Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Catching up with updates #4

Hello slang fans!

Continuing our catching up with updates:

Don't forget that there's now a Word of the Day email list / news feed. You can subscribe on this page.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Word of the Day, Twitter, Facebook and recent updates

Hello slang fans!

The Online Slang Dictionary now has a Word of the Day feed. You can subscribe to the emails (or subscribe in a newsreader) via the "Word of the day" section on the home page. The first Word of the Day is unfriend, which was chosen as the New Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year for 2009.

Speaking of social networking, you can now follow the slang dictionary on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

I've been remiss in sending out update notices. My apologies. Let's start catching up:

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Word of the Day: unfriend

Click here to view the definition, vote on usage, etc.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

5 recent updates

Hello slang fans!

Days on which users edited/added slang:

I have updated the site visuals. It wasn't a big change. The right side-bar is gone. Some of its content has moved to the top of the page. Stop by the blog and let me know what you think.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Friday, October 2, 2009

Improvements to site search; many new updates

Hello slang fans!

Yesterday I made some improvements to the site search, so it should be easier to find definitions. This will be an ongoing process so search results will improve over time. You can leave feedback about the search feature (or anything else) on the blog.

I made the root words feature more efficient. If a slang term contains "the" or "a", the list of words containing those roots have been restored.

Recent slang updates:

Don't forget that The Online Slang Dictionary is now a wiki. Logged-in users can add new definitions and edit existing ones.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Online Slang Dictionary is now a wiki

Hello slang fans!

For a couple of months, logged-in users have been able to submit new slang words to the dictionary via the website. I'm happy to announce a new feature: logged-in users can now edit existing definitions. Look for the "Edit this definition" links.

Additional tweaks are forthcoming, such as the ability to view the edit history of a term.

If you have any feedback, stop by the blog and leave a comment.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

5 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've recently added 5 sets of slang updates:

I made some tweaks to the root words feature.

  • If a slang term contains "the" or "a", the list of words containing those roots aren't shown. (They made the web pages take longer to download.) When I write the code to make those lists more efficient, I'll restore them.
  • Plural words are now de-pluralized.

If you have any feedback, come by the blog and leave a comment.

If you enjoy the Online Slang Dictionary, please tell a friend. Look for the "Bookmark", "Email", and "Share" buttons in the right sidebar of the site. You can email any page to a friend, share via Facebook or Twitter, etc.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

6 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've recently added 6 sets of slang updates:

If you enjoy the Online Slang Dictionary, please tell a friend. You can email any page to a friend via the right sidebar. Look for the "Bookmark", "Email", and "Share" buttons.

Enjoy!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

3 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've recently added 3 sets of slang updates:

If you enjoy the Online Slang Dictionary, please tell a friend. You can email any page to a friend via the right sidebar. Look for the "Bookmark", "Email", and "Share" buttons.

Enjoy!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Friday, August 28, 2009

Feature announcement: Root words

Hello slang fans!

When viewing a definition, you will now see a list of all slang terms in the dictionary that share the same word(s). For example, on the definition page for as much use as a handbrake on a canoe, you'll find a list of all slang terms that contain "as", a list of all slang terms that contain "much", "use", "canoe", and so on.

I've also recently added 4 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that you can add new slang words and definitions directly via The Online Slang Dictionary website.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

8 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've recently added 8 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that you can add new slang words and definitions directly via The Online Slang Dictionary website.

Enjoy!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

7 new slang updates

I've recently added 7 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that you can add new slang words and definitions directly via The Online Slang Dictionary website.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Feature announcement: "Most offensive words" page

Hello slang fans!

Now that The Online Slang Dictionary has been gathering offensiveness votes for some time, I added a "Most offensive words" page. It contains some pretty foul language, so be forewarned.

I've also added 2 sets of slang updates:

Now that slang words and definitions can be added directly via the website, I don't need to make an update for there to be new slang. In addition to the above updates, there were submissions on:

Enjoy!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Slang in the news: For the body-conscious, it's now the ankle that rankles

<Removed.>

-- Citation removed to resolve a penalty against The Online Slang Dictionary. From The Wall Street Journalavailable here

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Announcing The Online Slang Dictionary Blog

Hello slang fans!

The "Online Slang Dictionary - News and Updates" news feed has been available for a couple years now. (Most of you subscribe to it via e-mail.) Now, this content is available on a proper blog.

The Online Slang Dictionary Blog (blog.onlineslangdictionary.com) contains all the content from "News and Updates" - and more. I'll periodically post articles of interest to slang aficionados. Plus, you can comment on each posting.

So come by blog.onlineslangdictionary.com and say hi!

I've also added 5 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that you can now add slang words and definitions directly on the website. Click on the "Submit" tab to get started.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Feature announcement: Add new words to the dictionary

Great news! Registered users can now add new slang words via the website. Click the "Submit" tab to get started.

Also, I added a new option to Usage Voting: "I no longer use this slang word." Now it will be possible to identify slang that's no longer in common use.

Plus, there's 3 new sets of slang updates:

Come by the site, sign up or sign in, and go to town adding missing slang words.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Slang in the news: Prisoners resurrect 500-year-old slang

<Removed.>

The rest of the article is available here.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Feature announcement: Add definitions via the website

Great news! Registered users can now add definitions to most slang terms via the website. Just look for these links below the definitions:

  • Add a definition for this slang term ← NEW

I've also added 3 sets of slang updates:

Come by the site, sign up or sign in, and go to town adding missing or new definitions.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

3 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've added 3 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that the Online Slang Dictionary has Vulgarity Meters, which show you at a glance whether a slang word is workplace appropriate (or ever appropriate.)

Come by the site, sign up for a user account, and weigh in with your vote on how vulgar these new and updated slang words are!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Friday, July 3, 2009

4 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've added 4 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that the Online Slang Dictionary now has Vulgarity Meters, which show you at a glance whether a slang word is workplace appropriate (or ever appropriate.)

Come by the site, sign up for a user account, and weigh in with your vote on how vulgar these new and updated slang words are!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Monday, June 29, 2009

9 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've added 5 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that the Online Slang Dictionary now has Vulgarity Meters, which show you at a glance whether a slang word is workplace appropriate (or ever appropriate.)

Come by the site, sign up for a user account, and weigh in with your vote on how vulgar these new and updated slang words are!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

2 new updates

I've added 2 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that the Online Slang Dictionary has Vulgarity Meters (which show how offensive a slang word is) and Usage Voting (which shows you how common a word is.)

Come by the site, sign up for a user account, and weigh in with your votes!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Why are they called "Vulgarity Meters"?

A reader e-mailed me with the following question:

The vulgarity meter apparently is a measure of how obscene a word is considered. I wonder why you didn't name it "obscenity index" or obscenity-something-else. To me, "vulgar" means "common".

Excellent question. Read on for my (long-winded) reply.

Before I released the feature to the website, it was called "Offensiveness meters." (In fact, in the program code, that's what it's still called.) I didn't like the choice of the word "offensiveness" both because it's a long word (which doesn't look good in a design sense in some places on the website) and because it's connotation is too much "hurtful" and not enough "obscene."

I did some research and found that the word "obsceness" is relatively obscure - for example, my e-mail program flags it as a misspelled word. "Obscenity" is far more common, but (I felt) carried less of the connotation of being a measure of something. As in, you might say, "There was a lot of obscenity in that film," but (perhaps) less likely, "I felt that film's obscenity was 50%."

Obviously the finer points of connotation are arguable, but that was my thought process. So I looked for synonyms and settled on "vulgarity", which I felt was a) more common than "obsceneness" and b) captured better than "obscenity" the sense of being a measurement.

But the reader is right - I totally missed "vulgar" as "common".

What do you think? What would you name the feature?

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

5 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've added 5 sets of slang updates recently:

Don't forget that the Online Slang Dictionary now has Vulgarity Meters, which show you at a glance whether a slang word is workplace appropriate (or ever appropriate.)

Come by the site, sign up for a user account, and weigh in with your vote on how vulgar these new and updated slang words are!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: 9 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've added 9 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that the Online Slang Dictionary now has Vulgarity Meters, which show you at a glance whether a slang word is workplace appropriate (or ever appropriate.)

Come by the site, sign up for a user account, and weigh in with your vote on how vulgar these new and updated slang words are!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: Introducing Vulgarity Meters

Hello slang fans!

Dictionaries are great at telling you what a word means, but not so great at telling you whether you should use the word in polite company.

The Online Slang Dictionary now has Vulgarity Meters - see at a glance whether a slang word is workplace appropriate (or ever appropriate.)

Stop by the slang dictionary and view a definition to see how it works. (Look for the red chili peppers.) Weigh in with your votes to save others the embarrassment of Accidental Inappropriate Slang Use.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

P.S. If you have an account (or sign up for one) your vulgarity votes will be saved to your account - but they're not yet visible from your Profile page. I'll be fixing that soon.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: 4 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've added 4 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that the Online Slang Dictionary now has user accounts. When you vote on whether you use slang terms, your votes will be registered with your account. I'll be adding additional interactive features soon.

Come by the site, get an account, and vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: 4 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've added 4 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that the Online Slang Dictionary now has user accounts. When you vote on whether you use slang terms, your votes will be registered with your account. I'll be adding additional interactive features soon.

Come by the site, get an account, and vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: 3 new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've added 3 sets of slang updates:

Don't forget that the Online Slang Dictionary now has user accounts. When you vote on whether you use slang terms, your votes will be registered with your account. I'll be adding additional interactive features soon.

Come by the site, get an account, and vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: Announcing user accounts

Hello slang fans!

The Online Slang Dictionary now has user accounts! When you vote on whether you use slang terms, your votes will be registered with your account. I'll be adding additional interactive features soon.

I've also added 3 sets of slang updates:

Come by the site, get an account, and vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: 5 more updates

Hello slang fans!

Since my last announcement, I've added more updates to the dictionary:

Come by the site, and be sure to vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

User accounts and additional interactive features are coming soon. Stay tuned.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: 3 more updates

Hello slang fans!

Since my last announcement, I've added more updates to the dictionary:

Come by the site, and be sure to vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Friday, March 27, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: 3 new updates

Hello slang fans!

Since my last announcement, I've added more updates to the dictionary:

Come by the site, and be sure to vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: More new updates

Hello slang fans!

Since my last announcement, I've added 4 sets of updates to the dictionary:

Come by the site, and be sure to vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: Several new updates

Hello slang fans!

I've posted 5 new updates since my last announcement:

Come by the site, and be sure to vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: 3 updates; bookmark, share, and e-mail buttons

Hello slang fans!

Since the last update, I've added "Bookmark", "Share", and "Email" buttons to all definitions. The "Email" button lets you e-mail the definition to a friend, directly from your browser.

I've also posted 3 updates:

Come by the site, and be sure to vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Friday, February 27, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: 4 new updates

Hello slang fans.

I've posted 4 updates since my last announcement:

Come by the site, and be sure to vote on whether you use these new and updated words!

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Online Slang Dictionary: More new words, SlangMaps, and usage voting

Hello slang fans.

It's been a while since my last update. I've actually been adding words most every day. In fact, I've added something like 2,400 new words.

Check out the Online Slang Dictionary home page for the most recent updates.

Have you been to the dictionary recently? If not, you may be missing out on SlangMaps - maps that show you geographically where slang terms are used. You can add yourself to the map. Also, each slang term lets you vote on whether you use it or not.

If you ever have comments or suggestions, please drop me a line.

-- Walter (waltergr@aol.com)