Wordnik provides information about English words and the context of usage from various sources, including Twitter feeds, and supplies what is not found in a traditional dictionary. It compiles words that users have added to the site and terms that might become part of the vernacular or vanish as an incident fades from memory. Also, it lists other word-oriented lists, such as words banned in the Irish parliament (buffoon, hypocrite, coward, etc.).
Here are a few selections from the list.
1) Chimerica: The intertwined economies of China and the United States, which together dominate the world economy. Popularized by Niall Ferguson in his book The Ascent of Money.
2) drive like a Cullen: To drive like a bat out of hell, like a member of the Cullen family in the Twilight vampire books by Stephenie Meyer.
3) green shoots: Signs of an economic recovery or of a company's financial turnaround.
4) vook: A digital book that includes some video in its text.
5) warmist: Someone who believes that the earth is jeopardized by becoming warmer. Shortened from global warmist and used mainly by people who are skeptical about global warming.
Btw, the phrase "orphan works" also made the list.
[Wordnik] was founded by lexicographers Erin McKean (a former editor of The New Oxford American Dictionary and author of Weird and Wonderful Words), and editorial director Grant Barrett who edited the Official Dictionary of Unofficial English...
