★Vocabulary Building

From Wikipedia:
*Webster’s Dictionary is the name given to a common type of English language dictionary in the United States. The name is derived from lexicographer Noah Webster and has become a genericized trademark for this type of dictionary.

Although Merriam–Webster dictionaries are descended from the original work of Noah Webster, many other dictionaries bear his name, such as those published by Random House and by John Wiley & Sons.*

A Rose is a Rose, but the same doesn’t hold for dictionaries.

I just mention this because lately I’ve been working on building my vocabulary a bit. There are lots of good reasons to improve your vocabulary.

Why Improving Your Vocabulary Can Enhance Your Life

There are lots of articles about building your vocabulary on the net and I hope you guys will share some that you find.

Tips:
When you are reading keep a good dictionary handy. Don’t be a lazy reader, when you come to a word you don’t know look it up right then. There are a lot of words you “kinda” know, or at least you THINK you kinda know, but you actually don’t. Either look it up right then, or underline it and look it up later. Consider making some flash cards. Your vocabulary can have a very direct affect on your income as well as other aspects of your life. There have been studies done that prove that the highest paid people are those with the largest vocabularies. Not only will improving your vocabulary literally improve your I.Q., it will make you a better communicator. You will not only be able to express yourself better, but you will be able to understand others better.

If you feel like it create your own vocabulary post on this thread. Create a list of your favorite words that you can edit over time.

Jeff’s Vocabulary List

maudlin – adj. – Effusively or tearfully sentimental, foolishly or tearfully sentimental, esp. as a result of drinking, effusively or insincerely emotional, sentimental, tearful, mushy (informal) soppy Brit. (informal) weepy (informal) slushy (informal) mawkish, lachrymose, icky (informal) overemotional

Vocabulary is a definite indicator of the depths a person travels to for expression…and consequently, knowledge. I never did agree with the stigma around big words! Used appropriately and with a sense of humor, it makes a dialogue something other than two minds buzzing back and forth with a numb reserve.

Remember when you were little, especially if you were a voracious reader like myself, and you knew what words meant and how to spell them and even how to use them correctly but couldn’t pronounce them because you’d never heard them said aloud? I loved the feeling that language had so many hidden rules, social and structural…aka if a politician uses ‘too big’ of a word, he is “talking down to ___.” Silly humans and sillier symbols.

Recent discovery: august as an adjective?!!!!

–adjective
1. inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic: an august performance of a religious drama.
2. venerable; eminent: an august personage.

I recently took a 5 week vacation through Thailand and Cambodia, and took the time to devour books. Re-read some (Catch-22, Lolita, Pride and Prejudice) and read some new ones (Life of Pi, The Idiot, etc) and was AMAZED at how much I took from the texts…new vocab, insights, grammar usages even.

I think at a certain age one usually assumes one builds knowledge up from a stable base outwards, not necessarily upwards in the mode of childhood and of building. Vocab is a good chink in that blindly self certain made armor.

Years ago when staying in a backpacker hostel during a cold Edinburgh winter we found this book and used to entertain ourselves with learning new words. If you look inside this book online there is a great index of good words, why not pick, say 5 a day or so, and work through the list. We would force the words into our conversations to learn them better. So fun for a bookish nerd like myself. Glad you’ve reminded me of this!

˚ allowing all good 💗  

Posted on 14/01/2018.

In response to Smart_Routines_With_Enthusiasm's post 

great idea to build a list on this thread of favorites.

going to sort through recent threads for true favorites for my list here, and check out others

Thanks Jeff for this thread!

Here's 1 I like.