Words carry a certain social weight to them and that’s what dictionaries try to hide from us. Dictionaries give us literal meanings, dry most often, that can’t capture the different ways people use words and what they intend when they use them in different contexts. HipDict is an Instagram account that humorously redefines words and adds the […]
There is nothing more embarrassing and hurting to the title of a language savvy than mispronouncing words. A lot of people pick a certain pronunciation of a word and just go with it, mindless of the fact that that pronunciation is incorrect. Down below are some of the most butchered pronunciations of common words that
17 Words You’ve Probably Been Mispronouncing Your Whole Life. Read More »
Words can be deceiving sometimes, especially that the English language, or any language for that matter, is always evolving. There are words that confuse the logic out of our nerdy heads because we thought they meant something but in fact, they mean a completely different thing. So here is a list of some of the
10 Words That Do Not Mean What You Think They Mean. Read More »
It is highly recommended to consider other languages when you want to name a product. Otherwise, you will be a laughing stock to people who know a thing or two about other languages; especially to people like us, language nerds. Here are some product names that turned into something unfortunate in other languages:
Product Names That Mean Something Unfortunate In Other Languages. Read More »
The word ‘tea’ shows an interesting pattern across the globe. With very minor exceptions, the world has only two words for tea. One is like the English tea (e.g. thé in French, té in Spanish, and tee in Afrikaans). The other one is some variations of cha found in Arabic chay and Hindi cha for
Tea if by sea, Cha if by land: Why the world has only two words for tea. Read More »
Some words can be innocent in your language but may sound very inappropriate in other languages, especially proper names. Have you ever thought beyond your language when it comes to what your name or other names mean? If you haven’t, you’re in for a surprise. A name could sound totally cute and lovely in your
Names That Sound So Inappropriate In Other Languages. Read More »
Scrabble, wordsmiths’ favorite game, has pretty straightforward rules and from time to time they get updated with the addition of new words. According to the latest update to the Scrabble dictionary, released by Merriam-Webster on September 2018, 300 new words were added and are now eligible to be played in a Scrabble game. The game
Scrabble rule change allows use of ‘OK’ and other newly added words. Read More »
Ever wonder if all the words people use are words that actually exist? By exist we mean they are recognized and included in English dictionaries. Well, some of the words that people confidently use on a day-to-day basis do not exist. Some say that the use of these words highlights a crucial language feature (i.e. change), while
Language belongs to us and we do with it what we please. We invent new words, new spellings and sometimes whole new languages. When it comes to words, we decide what they mean and we change their meanings at will. That’s what English speakers did to the words below. They used to mean something then took
10 Common Words That Used To Mean Something Completely Different. Read More »
Idioms can tell us a lot about how people use language and interact with one another. They also somehow mirror certain people’s culture as they have very specific cultural meanings that convey societal standards, principles, and beliefs. Because the cultures of the world are beautifully diverse, the idioms that each language uses are unique and may have
