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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: dictionary

dictionary stories: 15 news summaries

Latest Facebook Star: 2009 Word of the Year

'Unfriend' beats 'sexting' and 'birther,' gets call from dictionary

Nov 16, 09 4:56 PM CST
(Newser) - In a move sure to get English majors talking, the New Oxford American Dictionary has crowned “unfriend” as its Word of the Year for 2009. And yes, the verb means exactly what you think it means: "To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site... More »

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social networking • Facebook • Oxford • dictionary • New Oxford American Dictionary • Oxford Word of the Year

OPINION

Google Is Top Online Dictionary, But in Weak Field

Lack of sensical example sentences even in OED flummoxes Angwin

Sep 7, 09 4:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nowadays, Google is just about as good a reference as the Oxford English Dictionary—or better, Julia Angwin writes in the Wall Street Journal. Type in a misspelled word, and the search engine corrects it. What’s more, Google will display a trove of up-to-date articles using the word,... More »

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Google • Internet • definition • oxford english dictionary • dictionary • reference • Wordnik • example • word usage

(Newser) - Fidel Castro usually likes to express his political views in rambling essays and hours-long speeches, but a new book now breaks down El Comandante's philosophy into a handy-dandy A-to-Z format. The Castro dictionary, containing entries such as "Unemployment" and "History," is targeted at Cuban academics, reports AP.... More »

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Fidel Castro • Cuba • Communism • book • dictionary

(Newser) - Merriam-Webster will make 100 additions to its Collegiate dictionary this year, and many may sound familiar, the AP reports. “These are not new words in the language, by any means,” said the publisher. An expert elaborates: They've “been around for a while but for some reason they... More »

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waterboarding • dictionary • green-collar jobs • staycation • locavore • Merriam-Webster • Collegiate • frenemy • sock puppet

Pungle, Nebby, Oh My! Folksism Dictionary Is Almost Done

Experts fear Twitter's effect on local lingo

Jun 14, 09 2:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Do you know what a “mumble squibble” is? How about a “elbedritsch”? When the final volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English comes out next year, a decades-in-the-making collection of odd vernacular from across the country will be complete at last, NPR reports. "It's very... More »

MORE ABOUT:
language • book • linguists • dictionary • regional

 'Zzz' Spells Discontent 
 for Scrabble Enthusiasts 

Some game fans lobby for rules change

Mar 18, 09 12:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - If you sigh in resignation every time you pull a Z or Q out of the Scrabble letter bag, new additions to the game’s official word list probably have you sighing in relief. But aficionados say the expanding list—now including “za,” “qi,” and “... More »

MORE ABOUT:
game • dictionary • Scrabble • board games • controversy • Alfred Butts

 Web Dictionary Plans 
 to Outdo Print Cousins 

New features and bigger capacity make Wordnik a revolution in lexicography

Mar 16, 09 5:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ever stumbled across an unfamiliar word and wondered not only what it means, but what it looks and sounds like? Or what other words it appears alongside most often, and how many times it’s been used in print this year? The revolutionary new dictionary Wordnik, set to go online... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • online • oxford english dictionary • lexicography • dictionary • words • English language

(Newser) - The Dictionary of American Regional English, a 40-year lexicographical labor of love, will be competed next year, Good reports—with compilers finally making it to Z. The tome, which revels in local disparities, has been a boon not only to word lovers; it helped bring down the Unabomber through his... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United States • language • English • dictionary • vernacular • regional • dialect

Meh, Add It to the Dictionary

Simpsons' fave word and signal of apathy makes it into next edition of Collins

Nov 17, 08 10:07 AM CST
(Newser) - The 30th-anniversary edition of the authoritative Collins English Dictionary will include a new entry suggested by readers: the interjection "meh." An expression of indifference or boredom, it’s believed to have originated in North America. Its spelling was codified on an episode of The Simpsons, the Telegraph reports,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • The Simpsons • lexicography • dictionary • Lisa Simpson

 Dictionary Gives 
 Rare Words 
 One Last Chance 

Apodiectic use could save niddering and oppugnant

Oct 4, 08 8:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Collins English Dictionary is giving rarely used words a last chance before they are dumped from the new edition, Time reports. Language lovers were outraged at plans to  exuviate (shed) words like oppugnant (combative), so the editors have made public a list of 24 candidates for deletion. If the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
language • English • dictionary • words • lexicon

Eat, Drink, Be Merry With Dictionary's Newest Adds

Invite a 'pescatarian'
to your 'infinity pool'

Jul 7, 08 3:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Merriam-Webster dictionary has added nearly 100 new words based on frequency of use in the American lexicon, the AP reports. "If somebody is using it to convey a specific idea and that idea is successfully conveyed in that word, it's ready to go in the dictionary," said... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Merriam Webster • dictionary • words • lexicon • definitions

Grammatical Dynamic Duo
Wages War
on Typos

Two men travel the
country on a mission

May 21, 08 8:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson are out-of-work Ivy Leaguers on a mission. They just wrapped up a three-month cross-country drive to eradicate typos and grammar gaffes in public spaces. Sharpies in hand, the pair confronted store owners about typos on their signs and windows and did their best to correct... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • English • dictionary • grammar

OPINION

 Has It Gone, Or
 Just Gone Online?  

NYT columnist gets nervous as Oxford Dictionary hits the web

May 11, 08 5:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Oxford English Dictionary—the 3-volume one with the magnifying glass—has ditched its hard copy and gone digital for good, which makes one "bookish middle-class" writer nervous. "Other totemic college books could go out of style, maybe," Virginia Heffernan writes in the New York Times. But... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • Wikipedia • Dictionary.com • online • oxford english dictionary • dictionary • online book • thesaurus

New Dictionary Helps Germans Steer Clear of 'Nazi Words'

Taboo terms tainted
by Third Reich

Jan 31, 08 5:10 PM CST
(Newser) - German words like "Endlösung" (final solution) have been tainted, likely forever, by their association with the Nazis. A new dictionary looks at how the horrors of Hitler's regime changed the German language, Der Spiegel reports. The "Dictionary of Coming to Terms With the Past" looks at how... More »

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Germany • Nazi • language • dictionary

Winning Word of 2007: 'W00t'

Merriam-Webster word of the year is gamer's victory cry

Dec 12, 07 10:47 AM CST
(Newser) - W00t is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. The term is the victory cry of computer hackers and gamers, who also heatedly argue its origins. Merriam-Webster cites the explanation that gamers coined it as an alphanumeric acronym for “We Owned Other Team.” Contentious hackers claim it was code... More »

MORE ABOUT:
language • English • lexicography • Merriam Webster • w00t • dictionary

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