This page is devoted to sites about WORDS. Etymology, wordplay, working with words, new generation words, quotations, translating words, and more. I don't know about you, but for me it's a thrill to come across sites made by people who simply enjoy WORDS for the sake of WORDS.
See also:
- my page of Dictionary links
- my page of Quotation Sources & Resources
Acronym Finder: "With more than 600,000 human-edited definitions, Acronym Finder is the world's largest and most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms. New! You can also search for more than 850,000 US and Canadian postal codes." They also have a handy button you can add to your Google searchbar so that looking up an acronym is just one click from your search box. 11/24/08
Amazing Dictionary Resource: English, Multilingual, Scrabble, PigLatin, Rhyming Words, Crosswords, Name meanings, etc.
Ask Oxford: If you truly love to write, or if you just want to brush up on your skills, then perhaps it's time to Ask Oxford. Learn terminology, sharpen your grammar, play word games. Find out what new words and phrases are being added to dictionaries. Search engine included. ALSO includes information, links, and resources for those working and studying in both schools and higher education. 08/14/01
Bullfighter: "A team from Deloitte Consulting designed Bullfighter to combat the common problem of jargon overuse. Downloading the free tool adds a menu bar to your Word and PowerPoint documents and to the composing screen of your Outlook email. Click on the Bullfighter icon and the program scans your writing, catching each use of jargon as Microsoft’s spell-checker catches misspelled words. Like the spell-checker, Bullfighter provides suggestions to replace the word. Unlike the spell-checker, the program also explains why the word should be removed. The Bull Index option calculates a rate of bull as well as a readability index, based on the work of writing authority Dr. Rudolph Flesch." [Review quote is from the Try It! site above] 01/10/04
Crossword Compiler: "...has everything you need to create great educational, professional, and fun crossword puzzles. You can make freeform crosswords automatically from your own words, or fill words into a standard grid from a supplied word list. You can print out and export your puzzles in many ways, including interactive online puzzles for your web page. The program combines ease of use for the casual user with many advanced features for the serious constructor. 11/09/03
EclipseCrossword: "fast, easy, free way to create crossword puzzles in minutes. It's never been simpler—just give EclipseCrossword a list of words and clues, and it does the rest. In seconds, you'll have a crossword puzzle with just the words you want. 10/22/03
Encyclopaedia of Typography and Electronic Communications: If you want to delve into the world of putting words on a page.
English and Latin: (resources and translation services and more)
Etymology Dictionary: "This is a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English. Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago." 04/27/08
Links for Word Lovers at AllWords.com: Check out the ever-increasing chart of Links for Word Lovers, grouped in various useful categories. While you're there, check out the rest of the site -- some good dictionary resources and more. 08/10/07
Oxford English Dictionary Online: Updated quarterly with at least 1000 new and revised entries. "The Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books." 08/14/01
Phrase Finder: The meanings of idioms phrases, sayings. As well as an alphabetized index and a search engine, they're categorized under headings like Shakespeare's sayings, biblical, nautical, proverbs, euphemisms, the body, nonsense/fallacies, etc. There's also a discussion forum, a Phrases Thesaurus (kewl idea!), phrase quizzes, most-popular phrase links, 'a phrase a week'. If you're into words and phrases, this is a fun site! 3/9/07
Plumb Design Visual Thesaurus: An amazing Animated 3D Thesaurus that will have you staying to watch long after you've found your synonym. Or -- say that word you need is stuck on the tip of your tongue, but you can't get to it. Try going to the visual thesaurus to jog your tongue's memory by looking up similar words, and see where it leads.
Rhyme Zone: Put in a word and get hundreds of possible rhyming words. 04/26/01
SAVE THE WORDS! A site chock full of neglected or abandoned words. Click to see definition; sign up to adopt a word or more. This would be a great site for people studying for a spelling bee contest. For anybody who just loves to see WORDS, words, words. 03/24/09
Shakespeare Search: (What's a good "about-words page" without a Shakespeare entry?) Browse comedies, tragedies, histories, poetry, coined words, most popular lines, etc. 11/06/03
Tip Of My Tongue: A unique dictionary that helps you "find that word that you've been thinking about all day but just can't seem to remember." Various ways to find the word: partial word (starts with, contains, ends with), letters (unscramble, must have, can't have), look up by synonyms you know, length of word, or sounds-like. 10/16/08
Translations - Babelfish site: Translate your typed text back and forth between several languages. GREAT for online chat/forums with people from other countries! Type or paste your text into a textbox (up to 150 words), select a language, and your words will come back in a reasonable facsimile in that other language (enough for others to get the gist of your chat or posting). Also will translate a webpage. [Here's fun: translate to something other than your own, then ask for the resulting text to be translated back into your own language. Sometimes it's funny what comes up.]
Translations - FreeTranslations site: Same deal; added feature of a special-characters selector.
Translations - English To Latin
Word Pirates: Listing and discussion of words that have been pirated to be used for all the wrong purposes. "Marketers, politicians and other short-sighted, self-interested, sticky-fingered people have been stealing our words. Not only do they take them for commercial purposes, but they misuse them entirely." 09/20/03
Word
Spy ~ The Word Lovers Guide To Modern Culture: For
writers and people who just love WORDS! "This Web site is devoted to lexpionage,
the sleuthing of new words and phrases. These aren't "stunt words" or "sniglets," but
new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books,
Web sites, and other recorded sources." 10/07/04
World Wide Words: An etymologist's delight! "...a fascinating website ... All word buffs should pay the website a visit. They will be well rewarded." [Quote from University of the Third Age (March 2004)] Categories are numerous; to name a few: Articles, Q&As, Reviews, Topical Words, Turns of Phrase, Weird Words, Pronunciation Guide. Weekly newsletter by email subscription or feed. 04/23/04
Wordcounter: An online utility that ranks the most frequently used words in any given body of text. Use this to see what words you overuse (is everything a "solution" for you?) or maybe just to find some keywords from a document. 03/14/04
Wordsmith: "Wordsmith is a worldwide online community of some half-million readers who share a love for words, wordplay, language, and literature." Visit their Scheduled Chats page, where word lovers from all over the world meet to chat with others about words, languages, literature, and ideas. 10/11/08