Resources
Language Sites on the Net

For those of you who, like me, are heels over head in love with the English language, there are many places on the Net your love may be requited. This is not a definitive list, and it will continue to grow as I unearth more sites.
If you’ve found a verbivorous site you would like to share, send me a message under the Ask Richard tab. Your favorite language haven may find its way onto this listing.


English on YouTube

There are some great — and some terrible — videos on YouTube about the English Language. I’ve added a few of the more interesting ones here.

  • Grammar Police – a very funny advertisement for MyGrammarLab. Normally, I don’t promote businesses on my site, but this was too good to leave off.
  • History of English in 10 Minutes – from Open University, but this deserved a link of its own.
  • Merriam-Webster Online – some terrific short videos on questions dealing from etymology to the difference between “affect” and “effect.”
  • Open University – an England-based organization that makes their resources available for free. There are some very well done videos that deserve exploring.
  • Oxymorons – from The Brothers Winn series What You Ought to Know. There are a few others, including the word “Ironic” and how “Spelling Matters.”
  • Palindromes Are Really, Really Fun – a cute video from BuzzFeed.
  • Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography – Language – The brilliant and articulate Stephen Fry on the joy of the English language above adherence to grammar rules.
Etymology
Grammar & Usage
Language Blogs/Online Magazines
Linguistic Links
Puns

Reference

Dictionaries & Thesauri
  • Bibliomania – you can find fully searchable copies of your favorite language reference books, including dictionaries, books of quotations, synonyms, thesaurus, and literary sources.
  • Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable – Giving the Derivation, Source, or Origin of Common Phrases, Allusions, and Words That Have a Tale to Tell.
  • Dictionary.com – dictionaries, thesauri, tools, games, translators, etc.
  • An English Homophone Dictionary – each homophonic set is listed in alphabetical order.
  • I Love Languages (formerly known as The Human-Languages Page) – language related Internet resources.
  • Model Language Index – select from Anglo-Saxon Computerese to Shorthand.
  • Merriam-Webster – resources from the distinguished dictionary and reference book company.
  • The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form – THIRTY THOUSAND (!!!) limericks and more pouring in every day.
  • One Look – 2468774 words in 629 dictionaries indexed.
  • Reverse Dictionary – OneLook’s reverse dictionary lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept.
  • THE RhymeZone Rhyming Dictionary – a nice tool that allows not only exact rhymes, but definitions, synonyms, homophones, and semantic siblings.
  • Thesaurus.net – NEW – a search engine which offers synonyms, antonyms, definitions, other information about the word you enter.
  • Visual Thesaurus – an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps that blossom with meanings and branch to related words.
  • The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus – an integrated English Dictionary and Thesaurus.
  • Your Dictionary.com – Access to more than 1500 online dictionaries representing 230 languages. Some dictionaries are in specialized fields; some offer translation.
Slang and Dialects
  • 60s Slang – slang from the flower children era, plus a link to surfer slang.
  • American Slanguages – choose a city and find out how to talk like the locals.
  • Gangster Slang – Cheat sheet to hardboiled gangster slang from the 1940s and 1950s.
  • Internet Slang Translator – Confused by net slang? Can’t read a text message? Translate internet slang and acronyms.
  • Rap Dictionary – Wiki and online dictionary for rap and hip-hop slang. Terms are organized alphabetically and by type.
  • Slang City – American slang.
  • SlangSite.com – is a dictionary of slang, webspeak, made up words, and colloquialisms.
  • Urban Dictionary – urban and rap slang.
Other Language Reference Links
Word Games

Word and Letter Play

Anagrams
Oxymora
Palindromes
Other Wordplay
Word Watching & Vocabulary Development