Topic: Dictionaries and Lexicography

Looking under the 'eves' at the holidays

How did we end up with meaning both 'day before' and 'evening of'?

Should 'bromance' really be in the dictionary? Merriam-Webster thinks so.

Merriam-Webster has included 'bromance' and 'fist bump' among 150 other new words in its new collegiate dictionary. The words are a compendium of American culture, linguists say.

Four reasons American media should lowercase 'Internet'

When the style desks of The New York Times and the Associated Press finally issue a press release about the need to start lowercasing Internet, we will know that America has finally woken up to web-based reality.

We don’t capitalize words like radio or television or motion pictures anymore, do we? Regarding the Internet, we are still behind the curve, behind the British, lost in capitalization land. We need to play catch up. Now.

Here are four reasons to lowercase “Internet”:

Does inflation mean more than printing money?

The dictionary probably isn't the best place to look to find out

Intransitive verbs and the campus shortcut

A sentence in a technical manual reminds the Monitor's language columnist how usage changes under pressures of time and space.

The quest for equal-opportunity nouns

The Monitor's language columnist muses over just who can qualify as a curmudgeon.

It’s WOTY season

The Monitor’s language columnist wonders how anyone can pick just one Word of the Year.

Chirps and squeaks? It's just car talk

The complex phonics of automobiles speaks to the bird-watcher in him.

Anniversaries with a long tail

The Monitor's language columnist looks at the quintessential quindecennial and other celebrations.

Letters to the Editor

Readers write about how e-readers open up new possibilities for book lovers, why there should be a science Wordnik, and why labels don't accurately describe generations.

New online dictionary redefines 'look it up'

Lexicographer Erin McKean’s interactive ‘Wordnik’ is projected to be the largest online dictionary ever.

Oxford Junior Dictionary dropping 'nature' words

Gone from the 10,000-word lexicon aimed at 7-year-olds are such words as: 'magpie,' 'vine,' 'beaver,' and 'canary.' In are: 'mp3 player,' 'voicemail,' 'blog,' and 'chatroom.'

Geographical longings – right down to the grass roots

The Monitor's language columnist considers some words with a sense of place.

Harry Potter back in the news

The other mortgage crisis

A couple of key terms in real estate lending are very easy to confuse.