OED
OED on Spoot baby... spooooooot!: a running collection of 2 stories we have gathered and hand-picked because they are worth your time. Every post here touches on oed in some way — the news, the analysis, the deep dives, and the occasional surprise find. # Spoot. New stories are added to this page as we find them, so check back if you want to keep up with what is happening around oed, or subscribe to the RSS feed to get them as soon as they are published. Browse the collection below, or head back to the homepage to see everything Spoot baby... spooooooot! is covering right now.
The Fire Is In.
The phrase “keep in” – as in, “keep the fire in” – lodged itself in our collective consciousness after a recent viewing of Orson Welles’ *Return to Glennascaul*. It’s a seemingly simple instruction, a domestic directive, yet it carries a weight that belies its brevity. The film, a delightfully peculiar ghost story, presents this phrase within the context of a fraught encounter: a traveler offered tea, or something stronger, within the unsettling isolation of a remote home. “Keep in” becomes an invitation, a warning, a subtle plea. This sparked a deeper exploration of language's capacity to hold unexpected meaning, a territory we at Spoot relish. Curious about the evolution of words and their nuances? Our piece, "Why 'Alongside'?", examines a similar linguistic shift, uncovering the surprising resurgence of a common preposition.
Scam(p(er))?
Let's dive into something slippery: the word "scam." Nitsuh Abebe, the newly minted *New York Times* On Language columnist, just dropped a fascinating piece exploring its surprising surge in popularity. It's no longer confined to outright fraud; Abebe notes it now broadly encompasses *any* system—however seemingly legitimate—where someone benefits at your expense. A delightful expansion of meaning, wouldn’t you say? The word’s evolution reflects a growing awareness of subtle exploitation, a kind of linguistic razor clam surfacing from the depths of our collective consciousness. We’ve been tracking similar shifts in language, like the curious rise of “alongside,” as explored in Ben Yagoda’s insightful post. It’s a reminder that language isn't static—it's a living, breathing thing, constantly adapting to reflect our changing world (and our increasingly discerning skepticism).