Gift certificate expiration oregon

viva la juicy gift set

reindeer gift bag

suit case gift box

hawaiian gift stores

tech golf gift

rowlett flower and gift shop

student gift

automobile bill of sale as gift

the gift cottage

the bay gift registry

healthy gift basket

gift cards ice cream

christmas gift man

gift card with prescription cvs

beauticontrol gift

spirit lake iowa gift stores

online gift certificates canada

free homemade gift ideas fpr sister

all occassion gift basket

gift baskets buy now pay later

gift card non-profit donations

commercial bank gift card

gift card dealers

homecoming gift for football players

gift fair edinburgh

georgia gift baskets

th anniversary gift

tucson gift baskets

promotional gift idea

wedding gift for blended family

how to sew gift wrap items

atlanta international gift home furnishings market

gift baskets delivery in china

gift of discerning of spirits

shower gift poem

travel gift boxes

playtex ventaire new born gift set

gift ideas for girls age 10

hawaii gift wailuku

bank visa gift card

home weather station gift

valentine day gift for her

museum of glass gift catalogue

gift suggestions for 50th anniversaries

gift ideas for employee appreciation

gift catalog l

gap com shopping gift options

the ultimate gift the movie

td bank north gift card

randalls gift cards

gift ideas under $25

noble online gift certificate barnes email

gift card writer

refillable amex gift card

instructions to make gift bag

2007 cfc gift reward guide

gift clocks

garden city gift certificates ri

how to shrink wrap gift baskets

incentive gift program

wedding anniversary gift year 11

keltica an irish gift shop nyc

basket day gift mother wine

free gift codes

policies of gift basket companies

gift card interest

response to receiving an estate gift

unrequited christmas gift

Summer Top Twenty

It was a long, hot summer – and one very rich in vocabulary! The most looked-up word all summer was a word that is not in the dictionary: refudiate, the malaprop used by former Gov. Sarah Palin on television and Twitter. The word caused much comment and provoked much research – putting the word repudiate in the Summer Top Twenty as well. Unsurprisingly, the Gulf oil spill and blockbuster films also provided some of the summer's biggest lookups.

Word History of the Month: conundrum

The word conundrum is a perennial on the Top 20 list – including this summer's list. Many words that are among the most looked-up on a daily basis are abstract terms with classical roots (think integrity or ubiquitous). Conundrum would seem to fit right in with them. But does it? Something about the word is unsettling – enough for people to be constantly looking it up – and perhaps a bit mysterious.

Notable and Quotable: D.H. Lawrence

D.H. Lawrence was born September 11, 1885. Long troubled by ill health, the poet, critic, and novelist (Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Sons and Lovers) died at 44. Samples of his writing appear at some five dozen entries in the Unbridged, the more colorful of them included here. (When was the last time you encountered "everywhere" used as a noun?).

Interested in seeing all the examples of a particular writer? Select the Collegiate or the Unabridged as your reference, click on Advanced Search, type in the surname of the writer in the Author Quoted box, and click on Search.

From the Mail Server

This month, editors heard from someone zealous about the need to add a new word to the lexicon, from another person looking for the rich story behind the word cheapskate, and from a set of correspondents eager to understand the rule that distinguishes vowels from consonants.

Happy Birthday 1666

The Great Fire of London began raging on September 2, 1666. By the time the fire ended three days later, St. Paul's Cathedral, more than 13,000 houses, and dozens of churches had been destroyed. A new London (with less wood) arose from the ashes.

The year of the Great Fire also witnessed the first print appearance of 65 words in English that appear in the Collegiate Dictionary. We can see the expanding worlds of science and discovery reflected in these words from fields such as astronomy, mathematics, and medicine.

Interested in seeing all 65 words that first appeared in print in 1666? Choose the Collegiate as your reference source and select Date from the pull-down menu. Type in the date and click on Search.

birthday gift idea for him

anniversary gift jewelery

gift animation

irs gift letter 12,000

prometheus gave man zeus fire gift

cherokee friendship gift

gift marts

group gift etiquette split

sibling gift

free gift box template

gift cards selling

august dvd the ultimate gift

postpaid gift certificates

a gift for a babys death

westfield gift cards

shop rite gift card expiration

chinese gift exchange rules

gift ideas 40

gift packaging treasure chests

last minute gift ideas kids

top gift cards

credit card gift transfer

island gift baskets

christmas cookie gift baskets

hockey gift wrap

unique gift ideas charleston sc

culture gift giving

premier gift ware

incentive and promotional gift

bridal shower gift of candles

earn points for gift certificates

flat gift bag

oets gift stores in provincetown ma

new driver gift

farms gift

gift baskets miami

gift card refunds

vegan gift baskets

international gift shop new windsor maryland

wooden key gift and card

activities for gift of the magi

red blue gift

dad and gift and wedding

cub scout gift idea

ediable gift baskets

extravagant holiday gift ideas

monthly gift

father to be gift

book named the gift

mark roberts gift

gift texture italian box

gift baskets in casselberry fl

buying alcohol with gift card

state department gift shop

print christmas gift tags

newborn gift suggestions

gift ideas for new grandparents

wisconsin christmas gift baskets

college graduation gift jewelry

santa maria restaurant gift certificates

homemade gift for soccer coach

golden wedding anniversary gift ideas canada

male tin gift ideas

places that have gift cards

gift giant

gift basket baptism invitation

helo gift of god

new year gift baskets

Words in the News

Sarah Palin sent this message out on Twitter on July 18: "Ground Zero mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate." This sent refudiate to the top of the Top Twenty for the summer.

Why the buzz? For starters, refudiate is not (yet) in the dictionary. Then there was the controversy over subsequent tweets from Gov. Palin, first changing refudiate to repudiate, and then defending her coinage, invoking Shakespeare: "English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!"

Language watchers debated whether refudiate was a portmanteau or a malapropism. The blend is easy to figure out (refute or refuse + repudiate). But what's the story on malapropism?

Just Foolin' Around

Christopher Nolan's hit movie Inception propelled the word inception to #2 on the Summer Top Twenty. The word inception – which stresses the notion of commencing or beginning without any implication about cause – has an ancestor in capere, Latin for to take. Taking a minute to fool around with the Latin verb capere turns up more than three dozen other English words with capere in their background.

Language Links

Interest in refudiate reminds us of the eggcorn. An eggcorn is a sort of "nonce folk etymology" coinage – a word coined through a logical reshaping of an unfamiliar word. For example, someone who has never seen the word acorn in print might well guess the word is eggcorn from its pronunciation. Eggcorns, unlike malapropisms, make sense. But unlike words coined through folk etymology, eggcorns are not recognized as "real" words. (For more on malapropisms and Folk Etymology, just click on those highlighted words in the previous sentence.)

For a list of common eggcorns, check out the Eggcorn Database. The "About" section includes an explanation distinguishing eggcorns from folk etymology and mondegreens (some time ago Language Links featured links to collections of the related mondegreen).