by Kevin Burton You may not have heard of some of the words on today’s list from Merriam-Webster, especially the first one. The dictionary is serving up words about insignificance. But the first offering is from my childhood days at the Ohio State School for the Blind. I may have heard this …
Category Archives: Words
Secret Languages From Around The World
by interestingfacts.com From clandestine codes understood only by women to local argots developed in geographically isolated communities, the world is filled with enigmatic languages and jargons. Join us on a linguistic journey as we shed light on some of the cryptic methods people have used to converse throughout history: 1-Boontling (Boonville, California, USA) …
Today We Help You Talk Like An Egyptian
by Dictionary Scoop You are probably aware that the English language has Greek and Latin roots. But did you know some of the most used English words come from Ancient Egyptian? For example, the word pharaoh is a no-brainer. As you would imagine, it is an Ancient Egyptian word meaning “Great House,” the place destined for …
Ten Words Inspired By Our Animal Friends
by Dictionary Scoop Whenever we think about vocabulary related to the animal kingdom, our mind usually goes to long, Latin scientific terms that seem extremely daunting to anyone not well-versed in biology. However, we sometimes fail to see how much our animal friends have also influenced the everyday words we regular joes use. We have …
Appreciate These Rare, Underused Words
by Kevin Burton In a rare misstep, the folks at Dictionary Scoop said we should try to impress people with the vocabulary words listed below. The kind of people who would be impressed by something like that are not, let’s say, among my closest companions. But let’s appreciate the words and use …
“Imponderably” And Other English Isograms
by Dictionary Scoop Words that do not repeat a single letter are called isograms. The longer they are, the less we use them but the more fascinating they are. Long, unusual isograms go against language economy. However, from time to time, using words like “adjunctively” or “beclamouring” is the only way to express our …
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What Do Cats And Jazz Have In Common?
by Dictionary Scoop Are you a cool cat? Or a groovy alligator? The Age of Jazz had a vast cultural influence on both American music and culture, but one of its most curious aspects was “jive talk”” the quirky jargon it birthed. Largely influenced by jazz singer Cab Calloway – who authored at least two dictionaries …
Crash Bang Hiss! Here’s To Onomatopoeias
by Dictionary Scoop A language as elastic and adaptive as English allows for words that describe anything you can think of. And onomatopoeias stand out as vibrant threads that weave together the sound and vision of our daily communication. These words echo the sounds they represent, adding a symphony of sensory richness to …
More Words (And A Suffix) From Yiddish
by Kevin Burton Along with more words English has gotten from Yiddish, today we include one suffix. A suffix is a letter of group of letters added to the end of a word. It can change the word’s grammatical function or meaning. The best example of a suffix from my formative years …
English Words That Came From Yiddish
by Kevin Burton You could go to college and learn about words and word formation, or you could go to the nearest schoolyard. How do we get the words we get? The cool kids, the most influential ones, talk a certain way. Soon the school follows. Believe me, in school had turns …
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