If words could dream, they’d dream of being used in TED Talks. These words lived the dream in Vancouver at TED2016. Precrastinator. Adam Grant explained that a precrastinator is someone who hurries to complete work and cross things off to-do lists. You might be interested to know that the crastin part of precrastinator comes from […]
TED is about ideas worth spreading, and these often come wrapped up in words worth knowing. Here are some of the great words from TED2015: 10. Neurodiversity. From Steve Silberman’s talk on the history of the autism spectrum. It’s a word that began popping up in 1998, and it means “the variety of configurations of the […]
Today on stage at TED2014 magician and puzzler David Kwong blew minds when he pulled an audience member onstage, asked her to color in a few animals, and then revealed he was so sure he could predict her behavior that he had her choices written into the day’s New York Times crossword. Hm: What’s a […]
Before a ‘clue’ became a thing that excited a detective, the word referred to a ball of yarn. So how did this shift in meaning occur? Because in Greek mythology, Ariadne threw a ball of yarn to Theseus before he entered the minotaur’s labyrinth. Theseus unrolled the yarn behind him as he traveled into the deadly […]
Language is at the heart of all our interactions — whether you’re texting, emailing, talking, singing or heatedly debating. So of course, quite a few TED Talks are about the art of language. That’s why we created the new TED playlist, “Words, words, words.” Included in this playlist: Mark Pagel reveals how language transformed humanity, […]
Ever been brainjacked? Or Breitbarted? Perhaps you’re a kangatarian or a newpreneur. If not, you can still be a wordnik. Come with us as we peek into the notebook of lexicographer Erin McKean in Aftercrimes, Geoslavery, and Thermogeddon: Thought-Provoking Words from a Lexicographer’s Notebook, her revealing look at a torrent of new words and phrases—in […]