Language Lovers

Lucy Mangan has put together her New Year resolutions!

17th Jan 2014

Hello again, and happy 2014 to you all! I am informed that under new EU legislation it is possible to make New Year resolutions at any time up to January 31st, so here are mine: 1. Design – or, in view of the fact that I draw with… Read More

CollinsDictionary.com ‘Word of the Year’ – the changing face of words

16th Dec 2013

Collins has chosen a shortlist of emerging words submitted by its users this year, including ‘twerking’ and ‘phablet’, to capture the essence of 2013, but decided to appoint the established word ‘geek’ as its ‘Word of the Year’ following overwhelming public support in September 2013 to change the main definition… Read More

Collins Word of the Year 2013 is…

12th Dec 2013

Hurrah! Christmas is nearly here. Time to unpack the box of word-baubles the year has given us, wind a few glittering strings of semantics round the tree, sit back and drink deeply of their twinkling delights. Time, in short, to introduce Collins’ words of the year; welcome to our window… Read More

Sleepers – how a word can suddenly find fame!

3rd Dec 2013

When we think about new words coming into the dictionary, we often assume that the gap between a word being invented and being added to the dictionary is relatively short. However, a couple of interesting words that were recently selected for the dictionary have taken a long time to find… Read More

To stem the tide of ‘parentnoia’, how about a nice ‘shelfie’?

20th Nov 2013

Well, it’s taken a while but it’s here at last! Christmas – for word nerds at least – has come. Someone (DouglasWinton7, to be exact) has finally submitted ‘floccinaucinihilipiliphication’ – the act, as I’m sure you hardly need me to tell you, or habit… Read More

Lucy Mangan considers all the latest words submitted to the Collins Dictionary

7th Nov 2013

Let us attempt to declutter the dismal organ that passes for my brain by beginning with DebraSmith75’s ‘recognotice’, which she defines as “to identify and observe a thing; to pay special attention to obvious issues.” I have been sitting here for – well, I… Read More

Lucy Mangan has a bag full of new words – see which ones she has pulled out!

22nd Oct 2013

MiniNinja has sent me ‘duffin’. Not a duffin, alas, but I’ll take an addition to my word store in lieu of my store cupboard if I must. The duffin – combining as it does the best of the doughnut and the muffin – is… Read More

Lucy Mangan discusses fame, scooters, and all things giraffey in her new blog

8th Oct 2013

I once had a friend who, when someone asked her whether she would like to be famous, replied ‘I’d like to be famous enough to be on Desert Island Discs.’ I like that. I like having friends who even when they are dreaming big, dream small. It’s very restful. But… Read More

Have you read Lucy Mangan’s new CollinsDictionary.com blog yet? We suggest that you frinkley do!

27th Sep 2013

Tommy hit a rich and pleasing seam in the word mines this week. The first nugget of nomenclatural novelty, brought out into the light in his grimy hands, is ‘wandalism’. At first I assumed this meant damage to property caused by a large woman… Read More