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Here's Your Chance to Add Words to the English Language

Shauna Wright — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:31:20 +0000

Ever wanted to have a say in which words are actually, well, words? Now’s your chance — UK dictionary publisher Collins is asking the public to suggest new words to include in its latest edition. Normally the submission process is limited to staff and other insiders, but this year, Collins’ editors have opened it up [...]

What the Heck Does 'Tergiversate' Mean? It's Dictionary.com's Word Of The Year

Jeremy Taylor — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:45:43 +0000

If you find yourself looking for a dictionary (or more likely heading to Google) after reading that ‘tergiversate’ is Dictionary.com’s word of the year, you’re probably not alone. The verb means “to change repeatedly one’s attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.” or to “equivocate.” Dictionary.com’s Head of Content Jay Schwartz explained [...]

Sexting, Retweet and Jeggings Among New Words Added to Dictionary

Shauna Wright — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 21:08:01 +0000

The ‘Concise Oxford English Dictionary,’ celebrating its 100th birthday this year, has added 400 new entries to the English language. The freshman class of words that are now officially, well, words include “sexting,” “retweet,” “mankini,” “noob,” “jeggings,” and “woot.” In a blog post, Angus Stevenson from the Oxford University Press said, “Sadly, the new edition [...]

'Grrl,' 'Thang,' 'Facebook' Added to Scrabble Dictionary

Jon Michaels — Fri, 13 May 2011 03:13:50 +0000

Are you desperately searching for that perfect triple-word score? Well, Scrabble is here to help.

The Scotsman is reporting that Scrabble has added everything from slang to social media to the Collins Official Scrabble Words book.

Yep, that means you can now play such words as "grrl," "thang," "innit," "Facebook" and "MySpace." (We're totally blaming AT&T for this one.)