| Abbreviations and Acronyms of the U.S. Government
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A very handy tool when your CERCLIS gets tangled up with your NESDIS, or your NREVSS steps on the toes of your ORACBA. Includes links to the hundreds of government agencies listed. CIAO (Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office). http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/subjectareas/gov/docs_abbrev.html
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| Acronym Finder
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If you don't know your LMAO from your IMHO, check out Acronym Finder, which claims to be "the web's most comprehensive database of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms" with "207,000+ definitions!" http://www.acronymfinder.com/
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| Adbusters
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A great print magazine and website dedicated to throwing a wrench in the works of the great advertising machine rototilling our culture.
"We are a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age." Check out their spoof ads, such as Reality for Men and a great Gap parody. http://www.adbusters.org/home/
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| Anagrams from Wordsmith.org
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They call it variously the Internet Anagram Server or the "I Rearrangement Service," depending on caffeine level fluctions. Go to town, friend. Or: God written of no. http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html
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| Baby Name Voyager
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Cool dynamic graphical display of baby names from 1900 to the present and their U.S. popularity rankings. http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html
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| Blogicon
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A lexicon of blogging terminology.
http://blogicon.blogrolling.com/
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| Brand Naming Options
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A good article from the principals at Vibrato Naming laying out the pros and cons of the five different options you have when in need of a new brand name. There's actually a sixth option, WordLab - the only one that doesn't cost anything (except for trademark, domain, legal issues). We can't blame the authors for not knowing about Option 6 - someday they will.
http://www.refresher.com/!brandnaming.html
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| Buzz Killer
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Buzz Killer's "Buzz Saw" page lists overused and hackneyed chunks of corporate PR speak. Billed as "A few journalists trying to stop a few thousand buzz words," WordLab supports their leading efforts, as we plan to monetize the buzz word space with our own interactive and highly-scalable next-generation best-of-breed New Language vortal. Amen. http://www.buzzkiller.net
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| Cliché Finder
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This right as rain resource puts its money where its mouth is: a searchable index of over 3,300 clichés and a button to get ten random clichés at a time. Follow your nose to the grindstone and check it out - Cliché Finder shines like a diamond in a goat's ass!
http://www.westegg.com/cliche/
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| Company Name Etymologies
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A handy reference list on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_name_etymologies
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| Dicshunary
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"The Dicshunary aims to provide a home for all the small, endangered werds that might only exist in the language of one neighbourhood, one family or even one person." Sort of like WordLab, but with a pretense of reality. http://www.dicshunary.com
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| Dictionary of Difficult Words
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"Do you aim to become a member of the literati, or do you wish to be a savant? Do you want to avoid being verbigerative and be succinct instead?
Search the Hutchinson Dictionary of Difficult Words' A-Z index of over 13,900 difficult words to increase your vocabulary or just find out what those words really mean!" http://www.lineone.net/dictionaryof/difficultwords/index.html
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| Dictionary.com
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Need a dictionary, thesaurus, or grammar help? It's all here online, and it's free. http://www.dictionary.com
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| Dillon's Online Vocabulary
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"These vocabulary tests are designed to increase one's vocabulary through interactive quizzes with definitions and etymologies." Test yourself for each letter of the alphabet, foreign languages, three Master's quizzes, and a Scrabble words quiz. http://people.ne.mediaone.net/tomdillon/index.html
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| Dr. Grammar
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| Thanks to Yahoo for writing this nice description for us:
Everyone has questions about language, usage, and punctuation. When you're unsure whether to use who or whom, just call on Dr. Grammar, an English professor at the University of Northern Iowa who "lives for this stuff." The usual suspects such as hyphens, colons, and commas are covered, but the good doctor also discusses more complicated issues, such as subjunctive mood and using a possessive with a gerund. Even if you're uninterested (or is it disinterested?) in grammar, this site can be a lifesaver when choosing between who or that or which or what. http://www.drgrammar.org/
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| Electronic Poetry Center
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Poetics of language insurrection.
http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/
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| Engrish.com
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Bringing you Engrish favorites from Japan and around the world. Ex: Mr. Friendly. He always stays near you and steals in you mind tolead you into a good shituation. http://www.engrish.com/
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| e-Normicom
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"Any to any. End to end." A great parody of New Economy branding agencies that will create an entire identity for your company, complete with name, tagline, swoosh logo and focus goup testing in ten minutes flat.
http://www.enormicom.com/
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| Gang Terminology
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This great lexicon of gang lingo is published by the anti-gang Gang-Busters group. A huge list of truly impressive slang, from "A Bill", meaning $100, to "Zog", which you can look up for yourself. Also entries for numbers. Did you know that "21 OR U" meant "Universe-Unity-Understanding"? This site rocks!
http://www.gang-busters.com/terms/html/terms.html
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| Generation Terrorists
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A great listing and search engine for words and phrases throughout literature and culture. How can a site go wrong whose slogan is this quote from Frank Zappa?: If you want to get laid go to college, if you want to learn something go to the library.
http://www.generationterrorists.com
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| Geoffrey Nunberg
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Geoffrey Nunberg is a linguistics professor at Stanford University, a senior researcher at Stanford's Center for the Study of Language and Information, and the commentator on all things linguistic for NPR's Fresh Air. http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/Nunberg.html
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| Getty Vocabulary Databases
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"The Getty vocabulary databases are the Art & Architecture Thesaurus® (AAT), the Union List of Artist Names® (ULAN), and the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names™ (TGN). They comprise terminology important for the description of art, architecture, and material culture." http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/
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| Global Language Monitor
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Monitoring the world's languages.
http://www.languagemonitor.com/
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| Google Weblog
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A blog all about Google, with many links. http://google.blogspace.com/
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| Hello
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Learn to say "Hello" in over 775 languages, and greet thy neighbor. Part of Jennifer's Language Page.
http://www.elite.net/~runner/jennifers/hello.htm
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| Igor | Product & Company Names
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A San Francisco-based naming and branding agency co-founded by Wordlab's very own Snark.
At Igor, we only create engaging, meaningful names that set companies and products apart from the competition and provide great legs to advertising and marketing campaigns for years to come. Check out our press, and download Building the Perfect Beast: The Igor Naming Guide.
http://www.IgorInternational.com
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| Infinite Jest Vocabulary Glossary
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Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, is a novel I've been meaning to read but haven't gotten around to yet. Here is a nice Vocabulary Glossary from the book put together by Scott David Herman on his blog site erasing.org. http://www.erasing.org/etc/ij_glossary.html
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| Internet Scrabble Club
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Hasbro has not put out a live Scrabble site, but has
managed to crack down on a number of those who have. The last man
standing, as far as we know, is a site from some guy in Romania. The site has glitches, but he
charges nothing and there are apparently four levels of Scrabble
available for play at any given time; with folks like Yog, Pinot,
Downunder, Snorty, Thewhore and others.
http://web.ss.pub.ro/~carol/login.html
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| Jargon File Resources
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Compiled by Eric Raymond, the Jargon File is "a comprehensive compendium of hacker slang illuminating many aspects of hackish tradition, folklore, and humor." The print version is called The New Hacker's Dictionary. Includes a fine section called "Jargon Construction" illuminating "some standard methods of jargonification" that hackers employ. Not to mention the fabuluous lexicon of thousands of great hacker terms. Be sure to read the entry for snark.
http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/
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| Jay Jurisich
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Wordlab co-founder Snark's art portfolio website and blog about stains, snarks, art, chance and randomness, of words and language made into visual art. http://www.jurisich.com
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| Jazz Glossary
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"Understanding is the key word of the jazz musician's use of this vocabulary. It represents a point of view, one held by a closed community, but one which is surely bona fide. This is the way a jazz musician looks at things and listens to sounds. These words are more than shortcuts for the iniated, they do more than point: they describe and interpret. Experience with them over the years demonstrates again and again that some of them, at least, really communicate with freshness and accuracy what the jazz musician intends in his playing and thinking." http://www.ualberta.ca/~mborshuk/gloss.htm
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| Jenny Siler
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Jenny Siler is a terrific mystery writer we know, and she has a great website and blog. Author of Easy Money, Iced, Shot and her latest novel, Flashback. Go buy her books and read them. Now.
http://www.jennysiler.com/
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| Language Is A Virus
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"Language is a virus from outer space..." -- William S Burroughs. This site features: "Writing toys, games & gizmoz to inspire your creativity! Text generators! Cut up machines!" http://www.languageisavirus.com/
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| Lark's World of Made-up Words
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A nice collection of neologisms created by Lark and Friends. Also check out the selection of Pet Peeves.
http://www.efn.org/~lark_w/neolog.htm
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| Lexical Freenet
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Called a Connected Thesaurus, this program allows you to search for relationships between words, concepts, and people. It is a combination thesaurus, rhyming dictionary, pun generator, and concept navigator.
http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/lexfn/
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| Lost in Translation
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What happens when an English phrase is translated back and forth between 5 different languages?
Don't count your chickens before they hatch becomes: You do not consider his polli, before that one that cuts.
Check it out with the Translation Babelizer: http://www.tashian.com/multibabel/
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| Mad Lib
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If you've enjoyed WordLab's mad libs (TaleSpin), and you want to generate some of your own, here's a site to try. I (Snark) don't know if it is any good beyond the first story, but here's what it spat out after I provided a bunch of verbs, nouns and priests:One day while I was running in the bathroom a lurid Priest fell through the roof. It immediately jumped on the credenza and knocked over the scissors. Then it ran out the door into the foyer and hissing a antelope off the ottomon. It then knocked a glass of urine off the coffee table. After seven minutes of chasing the Priest through the house I finally caught it and put it outside. It quickly climbed the nearest spaceship. Who knows, you might just pen the next hot BBC comedy show using this tool. http://www.stjohnsweymouth.dorset.sch.uk/Children's%20work/games/story.htm
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| Mass Observer
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Snark of Wordlab's latest creation -- launched February, 2009 -- is about observing our planet, the people on it, and the things those people do and make, and finding the hidden angle to the story. http://www.massobserver.com/
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| Nameboy
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Domain name search and a name generator that plays off words you enter. http://www.nameboy.com/
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| NameProtect.com
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Billed as "the Internet's leading provider of trademark research, protection and watching services." Free tools for trademark searching and name monitoring, plus pricier options for more advanced screening. Use 'em to see if that pet name we recommended to you, "Clorox," is being used by anybody.
http://www.nameprotect.com/
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| Names of Naming Companies
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Igor's taxonomy of the company names of naming companies. What a naming company names itself demonstrates the kinds of company names they believe in. http://www.igorinternational.com/process/naming-company-names-taxonomy.php
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| Nonsensicon
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"A dictionary of nonexistent words." One of those responsible word sites (unlike us) that goes to all the trouble of compiling entries from many sources and posting definitions of neologisms. See especially the "Texas Definitions" section. http://www.nonsensicon.com/
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| Oh Yes U Are
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A huge online joke database to get you through those dark moments between the arrival of jokes in your email box, or for those of you who originate such emails. Here's a helpful workplace hint: "Put up mosquito netting around your cubicle."
http://www.ohyesuare.com/
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| Physics Limericks
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Goodnight Irene
There once was a girl named Irene,
who lived on distilled kerosene.
But she started absorbin'
A new hydrocarbon,
And since then has never benzene!
http://www.aps.org/apsnews/limericks.html
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| Product Slogan Translation Disasters
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You've probably heard about the Chevy Nova not selling well in Spanish speaking countries, as "No va" means "doesn't go" in Spanish. Here's a nice page of such translation snafus.
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hatzishoju/funnys/product_slogan.htm
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| pseudodictionary
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This is a cool site, very similar to what WordLab is all about, except that users can add their own "slang, webspeak, and colloquialisms," the junk is edited out, and the rest is posted to the site. Currently there are 11383 live words in pseudodictionary, and 72 awaiting approval, but by the time you read this there will likely be more. http://www.pseudodictionary.com/
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| RainCatcher
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Jack Rose is the RainCatcher. He has developed a simple yet effective way for poor communities in the world's driest places to harvest and store natural rainwater. In April 2004 he travelled to several countries in Africa to coordinate the installation of the first RainCatcher systems. http://www.raincatcher.org/
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| Root knowledge - The need for neologisms
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"No new science is possible without neologisms, new words or new interpretations of old words to describe and explain reality in new ways." http://www.uio.no/~iroggen/Root_knowledge.html
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| Says You!
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NPR's weekly on-air radio word game, "a game of words and whimsy, bluff and bluster." Lots of good competitive punning and neologismism. http://www.wgbh.org/wgbh/radio/saysyou/
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| School Election Slogans
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We got so many threads posted to the WordBoard requesting help coming up with slogans for school elections that we finally had to ban them. Well, take heart, here's a site dedicated to that very task. "My opponent likes Ricky Martin. Vote for me!" Check. http://www.schoolelectionslogans.com/
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| Science-Fiction Glossary
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Compiled by Eric Raymond, "This is a glossary of SF coinages, collected for the enjoyment and education of SF fans, SF writers, lexicographers, and linguists." http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/sf-words.html
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| Skettionary
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An online West Indian Dictionary that grows with submissions from users. One entry that we've taken to heart is:
liming, v. (lye-ming)
Trinidad & Tobago
1. The art of doing nothing
http://www.skettel.com/dictionary/index.html
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| Snark Hunting
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"Snark Hunting digs deep to expose and discuss the elusive effects of naming and branding upon popular culture." http://www.snarkhunting.com/
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| Stiffs.com
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Not your average celebrity dead pool. Go for the gold that lies in the back teeth of the rich and feeble.
http://www.stiffs.com
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| The Big Lebowski Random Quote Generator
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"Smokey, this is not Nam, this is bowling. There are rules." http://www.dymphna.net/randomquotage/lebowskiquotes.shtml
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| The Internalational Dictionary of Neologisms
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The Internalational Dictionary of Neologisms is looking for a few good words. Neologisms are invented words and the "Internalational" is particularly interested in invented words which represent concepts or objects that didn't previously exist. "This is a chance for artists to alter the future history of culture by 'breaking the code' & making a parallel history."
http://www.net22.com/neologisms/
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| The Word Spy
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"This Web site and its associated mailing list are devoted to recently coined words and phrases, old words that are being used in new ways, and existing words that have enjoyed a recent renaissance. These aren't 'stunt words' or 'sniglets,' but new words and phrases that have appeared in newspapers, magazines, books, press releases, and Web sites." http://www.wordspy.com/
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| Transhuman Terminology Sub-Page
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"Definitions and explanations of various neologisms, technical terms and transhumanist jargon."
http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Words/
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| US Patent & Trademark Office
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Now that you've found just the right name from WordLab, check here to run a free preliminary trademark screen. http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/tm.html
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| WildW*rds
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Check out WildW*rds, "the Cr*sword Game with a Wildcard." And then some. Sn*rk raves, "If I ever had t*me to play g*mes, I might play th*s one."
http://www.roizen.com/games/
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| Word Play
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Librarian Judi Wolinsky's extensive guide to wordplay sites, including a country western song generator, a "Demented Lyrics" page, the "worst phrasebook ever written," "Sci Faiku," and much more. http://www.wolinskyweb.com/word.htm
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| Word Scrambler Thing
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The nmae ptrtey mcuh syas it all. Eetnr txet, and the slerbacr wlil sarlcmbe the lreetts in ecah wrod, kenpieg the first and lsat leettr the smae. Alngmizay, you can stlil dehciper the menniag of ttexs semrlbcad tihs way. http://www.lerfjhax.com/funky.php
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| Word Spy
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"This Web site is devoted to lexpionage, the sleuthing of new words and phrases. These aren't 'stunt words' or 'sniglets,' but new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and other recorded sources."
http://www.wordspy.com/
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| WordConstructor
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"Are you looking for a random word or do you want to generate a nickname? Do you need a domain name, a name for your child, company, pet or band? Use this random word generator to generate new words or change existing ones."
http://www.wordconstructor.com/
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| Wordcounter
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"Wordcounter ranks the most frequently used words in any given body of text. Use this to see what words you overuse, or maybe just to find some keywords from a document." Someone out there will probably point out that this can be simply done in Word with Tab #2,307 of the Tools--> Options--> Words--> Accessories--> Counters--> Behaviors --> Tally menu, but in case you can't find that, or MS pulled the plug on your copy, try Wordcounter. http://www.wordcounter.com/
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| WordNet
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"WordNet® is an online lexical reference system whose design is inspired by current psycholinguistic theories of human lexical memory. English nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are organized into synonym sets, each representing one underlying lexical concept. Different relations link the synonym sets." http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/~wn/
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| WordWizard
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"The Wordwizard Portal - for lovers of the English language." Featuring word and phrase origins, slang, coinages, quotations, insults, famous diaries, and cooperative writing (whatever that is). A good resource for when you want to know all about words that already are, as opposed to words that aren't yet (WordLab). http://www.wordwizard.com/
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| World Wide Words
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Investigating international English from a British viewpoint. Michael Quinion is a researcher for the Oxford English Dictionary, and he runs this site in his spare time from a back room when his supervisors aren't looking. Good Links section too. http://www.worldwidewords.org/
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| WriteExpress
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Online naming tools and advice. http://www.naming.net/
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| Writing Games
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"Games to Help you stray from the Straight and Narrrow.... What follows is a collection of generative devices to use for writing which is not narrative based." http://www.philobiblon.com/isitabook/games/index.html
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