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Active: 22447 users

Words you should know? - Page 2

Blogs > Dalguno
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 All
GrapeD
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Canada679 Posts
March 07 2011 04:51 GMT
#21
Defenestrate: the act of throwing someone out a window
Some people hurt people. I defenestrate those people.
palanq
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
United States761 Posts
March 07 2011 04:54 GMT
#22
a big vocabulary isn't that important, you really should eschew superfluous verbiage
that said, I think the best way to expand your vocabulary is to voraciously consume erudite literature
time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana
hoppipolla
Profile Joined January 2010
Australia782 Posts
March 07 2011 05:05 GMT
#23
Serendipity: an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.
Probably my favourite word, a bit difficult to incorporate into your vocabulary though .
"It's not acceptable"
Ryalnos
Profile Joined July 2010
United States1946 Posts
March 07 2011 05:27 GMT
#24
There are many words out there.

It is not productive to just get a list and memorize them all. It's more of a lifetime interest where you are interested in finding out what words mean when you encounter them, converse with people who use such words, read books, etc.
eLiE
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada1039 Posts
March 07 2011 05:34 GMT
#25
Look for words that replace common words so you can use them more often. Like instead of outline, you can say delineate, and instead of summarize, recapitulate. I learned recapitulate when editing a group paper. The guy obviously right click thesaurused it looking at the rest of his work. I took it out after I figured out what it meant, but kept it for my personal collection. And don't say capitulate for the word outline, cause for some reason, that word means to surrender. hmmm, can't say I agree with that, let's have a bit of consistency!

I guess you can right click thesaurus stuff in word to get some new words, but make sure you look up the definitions too, because thesaurus' aren't perfect!
How's the weather down there?
Dalguno
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States2446 Posts
March 07 2011 05:44 GMT
#26
On March 07 2011 14:27 Ryalnos wrote:
There are many words out there.

It is not productive to just get a list and memorize them all. It's more of a lifetime interest where you are interested in finding out what words mean when you encounter them, converse with people who use such words, read books, etc.


I'm not merely making a list and memorizing. I've learned words that I'm going to implement where possible. This is very productive indeed. While I will find out words when I encounter them, this will speed up the process. Why not do this?
"I'm gonna keep making drones cause I'm a baller, and ballers make drones." -Snute
VorcePA
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States1102 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-07 05:58:38
March 07 2011 05:58 GMT
#27
Diurnal - active by day. (Opposite of nocturnal).

I asked 10 people if they knew the meaning of this word and only 1 person -- my mother, with a master's degree -- could answer correctly.
Shitposting
forgotten0ne
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States951 Posts
March 07 2011 06:21 GMT
#28
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia - Fear of long words.
"Well it’s obvious that these Terran gamers are just extremely gifted when it comes to RTS games" -Ret, in regards to the first months of SC2
Ryalnos
Profile Joined July 2010
United States1946 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-07 06:37:35
March 07 2011 06:35 GMT
#29
On March 07 2011 14:44 Dalguno wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 07 2011 14:27 Ryalnos wrote:
There are many words out there.

It is not productive to just get a list and memorize them all. It's more of a lifetime interest where you are interested in finding out what words mean when you encounter them, converse with people who use such words, read books, etc.


I'm not merely making a list and memorizing. I've learned words that I'm going to implement where possible. This is very productive indeed. While I will find out words when I encounter them, this will speed up the process. Why not do this?


Ok, I guess I don't like the idea of a list of 'words you should know'. It seems so absolute, when I think that vocabulary is preferably matter of personal style, inspired by words you find interesting or useful.

But I guess people will respond in a way that aligns with #2 so whatever, I'm just being picky.
HULKAMANIA
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
United States1219 Posts
March 07 2011 07:38 GMT
#30
I think this is a kind of interesting question, even though it's a bit of a Sisyphean (there's one for you) task to produce a useful list of words that someone should know.

I would say that the words that are most useful to know for an advanced English vocabulary are not English words at all. A huge preponderance (another! and it illustrates my point) of long English words are classically derived, so you get a lot of mileage out of knowing Greek and Latin, especially Greek and Latin affixes.

Off the top of the dome:

anti vs. ante
pre vs. post
neo, poly, crypto
sub, intra, infra, extra, super,
in, im, un, a
dis vs. mis (as in disinformation vs. misinformation)
-logy, -glot
(There are a shit-ton more. Hard to think of them in the abstract, though. There's one! ab-)
ab, ex, de
ad is an important one. So is com (which often becomes con- or cor- or some other shit via assimilation. Understanding assimilation is important for recognizing a lot of derivatives).

Latin words like video, ago, fer are going to get a lot of use, too...

I don't know. Basically the absolute best thing I ever did for my English vocabulary was study a lot of Latin and a little bit of Greek. But for your purposes you don't even have to learn the language, you just have to recognize the vocab (although a little familiarity with how words change over time wouldn't hurt either).

Other than that you have to read, read, read, because it's the best way to encounter new words in a context that actually suggests how to best use them. I also just had to post in this thread because of my current signature.

I
I
I
V
If it were not so, I would have told you.
NeoLearner
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Belgium1847 Posts
March 07 2011 11:52 GMT
#31
On March 07 2011 15:21 forgotten0ne wrote:
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia - Fear of long words.

Jocular.

Definition of JOCULAR
1
: given to jesting : habitually jolly or jocund
2
: characterized by jestin

as in, Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is a jocular and fictional phobia.

I also partial to the word frugal/frugality.
Bankai - Correlation does not imply causation
QuanticHawk
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
United States32045 Posts
March 07 2011 14:26 GMT
#32
any time you can utilize the word WHILST in coversation, youve won the day
PROFESSIONAL GAMER - SEND ME OFFERS TO JOIN YOUR TEAM - USA USA USA
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-07 14:41:47
March 07 2011 14:36 GMT
#33
On March 07 2011 11:05 Archaic wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 07 2011 10:52 Chef wrote:
On March 07 2011 10:34 Aeres wrote:
Some of my favorite words:

Mugwump: A person who is undecided on a controversial (usually political) issue.
Hirsute: The state of being covered in hair.
Fulminous: Of or relating to lightning.

The problem with words like that is if you ever use them no one knows what the fuck you're talking about lol.

Using words like that are great for intentionally writing stuff to confuse the hell out of readers.
We studied "The Intentional Fallacy" by Wimsatt & Beardsley, and they intentionally (no pun intended) used ridiculous prose to make the reader feel inferior and to make it difficult to understand.

Appropriate user name ;P Still, I feel like that's the same as artificial difficulty in video games. You can make someone look up every second word, and that's called tedious, the same as making a pixel perfect jump is tedious. Or, you can use interesting grammar and sentence structure to make things difficult, which makes it meaningful to solve it, like an unusual puzzle in a video game that gives you pause.

I dunno. It really doesn't make me feel inferior when someone is a bad writer. I speak English, language is made for communication... If someone wants to prove a point by pulling out a thesaurus and making their writing tedious, then the point is probably gonna be lost on me because I'll hand it back after reading two sentences and tell them to rewrite it lol.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
Lanaia
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Canada1142 Posts
March 07 2011 15:21 GMT
#34
Lascivious -adjective
1. inclined to lustfulness; wanton; lewd: a lascivious, girl-chasing old man.
2. arousing sexual desire: lascivious photographs.
3. indicating sexual interest or expressive of lust or lewdness: a lascivious gesture.

I just really like how it sounds.
<3 If you chase a mirage, the desert will swallow you.
zatic
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
Zurich15325 Posts
March 07 2011 18:50 GMT
#35
Something I learned today and probably the most beautiful English word I know now:

ameliorate - to make better
ModeratorI know Teamliquid is known as a massive building
Zlasher
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States9129 Posts
March 07 2011 19:13 GMT
#36
Emunct - The only 1-word way to reference the blowing of one's nose.
Follow me: www.twitter.com/zlasher
MoonBear
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Straight outta Johto18973 Posts
March 07 2011 20:59 GMT
#37
Instead of long fancy words, I think it'd be far more important to understand idiomatic expressions and pop culture references. Those would be more useful in general life.
ModeratorA dream. Do you have one that has cursed you like that? Or maybe... a wish?
MoltkeWarding
Profile Joined November 2003
5195 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-07 21:55:34
March 07 2011 21:31 GMT
#38
On March 08 2011 03:50 zatic wrote:
Something I learned today and probably the most beautiful English word I know now:

ameliorate - to make better


When it comes to coining neologisms, Anglophones are handicapped relative to Germans in the sense that our morphemes must be extracted from a foreign tongue.

A-melior-ate is merely the Latin equivalent of the German Zu-besser-n.

In lexical acquisition, our minds are relatively oriental in disposition- we merely acquire the words by en-rote memorization.

However, once you learn to break a word down, you can easily have fun coining you own:

Apejorate: Opposite of Ameliorate
Remeliorate: To make something better again
Deporculate: To debase oneself into a pig
Retrogarrulation: Babbling backwards

etc.

As a register, Latin words in English are prominently employed in scientific and academic usage. A man who overstuffs his vocabulary with Latin emits the air of a dry and humourless pedagogue. You should try to mix up your etymology where possible. And it's certainly beneficial in the diverse walks of life, for each language has its strengths.

German has the ability to coin new words for abstract concepts at will, and is a great speculative language. French has the distinction of perfect lexical clarity. English is by contrast is noted for its lexical subtlety.

So German for philosophy, French for law, English for poetry, and Italian for music. Someone should take this compromise to the European Commission.
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