Do you know what a bullshot is, or an obesogen? You might be able to guess, but unless you’re a word nut it would be hard to check, were it not for a new kind of online dictionary that puts the meaning and origin of bizarre and novel words like these just a click away.
Until recently, our main source of what words mean has been the tried and trusted paper dictionary. As reference works, these venerable tomes are still invaluable, but for tracking the dynamic changes that languages continually undergo, they can be too slow-footed. Their entry criteria are…
