Topic: Oxford English Dictionary

Shoveling Nemo

The linguistic takeaway from a major snowstorm turns out to be that 'blizzard' is a relatively new term.

Global News Blog The Eid holiday: What does it celebrate?

While the Eid festival following Ramadan is better known, Eid al-Adha is more significant to the Muslim calendar.

Report: Ethiopians could still go hungry despite economic gains

With its population of 91 million expected to double in the next 22 years, and a drier climate, Ethiopia will have trouble feeding its people, a new report says.

People, companies, elephants - it's all relative.

Our choice of pronouns gives clues about how we think about humans, animals, and corporations.

Opinion: On the death of Encyclopaedia Britannica: All authoritarian regimes eventually fall

Let us trumpet the end of Encyclopaedia Britannica's print edition. We should celebrate the fact that in a Web 2.0, Wikipedia world, information now roams free. It lives and breathes, loosed from cages where it was allowed to reproduce only once a year, edition by edition.

Working out just what a 'piece of work' is

Two contradictory usages of the same idiom prompt the Monitor's language columnist to do a little research.

Why did President Obama double up on 'double down'?

The Monitor's language columnist takes issue with President Obama's use of a gambling idiom in his State of the Union message.

Schemes on Wall Street and in public policy

It's too bad 'scheme' has such a bad reputation in American English, because we could certainly use a synonym for 'program.'

Looking under the 'eves' at the holidays

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

More books, more choices: why America needs its indies

Farhad Manjoo thinks corner bookstores are simply comfy and quaint. He couldn't be more wrong.

The quest for hidden eggcorns

These quirky expressions may shed light on what people think they're trying to say.

Libya's chess game

Has everyone glommed onto stalemate to describe the fight against Qaddafi because quagmire is already taken?

OMG! OED makes headlines with new words

The great dictionary has drawn wide attention for including common online abbreviations in its latest update, but that's only part of the story.

LOL, OMG, BFF now in OED

LOL! The authoritative reference book's latest online update will include several Internet-inspired expressions.

Sarah Palin speaks of 'blood libel.' Really?

Sarah Palin, former GOP vice-presidential candidate, charged journalists and pundits with 'blood libel' for linking political rhetoric with the shooting of US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others.

The British are “manning up” – or rather, just “manning”

As the British take on a new era of austerity, are they manning up or just manning their jobs?

'Globish' and the open-sourcing of English

This form of 'English lite' is out from under the control of native speakers; does that matter?

D'oh! Homer Simpson named the best TV character in 20 years.

A survey by Entertainment Weekly magazine named Homer Simpson the greatest character created for film or television during the past 20 years, beating out Harry Potter.

Top book picks for 2010

The experts tell us what they are excited about reading in 2010.

The White House’s ‘ironic’ Mao moment? Glenn Beck doesn’t get it.

You just knew the Anita Dunn-Glenn Beck feud would involve Socrates and Seinfeld, didn't you?

30 years later, would you trade in your iPod for a Walkman?

Tech-word origins: stranger than science

A lexicographer describes where science fiction struck first.

Difference Maker New online dictionary redefines 'look it up'

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

Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year: 'hypermiling'

For the third year running, the Oxford English Dictionary has selected a green-themed term as its word of the year.

Do you call it a yard or a garden?

How to refer to the land around your house varies by region.