American Association of Dental Editors & Journalists www.aadej.org 4 FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Yes, there is one, and has been one for some time. But first, a little context. There are three editor-friendly sites I frequent, at times on a daily basis when time allows, in part because of my subscriptions to the daily emails from these entities. WordDaily (worddaily.com) Let’s start with the most Spartan site, WordDaily. This is a good site for those who do not want to spend more than a minute studying. Word definitions and origins are quickly available from just the email, without a lot of extracurricular effort, such as the ads that pop up with the encouraged navigation to the subsequent platform sites, discussed below. As inferred from the title, WordDaily offerings are sent out every single day. If readers will go to the site, not only will “fillip” be found on January 19, 2025 (the day I wrote this), but one can learn that fillip can be a noun: 1. Something which acts as a stimulus or boost to an activity. 2. (Archaic) a movement made by bending the lastjoint of the finger against the thumb and suddenly releasing it; a flick of the finger. 3. A slight smart stroke or tap. Or a Verb: 1. Propel (a small object) with a flick of the finger. 2. Strike (someone or something) slightly and smartly. 3. Stimulate or urge (someone or something). Quiz: Can “fillip” be substituted for “snap”? Word Smarts (wordsmarts.com) Think of this site as possibly the most erudite, an online version of The Communicator’s own Mali Schantz-Feld. It is the place for writers to go, if Mali isn’t available, to impress other writers with their knowledge of grammar, obscure punctuation, and more. The first page of Word Smarts asks who cares about the Oxford comma? Well, our readership is up to speed on that because Schantz-Feld created an entire article on it last year. The more obscure the rule, the more excited Word Smarts is to publish it. Word Smarts iterates it is the right place to become a more polished writer. But, the site cautions that the emails should not be considered lectures because Word Smarts wants things to be — get this — fun! And, Word Smarts comes pretty close to that goal most of the time. Word Smarts really is an interesting site if one has the time to navigate around. As far as myself, I think I will stick with Mali for the foreseeable future. Dictionary.com Dictionary.com is the one I’ve used the longest and the entity with the most content. I used to like it because the email had everything needed to learn a new word, definition, pronouncement, etymology, including my favorite, the Latin derivations. It has upped the cerebral ante over the past couple of years by encouraging And the Word of the Year is… Daniel L. Orr II, DDS, MS, Ph.D., JD, MD The definition has changed slightly because of the increased usage, from reserved, quiet, or modest to refined or sophisticated.
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