Most consumers don't have a good metric for deciding on whether the dictionary they want to use is a good one... so they flip the book over, then go to the back, and it says, 'Over 250,000 entries.' And they go, 'Great, this dictionary must be awesome!' Erin McKean 000awesomeback share on social
Part of the joy and pleasure of English is its boundless creativity: I can describe a new machine as bicyclish, I can say that I'm vitamining myself to stave off a cold, I can complain that someone is the smilingest person I've ever seen, and I can decide, out of the blue, that 'fetch' is now the word I want to use to mean 'cool.' Erin McKean bicyclishblueboundless share on social
If anything is guaranteed to annoy a lexicographer, it is the journalistic habit of starting a story with a dictionary definition. Erin McKean annoydefinitiondictionary Change image and share on social
We've been using 'rejuvenate,' meaning to restore youth, to make young again, as a verb for at least 200 years. Erin McKean havemakemean Change image and share on social
Most of the words you know and love and use every day are not words you learned by looking them up in a dictionary and reading a definition. Erin McKean daydefinitiondictionary Change image and share on social
Words are so lovable. How could you not love words? Erin McKean lovableloveword Change image and share on social
We think people go to a dictionary to find out what a word means. Most people go to the dictionary because they don't want to look stupid. Erin McKean dictionaryfindmean Change image and share on social
Almost any word can be drafted to serve as a verb, even words we think of as eternal and unchanging, stuck in their more traditional roles. Erin McKean drafteternalrole Change image and share on social
Twitter is like overhearing people's conversations, which is exactly what dictionary editors have been wishing we could do for years. Erin McKean conversationdictionaryeditor Change image and share on social