The Index / about

About

A live price index of language. Every word in the dictionary can be bid on, the standing bid is public, and the board is ranked by nothing except money.

Why words

Leaderboards run out. Once the top few positions are locked there is no reason for anyone new to spend, and the board goes quiet. Words don't have that problem: there are 63,666 of them here, and every one is a first place.

Why only words

You can bid on apple because it is a fruit. You cannot bid on nike, because that is not a word — it is a name. The list is built from WordNet, which tags proper nouns separately from ordinary vocabulary, so the rule enforces itself.

What a bid buys

A listing. Your name, your link, one line of description, and a public click count so you can measure it against anything else you buy. It is an advertising slot, priced by auction. It is not ownership of a word, and nobody can sell you that.