Free Republic

It was first available when Britain was under threat from Napoleon but it has now been re-published for free at the Project Gutenberg online digital library. The book includes gems suchs as 'ace of spades' for a widow, 'all-a-mort' to be struck dumb, and 'angling for farthings', which means to beg out of a prison window with a cap or box. The dictionary has already become an online hit. A selection of words can be found here. Explaining the book in the preface at the time, the author writes "The merit of Captain Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue has...

The Vatican Insider has published an online Vatican dictionary. The site promises that you can understand your faith's terms from "A divinis" to "Zucchetto"! However, there are still a few letters not accounted for. J, K, Q, W, X, Y have no words as of this writing. No "juris"? And don't we have lots of "q" words? Not to fear, I've come up with some of the missing letters from the Diocese of Jackson and thereabouts. I even made child-friendly flashcards to go with them! The rhymes are a bit off but I'm not a poet, and I know it....

American Heritage Dictionary adds 'offensive' to 'anchor baby'By Breann Bierman Updated: Dec 06, 2011 3:30 PM EST PHOENIX (KPHO) - The American Heritage Dictionary has added "offensive" to the definition of "anchor baby" in the dictionary after criticism from Latino groups. Immigrationimpact.com, a project of the nonprofit American Immigration Council, questioned the inclusion of the "anchor baby" definition. On their website, they describe the new definition as "one that was crafted to reflect more accurately just how artificial a term it really is." The online version of the American Heritage Dictionary now defines "anchor baby" as: "Offensive Used as a...

MANCHESTER, N.H. — They have debated on the same stage five times, but rarely have the contrasts between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry been more in evidence than during separate appearances here Friday night. It was Romney the careful technocrat versus Perry the unplugged preacher. snip One such question came from a man who told Romney that “everything you said in your introduction was wonderful” but who questioned some of the details of the former Massachusetts governor’s priorities. “I’m just not seeing how that adds up,” he said. snip An hour later, Perry took the stage at a downtown hotel...

So where have you bought and how? How do you manage it? I somehow cannot wrap my mind around it. Thanks

OXFORD, England - Britain's Oxford University Press said the latest Oxford English Dictionary includes definitions for "muffin top," "tinfoil hat" and the heart symbol. The publisher announced Thursday "muffin top" will feature two definitions, one referring to the top half of a muffin and one referring to "a protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers." The new dictionary also features a definition for the heart symbol, the first symbol to appear in the dictionary, as a synonym for love. "Tinfoil hat" is defined in the book as a popular headgear for those wishing to avoid...

It was first published 126 years ago and is respected the world over. But the Oxford English Dictionary will never appear in print again, its owners have announced. Instead, the 80 lexicographers who have been working on the third edition for the past 21 years have been told the fruits of their labour will exist solely online.   The OED has been available on the internet for the past ten years and receives two million hits a month from subscribers who pay £205 a year, plus VAT, to access it. Oxford University Press says the dominance of the internet...

It blasted its way into our eardrums throughout the World Cup - and now the vuvuzela is set to make a big noise in the dictionary. The long South African horn was used incessantly through every match in the tournament. And the vuvuzela is one of more than 2,000 new words and phrases included in the Oxford Dictionary of English for the first time. Other newcomers include tweetup (a meeting arranged through Twitter), cheeseball (lacking taste or style) and a turducken (a roast dish consisting of a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey). Paywall (which restricts website access to...

The American Minute for April 14, 2010: Noah Webster first published his Dictionary on APRIL 14, 1828. This 26-year project with 30,000 new definitions, standardized spelling and gave American English its identity. Proving unprofitable, the rights were purchased after his death by George and Charles Merriam. In the preface of his original edition, Noah Webster wrote: "In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the...

Taxsperity - The uniquely moronic notion that prosperity can be achieved through increases in taxation. Biparthenasia - The art of killing the opposition party by encouraging them to join your foolhardy efforts. Stimuslush - Urgently passing a bill under the pretense of saving us from depression only to hold on to the money for eighteen months in order to spend it as close to an election as possible. Filibluster - The blatantly false threat of removing the 60 vote cloture requirement in the US Senate. Even if they could, they never would because they know minority status is in their...

A California school district has added a new book to the controversial list of literature that is considered unfit for young eyes. It's the dictionary. The Golden State's Menifee Union School District has yanked all copies of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary from its shelves and is investigating the classic American text for containing "age-inappropriate" words. The trouble started when an inquisitive student got lost somewhere between "oralism" and "orang" and found a rather recent entry to the lexicon: "oral sex," a phrase that has been in common parlance since 1973 but still makes many parents fairly hot under the collar. Menifee...

After being pulled from the shelves for what some saw as racy content, Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary may have the last word in Menifee. A committee of parents, teachers and administrators decided Tuesday to return the dictionaries to the fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms at Oak Meadows Elementary School just days after they were removed over complaints about entries detailing references to various types of oral sex. "The dictionary will go back to the classroom but the parents will be given the option to determine if they want their kids to have access to that dictionary," said Betti Cadmus, a spokeswoman...

A Southern California school district has pulled dictionaries from classrooms because a parent complained when a child came across the term "oral sex." District officials said Friday that the Menifee Union School District -- which serves 9,000 kindergartners through eight graders in Riverside County -- is forming a committee to consider a permanent classroom ban of the Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. A memo from Assistant Superintendent Karen Valdes acknowledged it is a respected resource but district officials found that "a number of referenced words are age-inappropriate." Some parents and free-speech advocates said the district is overreacting. Peter Scheer, executive director...

The Menifee Union School District is forming a committee to review whether dictionaries containing the definitions for sexual terms should be permanently banned from the district's classrooms, a district official said Friday. The 9,000-student K-8 district this week pulled all copies of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary after an Oak Meadows Elementary School parent complained about a child stumbling across definitions for "oral sex." The decision was made without consultation with the district's school board and has raised concerns among First Amendment experts and some parents. Other parents and Menifee residents, though, have praised the district's decision, saying a collegiate-level dictionary is...

New York: Incoming Ulster County judge Donald A. Williams has been sworn into office with his left hand on a dictionary instead of a book of scripture. When the time came to swear in Williams, a Republican, no Bible could be found so the former district attorney took his oath on a dictionary. Williams was unconcerned by the substitution, saying that the swearing-in is ceremonial only. There is no requirement for officials to be sworn in on a Bible but most choose to do so, many with their own family Bible. The substitution in this case reportedly injected 'a light...

Evil has certainly been unleashed. It's a damn firestorm. It sitnks from the top down ......... the free world has been taken siege. And that muhammadan in the White House denands we respect this evil. Molotov Cocktail Found In Downtown Parking Garage CBS3 News hat tip MikeThe discovery was made at about 2:00 p.m. Wednesday inside a parking garagelocated at Callowhill and N. 16th Streets.Philadelphia Police are investigating the discovery of a Molotov cocktail along with anti-Israeli books inside a Center City parking garage. The discovery was made at about 2:00 p.m. Wednesday inside a garage located at Callowhill and...

You'll recall when Obama made the rounds of the Sunday shows last week, he was asked by George Stephanopoulos why a federal requirement to either buy health insurance or pay a penalty isn't a tax. Obama scoffed at the absurdity of the question and ol' George busted out the dictionary to show our Harvard-educated president the definition of a tax. The RNC decided it would make good theater.

At the Oct. 7 presidential debate, Barack Obama said, "If you make less than a quarter of a million dollars a year, you will not see a single dime of your taxes go up. If you make $200,000 a year or less, your taxes will go down."I point this out so that you realize that Obama supports your (note: use any word but "taxes" here) going up by 85800 dimes if your family makes $66,000 a year. More on that later. And as part of my "I told you so" moment, allow me to cite my October 2008 article entitled...

Discombobamulate verb, humorous to disconcert or confuse someone on account of manipulations of President Obama's name variations: Discombobamulation: the act of promulgating manipulations of President Obama's name Discombobamulated: to suffer emotional distress over manipulations of President Obama's name

... Back then little specific information was released concerning the treatment of the Guantánamo gang, yet insinuated was that prisoners were being mistreated and that ‘torture’ was being practiced. This caught my attention because the media tossed the term ‘torture’ about with characteristic abandon. You would think that people who use words to earn their daily grub might take the same care of their tools that an auto mechanic does with his. Sadly modern reporters seem to be one step removed from journalist and two steps from literate. ... I decided to have the definition of ‘torture’ logged firmly in...

The title of this column is also the title of a book by Simon Winchester, published in 1998. The subtitle introduces the three, seemingly unrelated subjects of the book, “A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary.” I’d never heard of this book. It was only in the house because it was in Michelle’s apartment in New York. And it was there only because she ran a book sale at her church in Manhattan, and it was an orphan – donated for sale but not bought by anyone. Yet it turned out to be an...

States may be debating gay marriage. People may be voting on it. Tempers may be flaring on both sides of the issue. But society’s uncertainty hasn’t stopped the good liberals at Merriam Webster from defining marriage any damn way they want it defined. The second definition of the word is now, “the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage.” ...excerpt

SAN FRANCISCO - Same-sex marriage might not be recognized in most states, but it is in the dictionary. Merriam-Webster included a secondary definition of marriage to recognize same-sex relationships several years before gay couples were allowed to tie the knot anywhere in the United States, but the change had gone largely unnoticed until the conservative World Net Daily news site reported it Tuesday. "One of the nation's most prominent dictionary companies has resolved the argument over whether the term 'marriage' should apply to same-sex duos or be reserved for the institution that has held families together for millennia: by simply...

One of the nation's most prominent dictionary companies has resolved the argument over whether the term "marriage" should apply to same-sex duos or be reserved for the institution that has held families together for millennia: by simply writing a new definition. "I was shocked to see that Merriam-Webster changed their definition of the word 'marriage,' a word which has referred exclusively to a contract between a man and a woman for centuries. It has now added same sex," YouTube user Eric B. noted to WND. "The 1992 Webster's Dictionary does not mention same sex at all," he wrote. He created...

The latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary has dropped many words associated with Christianity and British history that were found in earlier versions. Christian-related words like "bishop," "chapel," "disciple," "minister," "sin," and "devil," have been replaced by words like "blog," "biodegradable," "MP3 player," "democratic," and "celebrity," in the 2007 edition of the popular children's dictionary in the United Kingdom. Although the newest version of the dictionary was released last year, the removal of words went largely unnoticed until Lisa Saunders, a mother of four from Northern Ireland, pointed them out. She first realized the omission of words during a...

Oxford University Press has removed words like "aisle", "bishop", "chapel", "empire" and "monarch" from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like "blog", "broadband" and "celebrity". Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled. The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society. But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain's heritage. "We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To...

I am SO FREAKING TIRED of people who don't know the difference between "lose" and "loose." Y'all are ILLITERATES!!

Australians add new words to dictionary By Nick Squires In Sydney  Last Updated: 1:20pm GMT 10/01/2008       They gave the world budgie smugglers, sanger, arvo and barbie*, but Australians have shown themselves to be endlessly inventive, with a new collection of words and phrases added to the rich repository of Strine. The country’s biggest online dictionary, Macquarie, has included the 85 words or phrases in its latest online edition and wants Australians to vote for the one they consider most influential or apposite.   Toad juice anyone? They are grouped in 17 categories, from business to travel, and...

Hitchens: Islamofascism a Valid Term At Slate, Christopher Hitchens defends the use of the term “Islamofascism� to good effect.Hitchens first takes on the faux-intellectuals who refuse to make the obvious connection between modern, radical Islam and manner of life that imposes on those unlucky enough to fall under its sway: It’s quite the done thing, in liberal academic circles, to sneer at any comparison between fascist and jihadist ideology. People like Tony Judt write to me to say, in effect, that it’s ahistorical and simplistic to do so. And in some media circles, another kind of reluctance applies: Alan Colmes...

The 2007 FreeRepublic Lexicon (Draft)AKA "The Freepism, Freepology, Lingo, Dictionary, Terminology, Lore Handbook" A revised and condensed version of The Lexicon of FreeRepublic, culled from Lexicon of FreeRepublic - 4th Edition and Freeper Lingo Thread (the history and meening of 'Freepisms' including pictures). Thanks to the many Freepers who contributed! (see also The 2006 FreeRepublic LexiconI have attempted to include all definitions and histories provided to me and give credit to those who provided me the information. I apologize, in advance to those I failed to credit, but please understand that it was very difficult to keep up with all...

Most contracts for goods and services contain an "Act of God" provision. Such provisions typically allow contracting parties to dissolve a contract in case of an unexpected and unavoidable catastrophe: an earthquake, a tsunami, a lightning strike. This is perfectly logical. Man can act based on predictions about human behavior, but has no control over forces of nature. Conversely, human actions demand human responsibility. Only Divine action should be written off as inevitable tragedy. The Virginia Tech massacre was not an act of God -- it was undeniably an act of man. Yet many Americans have instinctively treated this massive...

THE Oxford English dictionary has appealed to the public to help it trace the origin of 40 popular phrases, including terms ranging from 'hoodie' to the infamous 'Glasgow kiss'. Compilers of the OED say they want evidence of when terms now commonly used first entered the language. The results will be broadcast in the BBC2 programme Balderdash & Piffle, which returns for a new series later this year. Dictionary authors trace the first evidence of "Glasgow kiss" - a euphemism for a headbutt - to 1987. The dictionary does, however, have an example of the expression "Liverpool kiss", used 43...

The 2006 FreeRepublic LexiconAKA "The Freepism, Freepology, Lingo, Dictionary, Terminology, Lore Handbook" A revised and condensed version of The Lexicon of FreeRepublic, culled from Lexicon of FreeRepublic - 4th Edition and Freeper Lingo Thread (the history and meening of 'Freepisms' including pictures). Thanks to the many Freepers who contributed! In this latest update, I have cut the emoticons and standard acronyms (LOL etc - which are readily available on the web and previous Lexicons) for the sake of brevity. I have attempted to include all definitions and histories provided to me and give credit to those who provided me the...

The next time you notice that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks like he's lost a little weight on CNN, it's probably because he no longer chows down on those evil "elastic loaves". "Elastic loaves" are pizzas in the lexicon of President Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad has ordered the minions in his government and cultural bodies to use modified Persian words to replace foreign words that have crept into the language.

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- From his small balcony, Brother Yohanan Elihay can see the East Jerusalem Palestinian village of Sur Baher and the multilevel apartment buildings of the Jewish Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, where he lives with another brother from his order. It is an apt view for the 80-year-old, who has spent more than half a century in Israel working to bring Israelis and Palestinians together through language -- most recently with The Olive Tree Dictionary, an 8,000-word, 17,000-phrase Arabic-English dictionary published by Minerva. "Language is the key to the heart," said Brother Elihay, who chose to speak in Hebrew. He...

Abortion n. 1. The process by which future electoral majorities are secured. 2. Reduction of those sections of society which live off others' earnings while contributing nothing themselves. Ass 1. n. A fine and dignified symbol for a venerable and wise organisation. 2. int. Expression uttered on discovery of flaws in the above. Death Penalty n. 1. The process by which future electoral majorities are lost. 2. The shameful process by which true entrepreneurs are mercilessly cast out of the system for their refusal to live by the restrictions of society. Decision n. Agreement with the opposition party. Economics n....

Springfield, Mass. (AP) -- Go ahead, treat yourself. Check out the latest chick flick, get a bikini wax or enjoy an ice cream that might give you a brain freeze. And if you're not sure what you're getting yourself into, it might be wise to consult the latest edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary which formally defines those terms that have taken root in American conversation. The words are joined by 15 other new entries that make up the 1,664 pages of the newly published book. So if you're not interested in movies meant to appeal to women, discreet hair removal...

LONDON (Reuters) - Do chuggers bother you when you want to rock up to a restaurant with your cockapoo to hoover a supersized ruby murray? Confused? Then you need to refer to the new Oxford Dictionary of English to understand a host of new words that appear for the first time in its latest edition. Among the new entries are "potty-mouthed" (meaning using or characterized by bad language), "lush" (very good) and "scopophilia" (sexual pleasure derived chiefly from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity). Some words, such as "demographic" (a particular sector of a population)...

This past November, I wrote about the right's semantic trickery and proposed an idea for how we could debunk and decode the conservative's Orwellian Code of encrypted language: A Republican Dictionary. I put together a small list and asked readers to send me their own entries. Response has been overwhelming--more than 375 people have sent definitions. I published a small sample of the entries I've received in this space earlier this month. Below I'm publishing a second batch of reader submissions to this on-going project. We're going to continue posting additional entries in the weeks ahead, so click here to...

1. Freeper Right-wing political activist. So-called, because it is the nickname of the denizens of the ultra-right wing Web site FreeRepublic.com. Similar to "ditto-head." Also spelled FReeper Bill thinks that anyone who opposes President Bush should be thrown in jail. He's a total Freeper. 2. FReeper Free-market advocate. Nickname for readers of the free-market Web site, www.FreeRepublic.com. Also spelled Freeper. John thinks that taxes are too high, and that the government wrongly tells him how to run his life. He's a total Freeper 3. Freeper Noun One who intentionally distorts, slanders, and spins. Verb: Freep 1. "Bigot and defamation artist...

As an artist who has had solo exhibitions at The Whitney Museum of American Art and The Cleveland Museum of Art, Lee Mingwei explores the evanescent and diurnal cycles of living. His work is based on such basic human activities as cooking, letterwriting, and now child-bearing. A few weeks ago, writer Janice Versalius of PaperVeins magazine had a long and intimate conversation with Mr. Lee in his Manhattan apartment. An excerpt of the interview appears below. Additional interviews with Mr. Lee will also be included in the upcoming film documentary. Janice: Mr. Lee, as we just discussed, male pregnancy may...

mar·riage Pronunciation: 'mer-ij, 'ma-rij Function: noun Etymology: Middle English mariage, from Anglo-French, from marier to marry 1 a (1) : the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2) : the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage b : the mutual relation of married persons : WEDLOCK c : the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage 2 : an act of marrying or the rite by which...

Are you feeling screwed, blued and tattooed because the man slipped it to you? Like, stay loose, hit the pad and share a thumb with your pash. Huh? If that made no sense to you, check out "The Hippie Dictionary" by John McCleary. Using the new book to translate, readers come up with the more conventional: Are you feeling mistreated by the authorities? Relax, go home to bed and share a very large marijuana cigarette with your significant other." Those expecting the dictionary, published by Ten Speed Press, to be a stodgy reference work are in for a jolt. McCleary's...

The definition of "Marriage" is important to the discussion of Gay Marriages. Does the definition fit?

Online dictionary helps unravel Sumerian language Digital technology facilitates research Kyle Cassidy Special to The Daily Star Scholars studying ancient writing systems to reconstruct the societies they belonged to are increasingly turning to digital dictionaries in an effort to accelerate their work. Among the institutions taking advantage of the considerable benefits offered by the digitizing process is the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which is drawing on the latest digital technology to write a Sumerian dictionary. Four thousand years ago, in the Sumerian city of Nippur, scribes were attending classes to learn a relatively new and privileged...

The words of the Second Amendment are likely to be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court soon. We are doing important research to that end and are asking for immediate help. What we need: 1) Scanned images from old dictionaries -- 1750 to 1825 -- of certain definitions. 2) Dictionaries from 1750 to 1825 donated to us for use in this research. If a nearby library has very old dictionaries, we need your help! Please scan the FRONT COVER, TITLE PAGE (and any other page with publication date) and the PAGE WITH THE DEFINITION of the words below. The definitions...

Thomas Mann said, "Speech is civilization itself." A common knowledge of words and their meanings is necessary for a culture to survive and flourish. English, it is believed, already has more words than any other language. As our society evolves, so do words and their usages. Dictionaries track such changes. A few weeks ago a new edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, a perennial bestseller, was published. At roughly the same time, the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary added hundreds of new words to its online version. Some of the words appear fairly common. Brewski (a beer), chin music (an inside pitch...

A revised and condensed version of The Lexicon of FreeRepublic, culled from the original thread. Thanks to the many Freepers who contributed! FreeRepublic Glossary Anti-Freeper - See Freeper Lore. Arkancide = Mysterious death that somehow manages to happen to former friends of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Usually ruled a "suicide" by the "controlling legal authorities" that happen to be conducting the investigation. Usually the body is found with all the fixin's; suicide note (in two or more handwriting styles), unregistered handgun (sometimes in a different caliber than the one the "suicide" was accomplished using), and "air-tight" alibis passed around like...

Spending: Having spent themselves into a hole, politicians are trying to make us feel sorry for them as they devise ways to climb out with anything but real cuts. Watch your wallet and listen up. The terms used as they work through their problems are right out of Alice in Wonderland. Herewith, a short though incomplete list. cuts, n. Reductions not in dollars spent but in the rate at which spending is allowed to increase. The University of California budget, up 68% in eight years, is said to face "extraordinarily significant cuts," though it's scheduled for a 4.9% increase. Draconian,...

The Vatican is planning to publish a dictionary of words it says have been hijacked by feminists, abortion advocates and the UN General Assembly. The 1,000-page text will give interpretations sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church to such terms as "gender," "reproductive rights" and other words commonly used in discussions of the family, life and ethics. The publication is necessary, said Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, head of the Pontifical Council on the Family, because several terms pertaining to the family are under threat from "cultural manipulation." He told 30 Giorni, an Italian Catholic magazine, the lexicon will clarify the meaning...