Old-school news, just in time
by Kevin Burton My mom and I have played a lot of Scrabble over the years. Neither of us pursued victory by waiting around for jawbreaker words such as the one ones featured in yesterday’s Scrabble post. Muzjiks? Bezique? Quetzal? Let me know when you get those sets of letters on your rack! …
Continue reading “That’s More Like It!, Real Scrabble Strategy”
by Kevin Burton As usual, Dictionary Scoop has an interesting list today. But this one has next to no value. It’s a list of the biggest, bangiest Scrabble words. The words that if successfully deployed, would bring the highest scores. But your chances of ever having these exact letters on your board …
Continue reading “Interesting But Hard-To-Play Scrabble Words”
by Dictionary Scoop If you have ever been befuddled by a legal term in a conversation, a document, TV, or elsewhere, you are certainly not alone. The law has a certain way with words and it can be tricky for the layman to fully understand their meaning. This article serves as a humble …
by Kevin Burton If you’re not good at gardening, you can say that you have a “brown thumb.” You can say it, I won’t. Yes the antonym of “green thumb” which speaks to people who are good at gardening is “brown thumb.” But that sounds much worse than it needs to, so I’ll …
by Dictionary Scoop Cowboys in the Old West not only tamed the inhospitable land, but they also forged their own language. They created unrefined similes and metaphors, broke the rules of grammar, flooded figures of speech with humor, and made a verb out of anything. In this article, we review 12 expressions we …
by Dictionary Scoop Ever encountered a word in another language that seemed familiar but left you confused? False cognates—words that appear similar but have unrelated meanings—are the culprits. These false friends can sometimes lead to hilarious or embarrassing misunderstandings, especially for language learners. Here are ten examples that demonstrate just how deceptive languages …
by Dictionary Scoop Just as a river constantly flows yet maintains its continuity, languages change and evolve over time. Words can shift in spelling, alter their meanings, or branch into entirely new concepts while retaining the essence that once defined them. Even in modern times, with dictionaries and education standardizing pronunciations and definitions, notable differences …
Continue reading “Words Whose Standard Spelling Has Changed”
by Kevin Burton Apologies right up front for all you lawn rangers, fighting the good fight for greener, pristiner front yards. Merriam-Webster calls the dandelion a flower. And I supposed by some measures it is. But don’t try giving your wife dandelions on your anniversary. You may end up with dandelion soup for …
Continue reading “Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden”
by Kevin Burton Now flowers come from seeds. But flower etymologies come from every linguistic corner under heaven, ubiquitous as the flowers themselves it seems. On a beautiful Spring day, imagine an average couple driving the highways and byways of the heartland in a beautiful 2012 Toyota. And the wife might say, “Do …
Continue reading “Flowers Can Wait, They’ll Be Here Tomorrow”
by Kevin Burton Every industry has its insider jargon and our friends at Dictionary Scoop have released a list of journalism phrases. And I’ll get to it, gladly. But first, one bone to pick. So the way I was trained in journalism was, get to the point, now. Put the most important …
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