The Old New Thing

That's just super (and a note on baking)

February 13, 2006 Feb 13, 2006 02/13/06

Raymond Chen

Microspeak has its own lexicon. (Even larger dictionary here. I take issue with some of the definitions, but they are generally accurate.) In addition to the rather extensive use of the word "so" as an introductory particle, another peculiarity of Microspeak is the unusually frequent use of the word "super" as an intensifier, particular when...

Words I'd like to ban in 2004

January 7, 2004 Jan 7, 2004 01/7/04

Raymond Chen

It seems to be fashionable to do a "top words" list this time of year. We have Google 2003 Zeitgeist, Top Yahoo! Searches 2003, Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year for 2003, YourDictionary.com's Top Ten Words of 2003, Lake Superior State University's Banished Words List for 2004; still waiting for the American Dialect Society's choice for ...