rachel quin

FASHION! 6 subcultures & trends to watch out for in 2022

Fashionistas have been out in force as Fashion Week took place in Paris, New York, and London over the last few weeks. Long sleeves, cocktail rings, bright colours, and bucket hats are all on display as the hot trends for 2022, plus new trends inspired by fashion subcultures. To celebrate… Read More

Food & festivities: the language of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, is upon us and those celebrating will spend the next two weeks welcoming the Year of the Tiger. To mark the occasion, we decided to take a closer look at some of the vocabulary relating to… Read More

The Gouda, The Bad and the Un-Brie-lievable: The Cheese Lover’s Glossary

Cheese, glorious cheese. A popular foodstuff since the days of yore, when humble peasants would enjoy a feast of cheese and bread, there are hundreds of varieties of cheese across the globe … and even more ways to describe it. To celebrate National Cheese Lover’s Day on 20th January, we… Read More

New Year, Fresh Start? The Vocabulary of Wellbeing

It goes without saying that the last couple of years have been challenging for many. With a New Year comes optimism and renewed vigour, making it a great time to commit to new goals. We’ve all made resolutions to find a new job, quit smoking, commit to that fancy new… Read More

Omicron: What is it?

Alpha, Beta, Gamma…it’s all Greek to us. Quite literally, it’s the Greek alphabet. If you’ve watched the news or spent any time online lately, you might have heard the word omicron and wondered where it came from. In May 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that COVID-19 variants would… Read More

Trick or treat? The eerie etymology behind popular Halloween words

Spooky season has arrived once more! Pumpkins are out in full force and this year, we decided to revisit some of our gruesome lexical offerings with a brand-new look into some of the most popular words and phrases associated with the scariest time of year. You can read our… Read More

7 words that capture the essence of autumn

With blustery gales, golden leaves and darker evenings ahead, autumn is the perfect time of year to indulge in your favourite treats and activities. To celebrate the most bountiful season, we’ve curated a selection of words that capture its essence, from delicious treats to the words that capture that crisp… Read More

9 essential gaming words decoded

Over the last few years, the video gaming industry has seen a huge boom, with a recent report from Accenture claiming the global industry value now exceeds $300 billion. At Collins Dictionaries, we’ve noted its impact on the day-to-day vocabulary of a nation. For example,… Read More

Blah-blah-blah… 6 unusual words when you’re lost for words

The climate emergency continues to be an urgent challenge for the planet, with a whole wave of new words entering the dictionary to describe its impact and influence, from single-use and plogging to climate strike. Last week, Greta… Read More