Category Archives: Words / Dictionaries

Picture this: Zlango linguistic icons for cellphones and Web

Posted on October 12, 2007 by Kevin

You can liven up your cellphone/mobile phone messages and send Web messages and E-cards with Zlango icons (zlango.com/icons) [EDIT (6//6/10): dead link] (note: includes a few off-color terms) (via TechCrunch). Icons Zlango currently has over 200 icons (219, including at … Continue reading →

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English-dialect link roundup

Posted on September 29, 2007 by Kevin

Here are some links about a variety of dialects of English: Recording Highland Scots Cromarty fisher dialect (20 short audio interviews of octogenarians Bobby and Gordon Hogg) Compiling a Yorkshire dictionary (including the terms attercop, ettle, and pafalled) Revising a … Continue reading →

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2007 Talk Like a Pirate Day

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Kevin

Arrr! Wednesday, the 19th of September be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Talk like one or get called a bilge rat. The day was started in 1995 and popularized by humor columnist Dave Barry in 2002, even before the … Continue reading →

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Chinese (and Japanese) Internet slang

Posted on September 14, 2007 by Kevin

You probably know about English speakers’ netspeak/IM speak/textspeak, such as LOL for laughing out loud (and for Australians, m8 for mate). If you’ve read my post Spanish texting / IM abbreviations, you know about Spanish speakers’ usage, such as l100to … Continue reading →

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Contest for aptronyms (aptly named people)

Posted on August 31, 2007 by Kevin

Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the book Freakonomics, wants to find an aptronym (or aptonym) of a real person better than Paige Worthy (page worthy) the magazine researcher. The top three submissions earn a signed copy of his book or … Continue reading →

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Science fiction words in Oxford English Dictionary, new book

Posted on August 17, 2007 by Kevin

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) seeks to include all English words that are used frequently, including historical citations of their uses. Science fiction works and sci fi/SF criticism/fandom are no exceptions, and you can help with earlier, later, and intermediate … Continue reading →

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U.K. vs. U.S. Harry Potter; French Potter dictionary

Posted on July 21, 2007 by Kevin

Given the complete lack of coverage by any print, television, or online source, you’re probably unaware that the seventh and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Bloomsbury Publishing), went on sale today. In honor of this … Continue reading →

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Spanish texting / IM abbreviations

Posted on July 18, 2007 by Kevin

If you’ve ever wondered what b/c (because) type of typing would be in other languages, Oxford University Press has provided some Spanish ones for free in this 165 KB PDF (plus how to write an old-fashioned letter in Spanish). Here … Continue reading →

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2007 update for U.K. and U.S. dictionaries

Posted on July 13, 2007 by Kevin

Last month U.K. dictionary publisher Collins (site) came out with its ninth edition, including some recent words. Now U.S. dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster (site) has released its 2007 update. The U.K. words don’t move me one way or the other, but … Continue reading →

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Webster’s Medical Dictionary now free online

Posted on July 3, 2007 by Kevin

American dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster has added their medical dictionary to Merriam-Webster Online, which also has their collegiate English dictionary, Spanish-English dictionary, and English thesaurus. Entries also have links to relevant parts of physician-reviewed articles on Healthline. It’s amazing what you … Continue reading →

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