I love words and I love the English language. Etymology is a joy to me, and the quirks and pecularities of English grammar are like a compelling puzzle to me. Just as well, considering I devoted six years of my life to acquiring two degrees which basically hinge upon my being eloquently full of shit.
To that end, I’m offering up a fiesta of groovy Internet sources for linguistic fun.
The classic: Dictionary(dot)com Fast, reliable, nifty. I use it probably 5-6 times a day.
When you need slang explained, and need it now, Urban Dictionary will give you the hookup.
However, if your mystery slang comes from the UK, Peeved will do a much better job of sorting you out.
For synonymy goodness with which to season your literary baking, Thesaurus(dot)com is a good starting place.
Even more hypnotic and addictive (for word junkies) is the Visual Thesaurus. Flash + Vocabulary = one of my favorite scholar-geek sites.
Etymology Online; I could get lost in this site for hours.
Last but not least, this has nothing whatsoever to do with wordplay, but it is fucking funny, so let’s revel in Germaine’s jiggly butt!