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16 Twitter Accounts for Word Nerds
Even logophiles can improve their vocabularies by following these Twitter accounts.
1. DARE Words
It was hard to pick just one tweet from the Dictionary of American Regional Slang's delightful feed, but here's the one that came out on top:
witch chicken: a large owl (Bubo virginianus) with prominent ear tufts.
— DARE (@darewords) May 12, 2014
2. Haggard Hawks Words
This Twitter account is bringing old words back. Use them to spice up your vocabulary!
In Old English, spiders were called ATTERCOPS. It means 'poison-head'.
— Haggard Hawks ? (@HaggardHawks) June 13, 2014
3. A Word A Day
Unusual words and their origins from the people at Wordsmith.org.
bardolphian: Having a red complexion, especially a red nose. http://t.co/4pNTbS9HV1
— A.Word.A.Day (@awad) May 22, 2014
4. Ben Zimmer
You'll learn a lot by following this Wall Street Journal columnist and linguist.
New @OED entry for "selfie" begins with 2002 "Hopey" post discovered by @hugovk. Background: http://t.co/GhLv5gCGfM pic.twitter.com/sDAlef45lh
— Ben Zimmer (@bgzimmer) June 13, 2014
5. Wordnik
Jason English, MentalFloss.com's fearless leader, is a fan of this Twitter feed.
Word of the Day: coaxation: The act of croaking, as of frogs. http://t.co/ORRBTOW20s #wotd
— wordnik (@wordnik) June 11, 2014
6. Grammar YUNiversity
We love these emoji-laden tweets (which you might only be able to see while on Twitter):
Cool Word of the Day: LUDIC
— The YUNiversity (@The_YUNiversity) June 13, 2014
[LOO-dik]
(adj.) full of fun and high spirits:
I love the *ludic* nature of puppies. ? pic.twitter.com/CQEFk2RVbq
7. PowerVocabTweet
UPDATE: As a commenter pointed out, these words are randomly generated. But they're still fun and as "fiercely plausible" as the tagline claims.
infunkle, v. serve as a means of livelihood
— Power Vocab Tweet (@PowerVocabTweet) June 12, 2014
8. OED
If you love words, you kind of have to follow the OED.
Poltroon: an utter coward; a mean-spirited person; a worthless wretch. Also a general term of abuse. Now chiefly archaic/humorous.
— The OED (@OED) June 12, 2014
9. Mitch Fraas
Our staff writer Hannah Keyser recommends following Fraas, curator at Kislak Center for Rare Books, Manuscripts and Special Collections at UPenn, for a healthy helping of rare book knowledge with some word stuff thrown in.
Word of the day for me "Battledore-book" a horn-book shaped like a battledore (a wooden bat used in washing clothes) thanks @rarebookschool
— Mitch Fraas (@MitchFraas) June 11, 2014
10. American Dialect Society
If you want to know what's going on with the English language in North America, this is the Twitter feed for you.
The Word of the Year for 2013 is "because," used in innovative ways this year. Read the press release: http://t.co/NW9DjTZWTB #woty13
— American Dialect Society (@americandialect) January 4, 2014
11. VocabularyCom
Our resident linguist Arika Okrent loves this feed.
What's the difference between "abdicate" and "resign"? Ask #Spain's new king. http://t.co/aDq7FrAQQ6 pic.twitter.com/hJckphklKw
— Vocabulary.com (@VocabularyCom) June 2, 2014
12. GrammarGirl
Not just words, but the right way to use them!
Hey, it's National Doughnut Day! Here's why we have both "doughnut" and "donut": http://t.co/EuciyJw01K
— Grammar Girl (@GrammarGirl) June 7, 2014
13. Klingon Word of the Day
Just don't ask me how to pronounce any of it.
butlh (noun) dirt under fingernails; symbolic equivalent of gall, an admirable trait to have #tlh
— Daily Klingon Word (@kwotd) June 6, 2014
14. Language Bandit
Language facts!
"Walrus" in #Chinese literally translates to "sea elephant"
— Language Bandit (@Languagebandit) June 10, 2014
15. Bryan A. Garner
Our deputy editor Nick Greene recommends following Garner, the editor in chief of Black's Law Dictionary and author of Garner's Modern American Usage.
Word Today: CRASSITUDE = the quality of being insensitive and incapable of sympathy or understanding. #WOTD
— Bryan A. Garner (@BryanAGarner) June 11, 2014
16. WordSpy
Want the definition of words like toebestity, attention minute, and hellstew? Look no further than this guide to new words.
hellstew n. A messy, confusing hodgepodge from which no good can come. http://t.co/tlkrTPh3dk
— Word Spy (@wordspy) June 6, 2014
What are some of your favorite word-related Twitter accounts? Let us know in the comments!