Essential bookmarks
Tell us about your favourite language sites via [email protected] 5 - 18 February 2020^17
Dictionary.com
Useful though they are, dictionaries aren’t generally regarded as fun, which is why
Dictionary.com is such a revelation. As you’d expect, you can look up the definitions
of millions of words, but it’s the extra features that add value: expand your vocabulary
with the ‘word of the day’, improve your language skills with free quizzes and puzzles,
learn the origin of everyday words and phrases, check out words that are currently
‘trending’ and much more. The Slang Dictionary, which tracks the latest terms being
used on the web, is especially handy, along with the Scrabble Word Finder and
Dictionary.com’s sister site, Thesaurus.com. Although it’s a US site, it covers proper
English spellings, and with free mobile apps, too, you’ll never be lost for words again.
Forebears
forebears.ioThe origin of occupational surnames,
such as Farmer or Baker, is easy to guess,
but if you want more information about
your last name, head to Forebears. This
fascinating free site provides details of
more than 27 million surnames, including
their meaning, how common they are
worldwide and the country they’re most
prevalent in. You can view a map showing
the global distribution of each name,
learn how its occurrence has changed
over time, discover approximately how
many people share it and even see their
average salary. Forebears also provides
a list of phonetically similar names and
‘transliterations’ of your moniker in other
languages.Online Etymology
Dictionary
http://www.etymonline.comThe English language is such an odd
hybrid of Latin, French, Germanic and
other foreign tongues that it’s tricky to
determine where and when a specific
word originated. Fortunately, help is at
hand from the Online Etymology
Dictionary, which lets you search for
words and phrases to discover their
history, including the approximate year
they were added to our lexicon. So if
you’ve ever wondered, for example,
where ‘napkin’ came from, the dictionary
cites the late 14th Century from the Old
French “nape”, meaning tablecloth. With
an aptly old-classic design, the site also
offers a Chrome extension and mobile
apps for etymological fun on the fly.Urban Dictionary
http://www.urbandictionary.com
Although a significant proportion of the
user-contributed content on Urban
Dictionary is puerile and filthy (be
warned!), it’s also a useful resource when
you encounter a baffling word, phrase or
initialism online and want to find out what
it means. A ‘scomo’, for example, is
“a person in charge who leaves things to
others when a difficult or emergency
situation arises,” while a ‘clipped’ situation
is one that’s “completely hopeless”. You
can vote on definitions and submit your
own and, if you’re particularly taken with a
slang term, you can have it printed – along
with its definition – on an Urban Dictionary
mug, T-shirt or sweatshirt. Browsing the
site by category will help you avoid the
ruder entries.
ESSENTIAL BOOKMARKS THIS ISSUE: Illuminating language sites
BBC Bitesize
bit.ly/biteAre you smarter than a GCSE
student? Find out by taking the
spelling, punctuation and grammar
tests on the BBC’s study-support
site, which are aimed at teenagers
but equally challenging for adults.
Whereas other online spelling
quizzes are as easy as choosing
between ‘business’ and ‘bussiness’,
the 10 questions in each of these
tests ask you to, for instance, identify
mnemonics, determine sentence
structure and pick out abstract
nouns. Although there is an ‘always
check your work’ teacher-finger-
wagging element, it’s still a good
way to measure your language skills.
We got most of them right!DON’T
MISS!