word of the Year is (drum-roll please) ‘locavore’; a trend in using locally grown, seasonal ingredients.
How Do “Miss Steaks” Go Unnoticed? It’s Along Story
Ben Zimmer looks at “miss steaks.”
A Troubled Marriage Between A Skeptic and an Ascetic, or, The Oddest English Spellings
How did we ever come up with the spelling for scythe? Anatoly looks at the history of conjoined letters “sc”.
When Spellcheckers Attack: Perils of the Cupertino Effect
Ben Zimmer looks at modern spellcheckers.