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'Mankini,' Other Fun Words Added to OED

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:40:32 CDT

Language purists, avert your eyes: The Oxford English Dictionary has added some new words. Here they are, along with the Daily Mirror 's helpful definitions: Mankini : "The revealing male bathing costume made famous by Sacha Baron Cohen in his Borat film." Retweet : "Sharing a Twitter message."

Supreme Court's New Go-To Tool: the Dictionary

Matt Cantor — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:52:21 CDT

John Roberts may be the chief justice of the United States, but he recently pulled out a dictionary to learn the meaning of “of” for a ruling. Justices are looking more and more to dictionaries to help them settle cases—a trend that worries both legal experts and dictionary makers,...

Scrabble Dictionary Adds 'Thang,' 'Grrl'

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 11 May 2011 11:08:05 CDT

Kinda cool: You can now use Indian words like "aloo" and "gobi" in Scrabble. Not so cool: You can also use slang words like "thang," "innit," and (cringe) "grrl." All of the above have been added to Collins Official Scrabble Words , a book one world champion says is "like the...

Heart Symbol Latest 'Word' in Oxford Dictionary

Matt Cantor — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:16:05 CDT

The latest addition to the Oxford English Dictionary is beyond words. Today’s online update to the definitive work adds a graphic symbol for the first time: a heart, as in “I heart NY.” Listed under the word “heart” and defined as a verb meaning “to love,” the heart is now...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year: Austerity

Rob Quinn — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:20:13 CST

Austerity measures announced by governments across Europe this year sparked a surge in civil unrest, and a surge in people trying to find out exactly what the word means. Merriam-Webster says that, based on search trends, the noun—meaning "enforced or extreme economy"—is its word of 2010. AP reports...

Dictionary's Vault of Rejected Words Uncovered

Rob Quinn — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 07:02:00 CDT

Millions of words that just didn't make the cut according to the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary lie unused in a little-publicized vault owned by the Oxford University Press. The vault—whose existence was uncovered by a research student compiling a "Dictionary of Non-Words"—contains untold numbers of small...

School Relents: Webster Dictionary Safe for Kids

Nick McMaster — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:33:31 CST

School authorities in Southern California's Menifee district have reversed a ban on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary after a parent complained about its references to oral sex. A committee of parents and teachers decided the dictionaries can be returned to fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms, the LA Times reports. Concerned parents, however, can...

Webster's Word of the Year: Distracted Driving

Kevin Spak — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:45:00 CST

Webster’s New World Dictionary has named “distracted driving” its Word of the Year, much to the delight of Ray LaHood. The transportation secretary’s crusade to ban distracted driving, which generally refers to talking on the phone or texting while behind the wheel, is part of what brought the word to...

'Fake AP Stylebook' Well Worth a Peek

Jen Paton — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:51:14 CST

It's not the likeliest of Internet sensations, but the Fake AP Stylebook on Twitter is well worth the buzz it's getting, writes Mark Peters. Anyone who's been tormented by such rulebooks on language, or by sanctimonious grammarians, will rejoice. And laugh. Typical rule: "When referring to someone with a Ph....