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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
 Posted - 05/26/2005 : 20:29:41 [Permalink]
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For your dictionary needs while sitting at your computer.
http://www.m-w.com/
Great online dictionary, subscription is $14.95 a year. I use this one frequently.
http://www.dictionary.com
Free, but very nice. Use it when you want to post a link to a word definition. Also has a thesaurus. Easiest URL to remember also.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2005 : 20:43:09 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dude
http://www.m-w.com/
Great online dictionary, subscription is $14.95 a year. I use this one frequently.
Actually, you might not realize this as you have a subscription already, but their online dictionary is free as well. I use it for work all the time. I believe a subscription simply allows you access to their collegiate and unabridged versions and encyclopedia.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 05/26/2005 20:44:23 |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2005 : 20:54:46 [Permalink]
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quote:
Actually, you might not realize this as you have a subscription already, but their online dictionary is free as well. I use it for work all the time. I believe a subscription simply allows you access to their collegiate and unabridged versions and encyclopedia.
Yeah, I knew they had a free portion. The subscription has more words, and more detailed definitions in some instances.
I can't reccomend the subscription enough for anyone who is currently in school, any grade level where you may need to write anything or need access to a good dictionary.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Renae
SFN Regular
543 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2005 : 05:29:05 [Permalink]
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My weird word is homophobia. I thought for a long-time it was a slang-ish word, but it's an actual word.
If you translate "homo" as "same" and "phobia" as "fear of", it would be "fear of the same". At least, that's how it translated in my head.
I'm not making a statement as to whether homophobia *itself* exists here, mind you (I know it does). I'm just sayin' it's a weird word. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2005 : 06:42:59 [Permalink]
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Best new word from 1999: homeophobia - fear of homeopathic medicine.
I'm still wondering how 'flammable' and 'inflammable' came to be synonyms. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Dik-Dik Van Dik
Skeptic Friend
United Kingdom
76 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2005 : 08:01:35 [Permalink]
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quote:
inflammable means flammable? What a country!
-Dr Nick |
DARWIN 3:16
"The simple believeth every word." - Proverbs 14:15
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2005 : 17:26:25 [Permalink]
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Oh, sooner or later (mostly later), perhaps all words will have such a multiplicity of contradictory meanings that communication will completely break down and we will be left with grunts. Perhaps.... Perhaps not.... Whatever.... Ugh....
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2005 : 18:04:26 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by ljbrs
quote:
americans also use words differently to how we use them in england. E.G 'regular' which used to mean:
Occurring at fixed intervals; periodic: regular payments.
Occurring with normal or healthy frequency.
Having bowel movements or menstrual periods with normal or healthy frequency.
Not varying; constant.
Its still means those things, but now it means 'usual' or 'normal' too, thanks to americanisation, now i can go into McD's and instead of there being large, medium and small fries, its large, regular and small.
True, true. However, sooner or later, meanings and pronunciations get garbled. I believe that the pronunciation of words should have some similarity to the spelling of those words.
One of my favorite misused word is disenfranchise. It should be either disfranchise or enfranchise. Disenfranchise is meaningless. Of course, those who use "disenfranchise" would never understand why the word is ridiculous. I take language very seriously.
I have a problem with Latin-based words. I think of English as the language of literature and the overuse of Latin-based words is boring and goes beyond the pale....
ljbrs :)
Aside the fact the entire language is Latin-based, you'd probably die of anguish if you were introduced to portuguese and then introduced to the people that speak it - including all regional variations. And that's only counting Brazil. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2005 : 21:41:43 [Permalink]
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I prefer the language to be stable. For us non native English, we need to rely on dictionaries every now and then, and we don't live the language the same way natives do.
For that reason, we have enough trouble keeping up as it is, we don't care for the need to have to re-learn old stuff.
Just like the short-hand some people use on the Internet. To that I say engough already!
I also have grievances againt ilitterates and people who can't structure sentences. Just take your favourite Christian Fundie site, and you'll know what I mean. Than becomes then, affect becomes effect, and though it sometimes makes me annoyed, I can see how dialects can influence spelling. However, it can be done with flair, and in those cases it's much easier to read it.
It happens here at SFN too, but rarely enough to not bother me. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2005 : 21:59:56 [Permalink]
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Well, I find the creation of new words to be absolutely stimulating. I remember reading Nabokov, who of course wasn't a native English speaker, when I came across one of his "made up" words. He was describing a woman who spent the day painting "lakescapes." It immediately hit me that while that wasn't a proper word, it should be, and there could be no doubt what he meant.
But I do feel for the non-English speakers, Dr. M. I tried to learn a foreign language in school and never managed. It was without a doubt one of the most difficult things I ever attempted. Anyone who learns a second language or more instantly earns my esteem.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 05/31/2005 13:10:30 |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2005 : 23:52:31 [Permalink]
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Here are some fun sentences:
My healthy gastronomic adventures through the food of Japan, Thailand, Africa and Europe lead to a delictation of the occasional ballpark bad-for-you cuisine. So I pursued the simply scrumptralescent once in a while. Good food also improved dinnersation.
At the North Pole its freezinasscold!
After several pub hops n' hopps, he be barried!
Some of the words above are found here: http://www.pseudodictionary.com |
Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2005 : 13:56:17 [Permalink]
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quote:
But I do feel for the non-English speakers, Dr. M. I tried to learn a foreign language in school and never managed. It was without a doubt one of the most difficult things I ever attempted. Anyone who learns a second language or more instantly earns my esteem.
Totally agree.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2005 : 15:46:51 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dude
quote:
But I do feel for the non-English speakers, Dr. M. I tried to learn a foreign language in school and never managed. It was without a doubt one of the most difficult things I ever attempted. Anyone who learns a second language or more instantly earns my esteem.
Totally agree.
I learnt english in school, and that's it. Never needed english courses. Sure, my english is quite crappy at times, especially when I'm not putting too much thought on it, and my grammar must be insufferable, but hey
Then again. I have yet to see a foreign person speak a proper portuguese, without accent. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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skepticality
Skeptic Friend
USA
105 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2005 : 09:05:02 [Permalink]
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quote:
But I do feel for the non-English speakers, Dr. M. I tried to learn a foreign language in school and never managed. It was without a doubt one of the most difficult things I ever attempted. Anyone who learns a second language or more instantly earns my esteem.
Most of the problem is the way we are taught in school. You learn language(s) the fastest when you are between ages 4 and 13. We don't start teaching NEW ones, until we are around 14...
Now, the 'problem' that is often mentioned is that since English is the international language of business, it's easy for other countries to just, defacto, teach some English, plus our media just penetrates deep into many other countries. Here in the U.S., we'd all get into some debate about WHAT the other language should be.
You could make a good arguement for Spanish, or forward-thinking, Traditional/Mand Chinese. :) |
Derek Colanduno
host - skepticality
http://www.skepticality.com/ |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 17:52:24 [Permalink]
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quote:
Aside the fact the entire language is Latin-based, you'd probably die of anguish if you were introduced to portuguese and then introduced to the people that speak it - including all regional variations. And that's only counting Brazil.
Anglo-Saxon-based words are not Latin-based words. English is said to be the "language of literature". Whoever he was, Shakespeare's plays are full of delightful phrases such as "in one fell swoop" or "beyond the pale".
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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