The words have so many different meanings. Just pick up a dictionary to discover the many different meanings of the same word. Have you ever wondered where the meaning of this word comes from? Perhaps you've wondered what a word means when someone else has used it out of context. How did one word come to mean so many different things? This article will allow me to explore the definition of burn and its origin. I will also find out how it has changed over the years and what its definition is today. Slang is the main reason why words take on new meaning. A teenage girl can tell a guy is hot! That doesn't mean he's sweaty, it means he looks good. This is an example of slang. People familiar with the slang will understand this meaning, while those who are not familiar with it will not. As our culture evolves, our slang and words take on new meanings. Let's take a closer look at the word burn. Some definitions may surprise you. In 1985, the word burn took on a new meaning. According to Charles R. Grosvenor Jr: Burn is synonymous with “face”. “Burn” was used to dramatically emphasize that someone was wrong about an issue that had been hotly debated and contested. It was also used to annoying and harassing effects on trivial matters of the day, to the point where it lost all meaning. Usually preceded by “you have” as in you were burned or “oooooh” as in ooooooh, burrrrrrn! Many people used burn at that time as a slam. It was the way of telling someone they were wrong, or, in an argument, someone else had a good answer to cancel the other out. This would cause the viewer to say “burn.” People would also say burn if they were playing baseball and the outfielder couldn't catch the fly...... middle of paper...... landed. This article taught me a lot about the word burn. I found it really fascinating to study the definitions. I discovered new meanings among eight hundred that still apply today, for example a stream. It fascinates me how words never really change their meaning but evolve from the slang we use. Works Cited Grosvenor Jr., Charles R. “In the 80s.” Glossary of terms from the 80s. In the 80s, 1995-2012.Web. January 16, 2014. http://www.inthe80s.com/glossary.shtml “Oxford English Dictionary.” The definitive record of the English language. Oxford UniversityPress, 2014. web. January 16, 2014. http://www.centralmethodist.edu:2131/Rader, Walter. “The online slang dictionary”. American, English and urban slang. The OnlineSlang dictionary, 1996-2014. Internet. January 16, 2014. http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/burn