by Dictionary Scoop For Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, happiness is a warm puppy. For some, it’s a habit. For others, it is a philosophy, a quest, or an ideal, among many other things. Join us on a linguistic journey through the lexicon of happiness, discovering the many shades and …
Category Archives: language
More Genius Phrasing From Shakespeare
by Kevin Burton Shakespeare’s genius influenced many phrases and idioms we unknowingly use every day. That’s why Dictionary Scoop put together a list of common expressions that were either created or made famous by Shakespeare and his characters. We listed five of them yesterday on Page 7. Today, five more. “American literary critic …
Some Phrases We Got From Shakespeare
by Kevin Burton I feel bad that I haven’t read anything by Shakespeare all the way through. Don’t know why I feel that way. The next person who asks me if I have read Shakespeare, will be the first. So it doesn’t really matter. Ask me in public, “Shakespeare or Steely Dan” …
Origins For Ten Slang Words And Phrases
by Dictionary Scoop Think how boring our vocabularies would be if we didn’t have a more laid-back, informal register on which we could fall back. Most of us don’t even realize how much slang we use in basically every conversation we have. Well, we decided to research the astonishing beginnings of these ten slang …
Ten Expressions With Musical Origins
Dictionary Scoop Music influences almost every single aspect of our modern world, and our language is no exception. We have gathered ten of our favorite musical terms that have found their way into becoming everyday words: 1 Gig The word “gig” refers to a job, usually a single-time event for which a musician …
Thanks For Reading, A Thousand Times Over
by Kevin Burton If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you 1,000 times, thank you for reading Page 7. Actually I haven’t told you that 1,000 times, or nearly enough. But the WordPress counter says this is my 1,000th blog. WordPress is very good at counting things, so I believe them. This …
Continue reading “Thanks For Reading, A Thousand Times Over”
Animal Names That Are Also Verbs
by Kevin Burton My late great cat Mex had a verb coined in her honor. She used to head butt people, as opposed to the usual cat way of rubbing against people with the side of the head or body. To headbutt became “To Mex.” Usage: “Stop Mexing me!” It’s a …
More Bilingual Americans Than You Think
by Kevin Burton There was a time when I had multiple dozens of penpals from around the world. More than once I heard this joke: What do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call a …
Words Describing That Road-Trip Feeling
by Dictionary Scoop Aside from the mechanical aspects of moving oneself from one place to the other, the poetry of wanderlust and journeys creates words to describe sensations, feelings, and experiences. All over the world, different expressions from different languages describe similar human experiences relating to the joy of traveling and discovering new …
Tell Her She’s Beautiful In All New Ways
by Kevin Burton OK guys, Valentine’s Day is coming. This gift from me to you, for use in your valentine’s messages, comes with a warning label. This is a list of words that mean “beautiful,” supplied by our friends at Merriam-Webster. Some of these words don’t sound very complimentary though. Wade through them …
Page 7 