History of the OED The Oxford English Dictionary has been the last word on words for over a century. But, as with a respected professor or admired parent, we count on its wisdom and authority without thinking much about how it was acquired. What is the history of the Oxford English Dictionary? Exploring its origins and development will give new insight into this extraordinary, living document. How it began When the members of the Philological Society of London decided, in 1857, that existing English language dictionaries were incomplete and deficient, and called for a complete re-examination of the language from Anglo-Saxon times onward, they knew they were embarking on an ambitious project. The project proceeded slowly after the Society’s first grand statement of purpose. More work than they thought Existing English dictionaries were incomplete and deficient It was estimated that the project would be finished in approximately ten years. The English language never stops evolving One step at a time
HyperGrammar Welcome to HyperGrammar electronic grammar course at the University of Ottawa's Writing Centre. This course covers approximately the same ground as our English department's ENG 1320 Grammar course. The content of HyperGrammar is the result of the collaborative work of the four instructors who were teaching the course in Fall 1993: Heather MacFadyen, David Megginson, Frances Peck, and Dorothy Turner. This package is designed to allow users a great deal of freedom and creativity as they read about grammar. This package is currently under construction! Please read the Copyright and Terms of Use before you begin using HyperGrammar, and note that we provide NO WARRANTY of the accuracy or fitness for use of the information in this package. * This site uses the Oxford dictionary spelling. We do not offer any writing help by e-mail. No permission is required to link to this site. Written by David Megginson (editor)
Word Spy Resources : Deciphering Medspeak To make informed health decisions, you have probably read a newspaper or magazine article, tuned into a radio or television program, or searched the Internet to find answers to health questions. If so, you have probably encountered "medspeak," the specialized language of health professionals. The Medical Library Association developed "Deciphering Medspeak" to help translate common "medspeak" terms: Medspeak TermsRx Riddles Solved! The brochure also features MLA's "Top Ten" Most Useful Websites. This brochure is also available in Spanish and Plain Language (low literacy) versions Also available are disease-specific versions of the popular "Deciphering Medspeak" brochure. Each brochure features a list of Rx riddles or abbreviations as well as a glossary of medspeak terms and MLA-recommended Websites related to each disease. Diabetes, HIV-AIDS and Stroke Medspeaks are now also available in Plain Language (low literacy) versions!
Online Etymology Dictionary bias (n.) 1520s, from French biais "slant, slope, oblique," also figuratively, "expedient, means" (13c., originally in Old French a past participle adjective, "sideways, askance, against the grain"), of unknown origin, probably from Old Provençal biais, with cognates in Old Catalan and Sardinian; possibly from Vulgar Latin *(e)bigassius, from Greek epikarsios "athwart, crosswise, at an angle," from epi- "upon" + karsios "oblique," from PIE *krs-yo-, from root *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)). It became a noun in Old French. "[A] technical term in the game of bowls, whence come all the later uses of the word" [OED]. For what a man had rather were true he more readily believes. bias (v.) 1620s, literal and figurative, from bias (n.).
40+ Tips to Improve your Grammar and Punctuation After all these years you finally have the courage and opportunity to write the email announcing that you and you alone have single handedly saved the company from utter disaster. You’re excited, you type it, you spell check it, and you hit send.Everything is great except that your gold star memo has dangling modifiers, double negatives and run-on sentences colliding with each other. Now I am no grammar whiz but I know a good resource when I see it. Purdue University maintains an purdue.edu/" target="_blank">online writing lab and I spent some time digging through it. Learn and enjoy! • A or An? • Adjective or Adverb? • Adjectives with Countable and Uncountable Nouns • Using Articles ( A/An/The ): with 2 exercises and answer keys Nouns • A Little Help with Capitals • Count and NonCount Nouns (with Plurals, Articles, and Quantity Words): with 2 exercises and answer keys • Count and NonCount Nouns (with Articles and Adjectives): with exercise and answer key Prepositions Pronouns • Pronoun Case Commas
Unusual Words Unusual Words A by no means exhaustive list of rare, obscure, strange and sometimes funny words and their meanings that only seem to crop up in crosswords and dictionaries. Words that are used so seldom, you wonder who invented them and why. Home ~ The Stories ~ Diversions ~ Links ~ Contact BBC World Service | Learning English | Ask about English Oxford Dictionaries Online 3Q2013 update 28 August 2013, Oxford, UK Today Oxford University Press announces the latest quarterly update to OxfordDictionaries.com Online (ODO). If buzzworthy vocabulary makes you squee, set aside some me time to explore the latest words which have made their way into common usage. Picture this. You’ve just uploaded a selfie to your favourite social media website using your phablet when your FIL (that’s your father-in-law) shares a supercut of a srsly mortifying twerking session. You immediately unlike his page because there isn’t an emoji capable of expressing your desire to vom: apols, but it’s time for a digital detox. The linguistic influence of the world of gastronomy can be seen in a number of this quarter’s new entries, from cake pops and blondies to street food and guac; it might be wise to wash that down with a pear cider or a michelada before you show signs of a food baby. The Oxford Dictionaries UK Word of the Year 2012, omnishambles, is also among the new entries. • apols, pl. n.
Pasado Continuo – (Past Continuous) El Pasado Continuo, es un tiempo verbal que describe acciones que estaban siendo realizadas en un momento del pasado al que se hace referencia y que luego continuaron, por ejemplo: Yesterday he was studying English. Ayer él estaba estudiando inglés. John was playing tennis at 10 a.m. El Pasado Continuo se construye con el verbo auxiliar “to be” en su forma pasada y el verbo principal en infinitivo con la terminación ING: Observa que la forma negativa se construye colocando la partícula NOT después del verbo TO BE. También se puede utilizar este tiempo verbal para relatar dos acciones que sucedieron en el pasado y que una de ellas ya se ha completado. When I left, he was studying the lesson. They were singing when I broke the window.
Wordy English: Vocabulary Compilation with Usage Examples A collection of five thousand English words with usage examples. For a intro, see: How to Increase Your English Vocabulary?. For daily musings, subscribe at Xah's Belles-lettres Blog. When using this site, you should have a dictionary software installed. SAT Words Words commonly found in magazines or newspapers. GRE Words Similar in nature to the SAT group but more difficult. Writer's Words When i cannot find a categorical basket to put a word in, i dump it here. Writer's words are often found in fictions, novels. I want more… Special Words: Hyphenated words, Slang, Nouns, Arcane, Poesy, … Hyphenated Words What a strung-out tongue-in-cheek booby-trap! Combination Words I daresay the forthcoming outlook of a headstrong crackpot is oftentimes a polymath not unlike the foresight of yours truly. Compound word or portmanteau words. Special Meaning Words Familiar words with unfamiliar meanings or likely to be misunderstood. English Vocabulary: Special Meaning Words Foreign Words Slang Informal Yup! Arcane