Your Cutting-Edge dictionary Resource

thaisoft dictionary Article

Dictionary Biblical
American Heritage Dictionary
Talking Dictionary
English-thai Dictionary
Thaisoft Dictionary

Pile It On Word of the Day : exaggerate
This verb, from the Latin verb exaggerare, illustrates how readily figurative meanings develop from literal ones. The word originally meant to pile up or accumulate. Later this developed into "intensify praise or blame." From there it was only a short hop to the current meaning: "enlarge beyond the bounds of truth." It's tempting to suppose a connection with aggregate, congregate, and segregate -- but there is none.
The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: July Edition
It's the dog days of summer, but the Visual Thesaurus crossword puzzle should perk you up. Solve it and you could win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt!
In Defense of Harding the Bloviator
During my appearance on WNYC's "The Leonard Lopate Show" yesterday to talk about Sarah Palin's much-ridiculed use of the word refudiate, I found myself in the odd position of defending Warren Gamaliel Harding, one of the least admired presidents in American history. In the commentary on Palin, Harding was revived as a point of comparison, particularly for his use of two memorable words: normalcy and bloviate. As I said on the show, I'd argue that Harding has gotten a bad rap on both counts.
Grammar Bite: Snuggling Up to "Only"
Here's a little grammar quiz from Erin Brenner of Right Touch Editing. Pop quiz time! If I want you to play a song just for me and I don't want you to play it for anyone else, where in my sentence do I put only? 1. Only play me a song. 2. Play only me a song. 3. Play me a song only.
"Refudiate" and Other Accidental Coinages
The dust has settled a bit since last week's Refudiate-Gate, when the blogosphere went into a tizzy after Sarah Palin used the word refudiate in a Twitter update ? and then defended her coinage by likening herself to Shakespeare. Now that we've gotten the predictably overheated reactions from the left and the right out of the way, let's take a look at this particular Palinism with a calmer perspective.
They Blinded Me With Science
Hello, dear "Teachers at Work" readers! I hope all is well, and that you, unlike me, have not yet begun to calculate how many days are left in the summer before school begins again. What can I say? I like to know my limits. But everyone else should chillax, as my students would say, were they not asleep on the beach.
John Cotter, Author of "Under the Small Lights"
I used to play at being a writer. Afternoons in Boston, in my early 20s, I'd pour three fingers of Black Bush whiskey, feed a page into my typewriter, and surround my desk with books by whoever I was reading then ? Bill Knott, Marguerite Duras ? and add to that bibles and newspapers. I'd open to random pages and write down whatever caught my eye, whatever seemed anachronistic or poignant, then I'd make a hash out of it.
"Mad Men": Capturing the Sound of the '60s
Just in time for Sunday's season premiere of "Mad Men," my latest "On Language" column in The New York Times Magazine considers how authentically the show represents the speech of the 1960s. The creators of the AMC series, led by head honcho Matthew Weiner, are obsessive about getting the details of language right, just like all the other details of the show. But fans can be equally obsessive, on the lookout for the smallest linguistic anachronisms.
Of Celebrations, Observances, and Circular Definitions
Wendalyn Nichols, editor of the Copyediting newsletter, writes: Recently on the Copyediting blog, I made a comment about Flag Day, saying we celebrated it rather than observed it. This was actually a follow-up to an earlier comment about Memorial Day, when I noted that it was to be observed rather than celebrated.
"Refudiate": The View from Oxford
The blogosphere has been abuzz over Sarah Palin's use of the word refudiate in a Twitter update, apparently mashing up refute and repudiate. Now OUPblog, the official blog of Oxford University Press, weighs in. "Refudiate this, word snobs!" chortles OUP lexicographer Christine Lindberg. Read all about it here (http://blog.oup.com/2010/07/refudiate/).
The Future of Electronic Reading
The Los Angeles Times takes a fascinating look at how electronic reading has the potential to revolutionize the concept of the book. "Books are increasingly able to talk to readers, quiz them on their grasp of the material, play videos to illustrate a point or connect them with a community of fellow readers." Read the article here (http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fiw-0718-reading-20100718,0,1216316,full.story).
Are the Kids "Alright" or "All Right"?
The new film The Kids Are All Right, directed by Lisa Cholodenko, owes an obvious debt of gratitude to The Who, even though the band's music doesn't appear on the soundtrack. The title is lifted from a classic song from The Who's 1965 debut album, which also served as the title of a 1979 documentary about the band. Discerning readers will notice a small but important difference: the song and the documentary were spelled "The Kids Are Alright." Did Cholodenko "correct" The Who's spelling?
Evie Wyld, Author of "After the Fire, a Still Small Voice"
One of the most important moments in writing my novel, After the Fire, a Still Small Voice, came when I realized I could reach outside of reality.
Remembering "The Voice of God"
A great voice was silenced earlier this week with the death of Bob Sheppard, longtime public-address announcer for New York Yankees baseball games and New York Giants football games. Sheppard, who also worked as a speech teacher at the high school and college level in New York, had such a memorable way of announcing players' names that he was fondly known as "the voice of God."
Revising Freedom: Jefferson's Rough Draft
New techniques of "digital archaeology" reveal long-lost secrets about how Thomas Jefferson tinkered with word choice while drafting the Declaration of Independence. University of Illinois linguist Dennis Baron has the full story.
Unlike People, Words Like Labels
Should college students be taught the parts of speech? Writing teacher Margaret Hundley Parker explains why she takes the time to work through this seemingly basic aspect of grammar with her students.
Meet the Dinosaur with "Mojo"
What happens when paleontologists get together for drinks and brainstorm for names of dinosaur species? They come up with Mojoceratops, inspired by the mystical, magical mojo. And with the publication of a paper in the Journal of Paleontology this week, the name is official.
Are You a Drip Who Leaves Writing to the Last Minute?
It was a Friday night and I was sitting at my computer studying Google maps. I had to give a speech to more than 200 people the next morning and ? given my notoriously bad sense of direction ? wanted to be sure I was heading for the right place. Suddenly, my husband yelled from the basement four words no homeowner wants to hear: "We have a leak."
Rocking the English Language
The latest quarterly update of the Oxford English Dictionary's online revision project covers the alphabetical range Rh to rococoesque, and it includes a fascinatingly complex entry for a seemingly simple word: rock, used as a verb. From the rocking of cradles in Old English sources to the rocking of microphones in rap lyrics, this entry has it all.
Does Spelling Still Matter?
Erin Brenner of Right Touch Editing provides "bite-sized lessons to improve your writing" on her engaging blog The Writing Resource. Here Erin wonders about the fate of spelling in the era of text messaging.
Be Not Afraid to Tackle Social Media
Teachers, are you wary of using social media and other online tools to foster student communication? Follow these tips from Michele Dunaway, who teaches English and journalism at Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Missouri (when she's not writing best-selling romance novels).
All-American Polypragmatists Get Sprizzlefracked
USA! USA! USA! Sorry for the chanting and the giant foam finger. I just wanted to establish that this is a thoroughly all-American column and provide a smooth transition to a term that brings together two of my top two interests: euphemisms and dogs.
Realism: The Truth of Fiction
Michael Lydon, a well-known writer on popular music since the 1960s, has for many years also been writing about writing. Lydon's essays, written with a colloquial clarity, shed fresh light on familiar and not so familiar aspects of the writing art. Here Lydon shines a light on literary realism, the style by which writers "make the imaginary real and the real imaginary."
Don't Read This: What Kindle's Highlights Tell Us About Popular Taste
Users of Amazon's e-reader, the Kindle, can not only highlight their favorite passages, they can see what everyone else is highlighting. University of Illinois linguist Dennis Baron ponders the consequences.
The Submodified World
This month in the Language Lounge, we take a look at an underappreciated grammatical category: submodifiers. We hope that by shining the spotlight briefly on the term, we might win over a few converts, as well as alert readers to the nuances of the delightful class of words so designated.
Worst Opening Lines, 2010
In the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, competitors are asked to write incredibly bad opening sentences to incredibly bad novels. The 2010 winner for worst opening line features a comparison to "the world's thirstiest gerbil." Read the whole thing, and the rest of the results, here (http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/).

Below, you'll find extensive information on leading thaisoft dictionary articles and products to help you on your way to success.

Back To The Copywriting Basics
By Mark Laing, Sat Dec 10th

You've probably read lots on effective copywriting strategies,how to utilise keywords, and various tricks of the trade formaking sure your copywriting is as effective as possible. Thisis good stuff ... anything that results in a better website isworth reading and absorbing.

However, before you learn to walk, you need to learn to crawl.Before you begin focusing on the technical aspects ofcopywriting, it's a good idea to get a handle on the basics.

With that in mind, here are a few things to keep in mind whenyou're pecking away at your keyboard, trying to come up witheffective copy for your site.

* Catch your visitor's attention right away. They'll be gone intwo seconds otherwise. * Keep it short. Keep it simple. Keep itto the point. * Along the same lines, focus. Don't try to do toomuch with one article or one page of copy. You're not a novelist- you're selling your services or product. * Use the activetense ... don't say "the product can be bought by clicking onthis link", say "click on this link to buy the product". * Don'tuse jargon. You're writing to inform, to convince and to sell,not to confuse. * If you have a choice between a small word anda big word, use the small word. * Keep a at hand, anduse it. * Know your audience. If you're targeting universityprofessors, you won't write the same kind of copy you'd aim atskateboarders (unless your target audience is skateboardinguniversity professors - in which case you've got problems). *Keep the tone consistent. If you're writing using an informal,conversational style, don't switch in midstream to a formallegalistic style. It'll throw your readers off. * Tell thetruth. Not only will

Pile It On Word of the Day : exaggerate
This verb, from the Latin verb exaggerare, illustrates how readily figurative meanings develop from literal ones. The word originally meant to pile up or accumulate. Later this developed into "intensify praise or blame." From there it was only a short hop to the current meaning: "enlarge beyond the bounds of truth." It's tempting to suppose a connection with aggregate, congregate, and segregate -- but there is none.
The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: July Edition
It's the dog days of summer, but the Visual Thesaurus crossword puzzle should perk you up. Solve it and you could win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt!
In Defense of Harding the Bloviator
During my appearance on WNYC's "The Leonard Lopate Show" yesterday to talk about Sarah Palin's much-ridiculed use of the word refudiate, I found myself in the odd position of defending Warren Gamaliel Harding, one of the least admired presidents in American history. In the commentary on Palin, Harding was revived as a point of comparison, particularly for his use of two memorable words: normalcy and bloviate. As I said on the show, I'd argue that Harding has gotten a bad rap on both counts.
Grammar Bite: Snuggling Up to "Only"
Here's a little grammar quiz from Erin Brenner of Right Touch Editing. Pop quiz time! If I want you to play a song just for me and I don't want you to play it for anyone else, where in my sentence do I put only? 1. Only play me a song. 2. Play only me a song. 3. Play me a song only.
"Refudiate" and Other Accidental Coinages
The dust has settled a bit since last week's Refudiate-Gate, when the blogosphere went into a tizzy after Sarah Palin used the word refudiate in a Twitter update ? and then defended her coinage by likening herself to Shakespeare. Now that we've gotten the predictably overheated reactions from the left and the right out of the way, let's take a look at this particular Palinism with a calmer perspective.
They Blinded Me With Science
Hello, dear "Teachers at Work" readers! I hope all is well, and that you, unlike me, have not yet begun to calculate how many days are left in the summer before school begins again. What can I say? I like to know my limits. But everyone else should chillax, as my students would say, were they not asleep on the beach.
John Cotter, Author of "Under the Small Lights"
I used to play at being a writer. Afternoons in Boston, in my early 20s, I'd pour three fingers of Black Bush whiskey, feed a page into my typewriter, and surround my desk with books by whoever I was reading then ? Bill Knott, Marguerite Duras ? and add to that bibles and newspapers. I'd open to random pages and write down whatever caught my eye, whatever seemed anachronistic or poignant, then I'd make a hash out of it.
"Mad Men": Capturing the Sound of the '60s
Just in time for Sunday's season premiere of "Mad Men," my latest "On Language" column in The New York Times Magazine considers how authentically the show represents the speech of the 1960s. The creators of the AMC series, led by head honcho Matthew Weiner, are obsessive about getting the details of language right, just like all the other details of the show. But fans can be equally obsessive, on the lookout for the smallest linguistic anachronisms.
Of Celebrations, Observances, and Circular Definitions
Wendalyn Nichols, editor of the Copyediting newsletter, writes: Recently on the Copyediting blog, I made a comment about Flag Day, saying we celebrated it rather than observed it. This was actually a follow-up to an earlier comment about Memorial Day, when I noted that it was to be observed rather than celebrated.
"Refudiate": The View from Oxford
The blogosphere has been abuzz over Sarah Palin's use of the word refudiate in a Twitter update, apparently mashing up refute and repudiate. Now OUPblog, the official blog of Oxford University Press, weighs in. "Refudiate this, word snobs!" chortles OUP lexicographer Christine Lindberg. Read all about it here (http://blog.oup.com/2010/07/refudiate/).
The Future of Electronic Reading
The Los Angeles Times takes a fascinating look at how electronic reading has the potential to revolutionize the concept of the book. "Books are increasingly able to talk to readers, quiz them on their grasp of the material, play videos to illustrate a point or connect them with a community of fellow readers." Read the article here (http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fiw-0718-reading-20100718,0,1216316,full.story).
Are the Kids "Alright" or "All Right"?
The new film The Kids Are All Right, directed by Lisa Cholodenko, owes an obvious debt of gratitude to The Who, even though the band's music doesn't appear on the soundtrack. The title is lifted from a classic song from The Who's 1965 debut album, which also served as the title of a 1979 documentary about the band. Discerning readers will notice a small but important difference: the song and the documentary were spelled "The Kids Are Alright." Did Cholodenko "correct" The Who's spelling?
Evie Wyld, Author of "After the Fire, a Still Small Voice"
One of the most important moments in writing my novel, After the Fire, a Still Small Voice, came when I realized I could reach outside of reality.
Remembering "The Voice of God"
A great voice was silenced earlier this week with the death of Bob Sheppard, longtime public-address announcer for New York Yankees baseball games and New York Giants football games. Sheppard, who also worked as a speech teacher at the high school and college level in New York, had such a memorable way of announcing players' names that he was fondly known as "the voice of God."
Revising Freedom: Jefferson's Rough Draft
New techniques of "digital archaeology" reveal long-lost secrets about how Thomas Jefferson tinkered with word choice while drafting the Declaration of Independence. University of Illinois linguist Dennis Baron has the full story.
Unlike People, Words Like Labels
Should college students be taught the parts of speech? Writing teacher Margaret Hundley Parker explains why she takes the time to work through this seemingly basic aspect of grammar with her students.
Meet the Dinosaur with "Mojo"
What happens when paleontologists get together for drinks and brainstorm for names of dinosaur species? They come up with Mojoceratops, inspired by the mystical, magical mojo. And with the publication of a paper in the Journal of Paleontology this week, the name is official.
Are You a Drip Who Leaves Writing to the Last Minute?
It was a Friday night and I was sitting at my computer studying Google maps. I had to give a speech to more than 200 people the next morning and ? given my notoriously bad sense of direction ? wanted to be sure I was heading for the right place. Suddenly, my husband yelled from the basement four words no homeowner wants to hear: "We have a leak."
Rocking the English Language
The latest quarterly update of the Oxford English Dictionary's online revision project covers the alphabetical range Rh to rococoesque, and it includes a fascinatingly complex entry for a seemingly simple word: rock, used as a verb. From the rocking of cradles in Old English sources to the rocking of microphones in rap lyrics, this entry has it all.
Does Spelling Still Matter?
Erin Brenner of Right Touch Editing provides "bite-sized lessons to improve your writing" on her engaging blog The Writing Resource. Here Erin wonders about the fate of spelling in the era of text messaging.
Be Not Afraid to Tackle Social Media
Teachers, are you wary of using social media and other online tools to foster student communication? Follow these tips from Michele Dunaway, who teaches English and journalism at Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Missouri (when she's not writing best-selling romance novels).
All-American Polypragmatists Get Sprizzlefracked
USA! USA! USA! Sorry for the chanting and the giant foam finger. I just wanted to establish that this is a thoroughly all-American column and provide a smooth transition to a term that brings together two of my top two interests: euphemisms and dogs.
Realism: The Truth of Fiction
Michael Lydon, a well-known writer on popular music since the 1960s, has for many years also been writing about writing. Lydon's essays, written with a colloquial clarity, shed fresh light on familiar and not so familiar aspects of the writing art. Here Lydon shines a light on literary realism, the style by which writers "make the imaginary real and the real imaginary."
Don't Read This: What Kindle's Highlights Tell Us About Popular Taste
Users of Amazon's e-reader, the Kindle, can not only highlight their favorite passages, they can see what everyone else is highlighting. University of Illinois linguist Dennis Baron ponders the consequences.
The Submodified World
This month in the Language Lounge, we take a look at an underappreciated grammatical category: submodifiers. We hope that by shining the spotlight briefly on the term, we might win over a few converts, as well as alert readers to the nuances of the delightful class of words so designated.
Worst Opening Lines, 2010
In the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, competitors are asked to write incredibly bad opening sentences to incredibly bad novels. The 2010 winner for worst opening line features a comparison to "the world's thirstiest gerbil." Read the whole thing, and the rest of the results, here (http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/).

you avoid being sued, but you'll achievecredibility. This translates into long term profitability. Trustus. * Similar to the last point, don't exaggerate. Kill thesuperlatives and the exclamation marks. Let the reader decide ifthey're excited or not. If you've done your job, they will be. *For website copy, use bullets and point form, and break up copywith subheads. Short attention spans and monitor-inducedeyestrain make this essential. * Forget word counts and paddingyour copy. Say what you have to say - if it only takes 150 wordsto get your message out (or 75, or even 25), that's a goodthing. You've made your point, and your reader can move on andbuy your product or service. * After you've finished writing,read your copy out loud to yourself. You'll be surprised at howmany mistakes you'll catch this way. It also lets you know ifyour writing has a natural flow to it. * Don't fall in love witha particular phrase or paragraph, no matter how great it sounds.Ask yourself, 'does it fit into the objective of my copy?' Ifthe answer is no, kill it. * Don't be happy with your firstdraft. Edit, rewrite, and edit some more. On the other hand,you're not following in the footsteps of Hemingway ... don'toveredit or overanalyze, or you'll never finish the job. * Whenyou're done, be receptive to constructive criticism. Let othersread your work before it goes online, and if they point outmistakes, rewrite.

Following the above advice will go a long way to ensuring yourweb copy is readable and does what it's supposed to do - promoteyour business.

About the author:Mark Laing is a copywriter and the content creator forhttp://www.graphicsandwords.com , a website featuring graphicdesign and copywriting resources for newslettereditors/publishers, webmasters and other creative professionals.