“I know only two words of American slang, 'swell' and 'lousy'. I think 'swell' is lousy, but 'lousy' is swell.”

To begin I would like to say we have three well worn dictionaries at home that still get used often. Now with that statement out of the way I am having trouble keeping up with new words. New words or slang come out everyday to describe new cultural phenomenon like a locavore. (a person that only eats locally grown foods). I could wait for this word and others to be welcomed into the fold that is Websters but the language is moving faster than committees can judge if a word a word has merit. That is why I turn to the Urban Dictionary in these cases. I want to understand what I am reading on a blog or in an email. This site takes submissions and people rate the one that fits the closest approximation of the definition. They also do the standards like tagging it to make it easier and trying to document it where possible. Now is this the authority on new language? I would say no but I would say it is one of the best for a quick understanding of what is new. Also for those who crave the dictionary experience (on paper) you can order an urban dictionary to put on your book shelf. If you feel like you are missing the some jive lingo give this one a try.

woot!!