Instead, what you usually get is words that will never be used in conversation, held up as curios. Some examples from Dictionary.com’s daily email: thewless, balladmonger, vagility, contextomy. These words are... not useful.
I’ve always thought I could do better. My friend Ben recently created a daily puzzle game, called Bracket City, launched here on HN [1], which I like because it takes about the same amount of time as Wordle but has some of the variety and artistry of a good crossword.
Ben agreed to let me write a word of the day for the game’s audience. We’ve collected them all here: https://bracket.city/words. It’s such a joy to write -- every day, I pay homage to a word I love or use or have newly discovered. I find myself paying more attention to words I encounter, thinking if they deserve a place.
It’s also fun for another reason. Many years ago I wrote a blog post, "You’re probably using the wrong dictionary" [2], that made the rounds and actually still finds new readers today. It was about how the modern-day dictionaries we find by default on our iPhones and web browsers are actually kind of bureaucratic and lifeless. Through a writer I love, John McPhee, I rediscovered Webster’s 1913 dictionary, which feels like it was written by a thinking person who loved words. I still consult it all the time. Writing a word of the day has reminded me just how delightful and useful Webster’s old dictionary is -- and reacquainted me with the OED, which I now look to every day, and which I discovered you can access with your library card.
Some of my favorite entries so far: sophisticated, twee, gravitas, blockbuster, meteorologist, send, bid. There are more than 175 now -- and more coming once a day, every day, for as long as Bracket City stands.
To sign up to see each word of the day as it’s published, go to https://bracket.city/words.
[1] https://www.etymonline.com/
[2] https://www.websters1913.com/
[3] https://jsomers.net/blog/dictionary
I wonder how much of this is down to the corporatisation of dictionaries. I did a quick search and it turns out that Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com are owned by Rock Holdings, a multinational conglomerate registered in the Isle of Man and controlled by Aaron Banks (one of the shadowy powers responsible for Brexit). Obviously that would have happened well after the dumbing-down process began, but it illuminates the trend.
You’re probably using the wrong dictionary (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35635876 - April 2023 (1 comment)
Using the wrong dictionary (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29734242 - Dec 2021 (170 comments)
You’re probably using the wrong dictionary (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19763435 - April 2019 (87 comments)
You're probably using the wrong dictionary - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9294518 - March 2015 (2 comments)
Using the wrong dictionary - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7772557 - May 2014 (138 comments)
Thank HN: The puzzle game I posted here 6 weeks ago got licensed by The Atlantic - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43622719 - April 2025 (169 comments)
Show HN: Bracket City – A daily, exploded (?) crossword puzzle - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43160542 - Feb 2025 (53 comments)
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/calendar
Those who live in glass houses should not attempt to hang paintings, methinks.
You must think other people are deeply, abysmally, troglodytically stupid if you thought one could make that comment without self-awareness.
> You must think other people are deeply, abysmally, troglodytically stupid if you thought one could make that comment without self-awareness.
I suspect you inhabit a different part of the Internet than me. I envy you.
a way to increase the discovery of relevance could be looking up the etymologies of words that pop up, I'm always fascinated by how complex and interesting etymologies are