Just published:

Supplementing CEFR-graded vocabulary lists for language learners by leveraging information on dictionary views, corpus frequency, part-of-speech, and polysemy

A machine-learning method to suggest word candidates for CEFR-graded vocabulary lists.

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05446-y

- We compare 4 machine-learning algorithms: Regression trees, ordinal logistic regression, random forests, & naïve Bayes
- All are better than a random baseline (approx. double the accuracy).
- From these we use random forests (2k trees) to impute the #CEFR level of previously unlabeled words

Spectacular Historical #Dictionary of #ScienceFiction antedating of "jump gate", otherwise associated chiefly with Babylon 5. @ausir found a 1966 example from Poul Anderson in Galaxy, antedating 1993.

https://sfdictionary.com/view/250/jump-gate

Per source: "The slang definition of "fridge" in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, as of this week, reads;

"to kill/harm a character (in a movie, show, etc.) to motivate another" and "To fridge a (usually female) character in a movie, television show, comic book, etc., is to kill them off or seriously harm/abuse/violate them in some way (as a writer) for the purposes of motivating or furthering the development of another (usually male) character. Fridging is considered, and widely criticized as, a storytelling cliché."

"And it cites "This use of fridge is attributed to comics/television/novel writer Gail Simone, who in 1999 published a list of over 100 comic book characters, all women, who were killed, injured, tortured, etc., on a website called "Women in Refrigerators." The website's name comes from an issue of a Green Lantern comic in which the superhero finds that his girlfriend has been murdered by a villain and stuffed into a refrigerator."

#comics #GailSimone #dictionary

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/gail-simone-definition-of-fridge-now-in-merriam-webster-dictionary/

New #nanotechnology entry for the Historical #Dictionary of #ScienceFiction: "gray goo", which I've been sitting on for years because of bibliographical issues.

https://sfdictionary.com/view/2591/gray-goo

(Basically, this is always credited to K. Eric Drexler's _Engines of Creation_, but it was used early by a journalist who was embedded in Drexler's group at MIT.)

TIL about the word "calyx" from Robin Wall Kimmerer in her book "The Serviceberry":
"Because I'm a bontanist, my knowledge of economics and finance is about the size of the frilly little cup at the tip of a Juneberry that was once part of the flower. It's called the 'calyx,' in case you were craving a delicious new word, the way some people crave money."

Except due to @calyxinstitute this was not a new word to me, just one that I never thought of otherwise. If, like me, though, reading a gorgeous sentence like that one compels grabbing a dictionary so large it must be opened on a table to dig deeper, then "Hi!" I see you, one of what I would estimate might be a handful of other people, who care about such knowledge and treasure it. May we meet up among the flowers some day. #bookstodon #privacy #dictionary

Meghan Houser: The Subtle #Resistance of #Dictionary.com: Can you use "context" in a sentence? "There’s something pretty interesting happening on dictionary.com & its sister site, Thesaurus.com. Scroll down to the example usages of a given word and you’ll see what I mean. Among the example sentences for “democracy” at time of publication:…"

#language
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/the-subtle-resistance-of-dictionarycom?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Oxford #English #Dictionary (OED) Adds US Hispanic Words in Latest Update

"The #OED already records more than 2,000 words of #Spanish origin, with the earliest examples dating as far back as the 14th century. In this update, the OED has added to that total, drawing on words and phrases shared by Hispanic Americans as well as those specific to the three largest #Hispanic groups in the US [...]."

https://www.infodocket.com/2025/03/26/orale-oxford-english-dictionary-oed-adds-us-hispanic-words-in-latest-update/

#dictionaries #lexicography #vocabulary

https://www.alojapan.com/1223597/the-unexpected-ways-in-which-japanese-words-make-it-into-english/ The unexpected ways in which Japanese words ‘make it’ into English #dictionary #Japan #JapanNews #Japanese #JapaneseNews #news #nihongo #vocabulary Have you scrolled to the end of the emoji keyboard, looking for those peskily faraway hearts, and accidentally sent a mysterious “NG”? Asked a friend in Japan if they want to go out for hibachi and been met with a blank stare? As a language shifts and evolves, it’s wont to take absurd…

`Good morning.

3 March 2025

There’s an old paperback Webster's New World Dictionary sitting in the middle of my desk. My wife must have been using it yesterday because I rarely reach for a dictionary anymore—the internet does it for me. This particular edition, printed in 1990, has well-used, yellowed pages. To me, 1990 doesn’t seem that long ago, though it's been over thirty years. The dictionary's cover price is $4.50, while a new version costs over $9. I could have sworn I had two copies, but glancing around, I don't see another one. I probably purchased the dictionary in a Stars and Stripes Book Store overseas. Boring, I know - like reading a dictionary.

"At painful times, when composition is impossible and reading is not enough, grammars and dictionaries are excellent for distraction. " - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Merriam-Webster has started a slang dictionary, if you've been wondering what on earth "skibidi", "cheugy", or "high-key" means:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang

#dictionary #lookitup #bedsidereading #CurrentEvents

Two sides. One coin.

#OTD in 1884.

A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society, part 1 (covering A–Ant) appears in England, edited by James A. H. Murray, the first fascicle of what will become The Oxford English Dictionary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary

A New English Dictionary On Historical Priciples Vol-i at TIA:
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.211152/page/n5/mode/2up

Which languages are the best covered by Wikidata Lexemes? My annual roundup.

http://simia.net/wiki/Languages_with_the_best_lexicographic_data_coverage_in_Wikidata_2024

Fascinating.

"The story of Unix spell is more than just historical curiosity. It's a masterclass in engineering under constraints: how to analyze a problem from first principles, leverage mathematical insights, and design elegant solutions that work within strict resource limits."

https://blog.codingconfessions.com/p/how-unix-spell-ran-in-64kb-ram

This is weird, right?

I use an #extension *developed by Google¹* as a #dictionary in my #browser. I've been using it for 12+ years. I've never seen this behavior.

If I use the extension to search for the word 'fascist' or 'fascism', I get "no definition found."
If I search for those words via #Google #Search, I get the expected results. I noticed this about 3 hours ago.

Does anyone have an idea what's going on here?

¹I am aware I need to move away from google. I will.

New entry in the Historical #Dictionary of #ScienceFiction: "hopepunk", for the subgenre that's the optimistic contrast to "grimdark". Coined by Alexandra Rowland in 2017, and it has legs.

A good word for these times.

https://sfdictionary.com/view/2911/hopepunk

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions by Elizabeth Webber & Mike Feinsilber, 1999

A guide to references commonly used in speech and writing. Explains more than 900 allusions. Entries include examples from todays leading media. A must for serious readers, language lovers, and ESL students.

@bookstodon
#books
#reference
#dictionary
#allusions
#writing

Hello.
If you want to have a short and clear resume of the debates about the last edition of the French Academy's dictionary, you can take this.

Florent Moncomble @f_moncomble explains everything very precisely.

15 minutes, just at the beginning of the podcast
https://www.rfi.fr/en/podcasts/spotlight-on-france/20241121-podcast-dictionary-acad%C3%A9mie-francaise-france-trump-malpasset-disaster-solidarity

To be continued

RT please
#linguistics #french #dictionary
@ linguistics@a.gup.pe

‘XENO’

The smallest measurable unit of human connection, typically exchanged between passing strangers.

A warm smile, a sympathetic nod, a shared laugh about some odd coincidence, moments that are fleeting and random, but still contain powerful emotional nutrients that can alleviate the symptoms of feeling alone.

https://spectra.video/w/1WLAg4Ms9xSJANvjyMk3Ga