The Evasive Yeoman
Oxford Etymologist, Anatoly Liberman, traces the roots of the word “yeomen.”
The ABC’s of Math
Some entry excerpts from The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Mathematics
Technology – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “technology”.
Can You Trust Your (Etymological) Dictionary?
Anatoly Liberman demonstrates the difficulty of tracing the origins of every day words–especially considering the lack of consensus among linguists.
DSNA 2009, or,
Why don’t more people go to conferences?
Ammon Shea reports on the Dictionary Society of North America Conference.
RT this: OUP Dictionary Team monitors Twitterer’s tweets
A recent study out of Harvard confirms Twitter is all vanity. This is not a big surprise to the dictionary team at Oxford University Press. OUP lexicographers have been monitoring more than 1.5 million random tweets Since January 2009 and have noticed any number of interesting facts about the impact of Twitter on language usage. For example the 500 words most frequently used on Twitter are significantly different from the top 500 in general English text.
Bikini – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “bikini”.
English Is Astoundingly Like Russian, But What About French?
(The Origin of the Word Bistro)
Anatoly looks at the word “bistro”.
Fanspeak: The Lingo of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Fandom
Jeff Prucher looks at words coined by science fiction and fantasy fans.
Tarmac – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “tarmac”.
Monthly Gleanings: May 2009
Anatoly’s monthly gleanings.
A mystery-y-ish-y word trend: the –y suffix has gone bananas
Many lessons can be gleaned from watching reruns of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’: Indirect sunlight is not an unlife-ender for vampires. Some small-town mayors may yearn to become giant unholy snake things (no surprise there). As Cordelia Chase said, “People, you’ve got to leave your tombs earthed.” (Whoops, that was on the Buffy spinoff Angel—but whatever).
Hurricane – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “hurricane”.
Seething in Etymological Vacuity (The Story of Theodolite)
Anatoly looks at the word “theodolite”.
Word window: week twelve
This week is the twelfth instalment of our ‘Word Window’ series, in which we present some of the Oxford English Dictionary’s more remarkable words. Last week, we discussed the triple meaning of ‘Big Apple’. This week we have chosen a rather mysterious term; ‘Cruciverbalist’…
Hanging Noodles
Ammon Shea reviews I’m Not Hanging Noodles On Your Ears.