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Parkour and B-boying: Word Wednesday

Two words today as I just could not resist looking up parkour and B-boying after yesterday’s wonderful article by NicNac.  I was a tad surprised to find any entries at all but here they are:

Merriam-Webster has this to say about parkour:

parkour
noun par·kour \pär-ˈku̇r, ˈpär-ˌku̇r\
Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition 
: the sport of traversing environmental obstacles by running, climbing, or leaping rapidly and efficiently

Origin and Etymology of parkour

French, alteration of parcours course, route, from Medieval Latin percursus, from Latin percurrere to run through, from per- + currere to run
First Known Use: 2002

So now you know!

Good old M-W says this about B-boying:

B–boying
noun B–boy·ing \ˈbē-¦bȯi-iŋ\
Popularity: Bottom 10% of words

Definition of B–boying
: break dancing <By the mid-80s hip-hop looked like the most significant youth movement since the 60s. It expanded beyond the original “four elements”—rap, DJing, graffiti writing, and b-boying (also known, incorrectly, as break dancing)—into virtually every art form … — Jeff Chang, Mother Jones, November 2007>

 

Wait, there’s more! This word doesn’t usually appear in our free dictionary, but we’ve shared just a bit of the information that appears in our premium Unabridged Dictionary. There’s more definition detail there.

What else do you get in the Unabridged Dictionary?

  • 300,000 words that aren’t in our free dictionary
  • Expanded definitions, etymologies, and usage notes
  • Advanced search features
  • Ad free

 

Origin and Etymology of b–boying
b-boy + 3-ing

First Known Use: 1993

Well that was interesting, so maybe NicNac has a point – it’s high time Microsoft Word updated its dictionary!


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