Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Apocrust’ic, a. having a repelling power; astringent. Word in the Wild: If you’re planning to make your own dandelion wine, do be sure the blossoms you pick haven’t been sprayed with pesticides, which will result in an unfortunately apocrustic vintage. Oh, and a poisonous one, too. You can find a complete listing of […]

Je suis heureuse que vous avez me trouver dans tout l’internet. Comme vous pouvez deviner, j’aime beaucoup tous les mots, mêmes celles des langues que je ne parle pas si biens—le français, par exemple. Je vais déménager à Montréal cet été, donc je faisais les efforts d’améliorer mon français. Je parlais avec les francophones très […]

The History of Typography – Animated Short from Ben Barrett-Forrest on Vimeo.

Okay, so this post isn’t about a word per se, but I’m willing to stretch the purview of the Word Blog for a day, so I can share the evolution of the International Symbol of Access (ISA) with you. The ISA is part of a language read daily all over the globe: the language of ISO […]

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Zetic’ula, n. a small private room. Word in the Wild: After sharing a room with her sister for the past 8 years, Annicka needed a place of her own to gather her thoughts and hide her diary. She claimed the front-hall closet for her zeticula and begged her dad to find somewhere else […]

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Yell, v. to make a hideous screaming noise. Word in the Wild: When Prapti tried using pliers to yank the gum from Jim’s hair, he yelled. Okay, so I’m making a bit of an exception this time in our list of old and dusty words because I like J. Jenkins’s definition of yell […]

I love Radiolab’s podcasts, and I especially love this one. I’ve listened to it several times, and each time it fills me with a sense of just how crucial language is. I suspect that at least part of my fascination with language stems from the fact that my brother, who is a low-functioning autistic and […]

Lexical Vexations This lexical vexation is for Kevin – thanks for all the great Lexical Vexation suggestions, Kevin! principal 1. n . a person responsible for the administration of a school. 2. adj. most important or influential. principle 1. n. a rule or standard to which a person should be held. Words in the Wild: […]