MetaFilter posts tagged with vocabulary and language

Are you happy to see me or is that just a dictionary in your pocket?

Gyan — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:16:55 -0800

In search of the world’s hardest language

Flatpots, Fire Corals, and Four Blasters

Iridic — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:39:44 -0800

A Common Nomenclature for Lego Families.

a selcouth galimatias

nickyskye — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:33:36 -0800

International House of Logorrhea, at The Phrontistry, a free online dictionary of weird and unusual words to help enhance your vocabulary. Generous language resources, 2 and 3 letter Scrabble words l The Compass DeRose Guide to Emotion Words l all kinds of glossaries for color terms, wisdom, love and attraction, scientific instruments, manias and obsessions, feeding and eating, carriages and chariots, dance styles and all kinds of fun word stuff. Previously and previously.

Dictionary

robbyrobs — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 07:09:31 -0800

Merrian-Webster open dictionary "Have you spotted a new word or a new sense for an old word that hasn't made it into the dictionary yet? Well, here's your chance to add your discovery (and its definition) to Merriam-Webster's Open Dictionary"

Word play

qwerty155 — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 03:57:13 -0800

Collins Word Exchange "At Collins we pride ourselves on reflecting current language, used by real English speakers across the world." Collins have launched a public forum designed for (amongst other things) discussing 'new' words and the legitamacy of their inclusion in official dictionaries. Chav is probably on its way, but I'm no intellectual snob, but bounce-backability? Even I'd balk at that one.
And, just remember kids, flip-flopper is not valid for use in scrabble

More on arithmetic in the Amazon

myl — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 03:37:38 -0800

More on arithmetic in the Amazon The 10/15 issue of Science has the official publication of Peter Gordon's work on numerical cognition among the Pirahã, and a companion article by Pierre Pica et al. on similar research among another Amazonian tribe, the Mundurukú. What with the U.S. election and the discovery of H. Floresiensis, this is not getting nearly as a much play as the pre-publication back in August of Peter Gordon's work. Brian Butterworth has an piece in the Guardian about both articles, and I've put some links, quotes and diagrams here. Compared to the reports on the Pirahã, the Mundurukú people, language, and experiments are all somewhat different, although the conclusions are broadly similar.

English to English

adampsyche — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 09:10:38 -0800

The Internet's Most Accurate English-to-English Dictionary This internet service will translate any English word, phrase or passage into English, or vice versa. Your original grammar, style, and spelling are left intact!

You will learn something, I guarontee!

Ufez Jones — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 11:31:07 -0800

The Encyclopedia of Cajun Culture features everything from Acadiana to Zydeco. Two of the more interesting entries I've found are the Un-Cajun Committee and the unknown to me genre of Swamp Pop

Lost Words

ttrendel — Wed, 03 Sep 2003 14:41:38 -0800

The Compendium of Lost Words

Compendium of lost words

adamrice — Sat, 16 Aug 2003 10:57:11 -0800

Compendium of lost words You may have been wondering what "triclavianism" means. You may have been disappointed when dictionary.com couldn't help. Look no further.

Pronouncing words

Mack Twain — Sat, 29 Mar 2003 10:01:39 -0800

Qatar Home of Central Command and Al Jazzera television, it's a small oil-rich country we've all heard of, and that's the problem: I hear Qatar called Cutter, Gutter, Katar, and Kwatar. How do the Qataris' pronounce it; is it possible to accurately pronounce foreign words in English? Who decides? More inside...

New OED Words

mfoight — Mon, 17 Mar 2003 05:39:13 -0800

Dungeons and Dragons, bigorexia, arse-licker, bass-ackward... The online OED (Oxford English Dictionary) quarterly adds a host of new words to the canon of what has become the standard dictionary of the english language(s). Some of the new and spicey words are: arsehole, arseholed, arse-lick,arse-licker, ass-backward, ass-backwards, bass-ackward, bass-ackwards, dragon lady, Dungeons and Dragons, telenovela, and transgenderist!! Thank the gods of language for these new words! So what is you favorite new word and why?

geoff. — Mon, 21 Oct 2002 13:13:28 -0800

Worthless Word for the Day. Ever feel as if an "obscure, abstruse and/or recondite word" was forced into a newspaper/magazine/quote? Now there's a site that finally finds and provides wwftd! Impress your friends.

vacapinta — Thu, 12 Sep 2002 20:44:47 -0800

.i la lojban mo
Lojban is in many ways like any other language. There's an English-Lojban dictionary. There's a Lojban grammar. You can even get your news at Nuzban, a Lojban-only news site.

Lojban, however, is a completely constructed language. Why Lojban? Well, Lojban came from Loglan, an invented language from the 1950's (Loglan was created as an experiment to study the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: succinctly, the idea that language and culture are hopelessly intertwined) Today, there are hundreds of invented languages and a thriving language construction community. Alongside well-known constructs such as Tolkien's elven languages and Klingon, there's also d'ni - the language of Myst, a language of flowers, opus-2 - a language that shuns word order and Teonat - a language of the imaginary inhabitants of Teon.
With the help of online language construction kits, you too can create your own language.

kristin — Wed, 24 Oct 2001 03:08:17 -0800

When I got tired of saying the word Fuck all the time, I switched over to the word Fuckity. When my friends pointed out that perhaps Fuckity was a bit twee, I was in a deep funk, until one day, when I discovered Roger's Profanisaurus - the definitive thesaurus of all things Scatalogical, Sexual and Rude. Zuffled lately? Gone whitewater wristing? Expand your vocabulary!

Link via Scott

KirkJobSluder — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 12:22:26 -0800

The war of words over Israel continued this week as CNN instructed its journalists to refer to "settlements" as "Jewish neighborhoods." Last month the BBC agreed to stop using the term "assassination" in favor of "targeted killings."

hockeyman — Fri, 31 Aug 2001 18:52:29 -0800

At a loss for the right word? This is an artful way to find another way to say what you mean.

tweebiscuit — Wed, 25 Jul 2001 08:18:49 -0800

Gosh, it seems as though we have run out of words! Jesus Christ, when will it ever end? Sigh.

lagado — Wed, 18 Apr 2001 01:23:47 -0800

The Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy: An Interactive Study Since the development of carbonated beverage in 1886, one of linguistic geography's most important and least investigated phenomena has been the sharp regional divisions in the use of the terms "pop" and "soda."

mrjoy — Wed, 04 Apr 2001 12:18:35 -0800

Have you ever wanted to know what hip-hopsters meant when they say things like "gettin' giggy with it," or "man, that's off the skillet"? Well now you can.
Behold: the definitive Hip-Hop dictionary!

Mark — Tue, 20 Mar 2001 10:09:08 -0800

What is with the word 'Survivor' lately? First there was the book by Chuck Palahniuk, then came along the "reality" television show (Don't forget the Survivor Soundtrack) and now there is Destiny's Child new album and single called, yep, "Survivor". Oh, and don't forget the "Survivor" movie based on the book coming out later this year. Last, but not least is the owner of Survivor.com, Survivor Software.
My question is, how come there are not hundreds of lawsuits being thrown around for rights to this name?

joeclark — Fri, 05 Jan 2001 19:38:01 -0800

Not Dubbing the Simpsons The Office de la langue française and others are up in arms (ils capotent) about anglicisms in Internet discourse. Business 2.0 talked about it. Branchez-Vous writes a short, cutting article, giving those who pepper their French with English enough rope to hang themselves. («Dans la catégorie "Un mot français, un mot anglais et hop!," le prix revient à Rational Software France, the e-development company, qui a annoncé la nomination d'André Arich au poste de Partner Manager pour sa filiale française, ainsi que le lancement en France du programme de partenariat Rational Unified Partner Program (RUPP).») ¶ Strangely, French has a nicer word for E-mail than English does: courriel. (Grand Dictionnaire is the OLF's official bilingual tech dictionary.)

owillis — Mon, 25 Sep 2000 23:09:05 -0800

How bizarre. University of Texas at Dallas "Words and Phrases that Offend Students" (mostly blacks and women). So stunned, I don't know what to think of it.