What exactly is the difference between "vengeance" and "revenge"?
posted by Chrysostom on Oct 27, 2009 - 25 answers

What did "forensic" mean in the late 1600s? [more inside]
posted by oddman on Jan 2, 2009 - 6 answers

Anti-virus and anti-malware scanners mysteriously unable to update -- how to tell if I have a virus, and what to do about it? [more inside]
posted by onshi on Dec 15, 2008 - 22 answers

Hi, I just learned a new word. And for the first time, I can't find a definition for it on Google (The Horror! The Horror!) I will wager that there is someone reading this who knows all about it. The word is "econological." [more inside]
posted by foxy_hedgehog on Nov 28, 2008 - 12 answers

I'm looking for a piece of software, either for my Mac or online: I'm a philosophy major, and there's a huge number of thinkers, schools of thought, and concepts to manage in the area. What I want, ideally, is something that holds terms and definitions and allows me to drag them into categories (i.e. a page for poststructuralist writers.) Tags are better than hierarchies because I want each term to appear in several areas. I'm sure something exists but I don't know what to call it to do a good search. (I already use Evernote for notes and it might roughly work, although I really want something more focused and lightweight.) [more inside]
posted by poorlydrawnplato on Aug 2, 2008 - 6 answers

Where can I find a good online database that gives me similar meanings instead of just synonyms? [more inside]
posted by any major dude on May 21, 2008 - 11 answers

LogosFilter: Could a blog entry that contains two words and their definitions be consistent with the definition of a dictionary? [more inside]
posted by vanoakenfold on Apr 23, 2008 - 8 answers

I recently found that a wide range of candies get called bonbons, and now I'm curious about the different meanings for "bonbon", and what times and places they're connected to.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz on Jan 27, 2008 - 12 answers

I am in a search of a program that will help me memorize words... [more inside]
posted by GrooveStix on Jan 22, 2008 - 14 answers

Trying to figure out if there is an "ism" or "acy" word for a governmental system of ruler worship (i.e. like the ancient Egyptian systems which considered their rulers Gods). Any specific terms for this?
posted by l33tpolicywonk on Aug 29, 2007 - 15 answers

what's the name of the little bib-like thing that the women on the U.S. Supreme Court wear?
posted by spiderwire on Apr 1, 2007 - 6 answers

I am looking for the etymology for the term "gentleman's 'c'" and my google-fu is just pulling up Bush-bashing. Any advice from the hive?
posted by B-squared on Mar 21, 2007 - 8 answers

What is the definition of a durable good? I'm looking, in particular, for a defintion tied to the amount of time the good should, um, endure. As I seem to be congenitally unable to ask a pithy here on the green, and if wonky discussions are not your thing, then be warned that there's . . . [more inside]
posted by deejay jaydee on Jan 5, 2007 - 14 answers

What is the term for those little quotes that sometimes open books? [more inside]
posted by SansPoint on Oct 20, 2006 - 11 answers

Is there a special term that describes a subset of a website; aka: how do I distinguish with one word between XXXX.com and XXXX.com/YYYY. [more inside]
posted by evadery on Aug 23, 2006 - 14 answers

What is the origin/history of the use of the term "consumer" to refer to developmentally disabled people? My wife and I have come across this only with the past 2-3 years, and my search for clues is complicated by how common the term is, and its multiple meanings. [more inside]
posted by chr1sb0y on Sep 6, 2005 - 12 answers

What's a "mechanized canteen"?
posted by Krrrlson on Jun 11, 2005 - 7 answers

A neighbour who's learning English has to write an explanation defining the difference between an apartment and a flat... and I just couldn't help her, because I didn't realise that there was a difference. I figured someone here might live in or know of a place where there's a distinct difference between the two. Can anyone help?
posted by bunglin jones on Mar 1, 2005 - 17 answers

User Interface terminology question. If we are describing the state of a push button (that is, a button that can be toggled between an on and off state), what is the most universally recognized terminology for the two states of the button? We've come up with pressed and non-pressed, depressed and non-depressed, checked and unchecked, etc... (obviously, enabled and disabled doesn't work). Anybody know the official guidelines for this? We're stumped.
posted by jon_kill on Dec 22, 2004 - 20 answers

I was watching da Ali G movie the other night, and the bit at the beginning where his "West Side Massive" faces off against the "East Side Massive" got me wondering: what the heck is a "massive"? I've heard the term used in similar contexts, but can't seem to Google or Wiki up any explanation. Respec!
posted by schoolgirl report on Dec 4, 2004 - 9 answers

What's the difference between the words "externship" and "internship"? They have very distinct meanings for med students, but for undergraduate, graduate, and law students I've seen them used interchangeably. Is it a full-time/part-time distinction? Or a summer/school-year distinction?
posted by PrinceValium on Apr 20, 2004 - 3 answers

What's the difference between the words "proffer" and "offer"? This has been driving me mad for some reason for a few days now. Every dictionary I consult basically seems to say that they mean the same thing. But surely there must be a difference, right?
posted by reklaw on Apr 19, 2004 - 12 answers

Can something be both "annual" and "all year?" Say, hypothetically, an on-line film festival that runs all year but is refreshed with new films annually?
posted by djacobs on Dec 16, 2003 - 10 answers