Boosting your vocabulary...

Escape Artist

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Over the 4th of July weekend, I was around my dad and he told someone to "quit your sniveling" (jokingly, of course). It's a word he uses quite a bit. I don't believe I've ever heard him say whining or grouching, always sniveling. Anyway, it reminded me that my vocabulary definitely needs some strengthening. I hadn't thought of this word in ages - not since childhood.

Any recommendations on how I can give my vocabulary a boost?

And, in case this is important, I did not attend college, save for a certificate course. Whether this is true or not, I'm under the impression that one's vocabulary burgeons significantly as a result of having attended college.
 

Storyteller5

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Read. And read more. It's not attending college. It's the volume of reading people do in college. They do a lot of reading and, depending on the degree, a wide variety of reading.
 

Susan Coffin

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What's wrong with your vocabulary? Your posts here are always clear, concise and to the point.

Please don't become one of those people who uses big words to impress. :D

Yep, read, read, read.
 

Ferret

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Read. And read more. It's not attending college. It's the volume of reading people do in college. They do a lot of reading and, depending on the degree, a wide variety of reading.


I agree. Reading is the best way to improve your vocabulary. It's the most entertaining way, too.

Added: I agree with Susan, too.
 

Sarah Madara

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Read. And read more. It's not attending college. It's the volume of reading people do in college. They do a lot of reading and, depending on the degree, a wide variety of reading.

Definitely read. But don't worry too much about what you read. My verbal test scores jumped a LOT between the SAT and GRE - and they are virtually identical tests. The difference? I hardly read at all in high school, and I devoured bodice ripper romances and medical thrillers throughout college. Didn't go anywhere near the English department.
 

Amorta

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Ten years ago I was in a car accident, result whiplash. Only it was so much more than anyone realised. Not only did I begin to lose the ability to walk but I also lost the ability to think and communicate. Five years down the line I was a mental and physical mess.

Now I am back to where I almost started, I have a spoken vocabulary that kind of works; I am able to communicate (at a level I can understand) in writing despite being dyslexic like hell and needing to spell check and proof-read every sentence and although I might still be missing some emotional context, I am able to assimilate an idea of what the emotion is.

Studying books, dictionaries especially, as well as observing people in various circumstances, be it on the net, film, real life, helped me.

Studying is the most important thing anyone can do, we keep learning no matter what it is. So I suggest study everything, observe and write it down, find words that can describe each facet and then find another that changes the context – extending your vocabulary is also about learning how to extend yourself because its not just about the words, its about understanding how changing or adding or subtracting a word in a sentence can change the whole tone and/or context of that communication.


I wish you joy on your travels of learning and hope you find it as empowering as I do.
 

Becky Black

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Reading is key. And there are lots of "word of the day" sites and phone apps to give you a new word to ponder on every day. Usually they are pretty obscure words, but you never knows when even an obscure word might be the exact one you need.

Oh and I started playing Scrabble on Facebook with a few family members recently. That's teaching me all kinds of new words. Some of them being curses when an opponent plays on the Triple Word Score square I was going to use on my next turn! :rant:
 
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Allaboutwords13

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I have a small vocabulary too.. and i read loads. Although that could just be because i have a slow memory lol but anyway, agreeing with the others above, you just need to read. I didn't go to uni and i don't feel any worse off... except maybe a lack of anything to do.
 

jeffo20

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Now, now, remember that size doesn't matter.

At least, that's what my wife tells me...

smilingBob0106.jpg
 

Squidd

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Crossword puzzles are most useful if you want to increase your knowledge of things like the oryx, or orts, or Oona O'neill.
 

Sarah Madara

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Crossword puzzles are most useful if you want to increase your knowledge of things like the oryx, or orts, or Oona O'neill.

Agreed.

I go through phases where I'm quite obsessed with crossword puzzles, but they are a skill to themselves. You learn to think in crossword-ese, which is a very specialized vocabulary.

This thread led me to googling vocabulary-building sites and I ended up spending WAY too much time doing the little tests on vocabulary.com. If only studying for the SATs had been so entertaining when I was fifteen! I recommend their little quizzes if you're in the mood for an Internet time suck.

However, build your vocabulary for reading, not for writing. Rarely does knowing more obscure words help with writing. I think the best writing comes from finding the simplest word that says what you need to say, and from combining everyday words in unexpected ways.
 

macdonald79

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*If I think I already know the meaning of a word, but can't articulate it to myself, I look it.

*If I already know the meaning of a word, but wonder if it has an alternate meaning, I look it up.

*If I'm reading on the web and come across a word I don't know, I Google it in a new tab, for later.

* Google has a great dictionary feature that gives examples of how a word can be used in a sentence. Without the quotation marks, use the query "define:" followed by the word you want to look up.

* Every time I'm watching a movie or a TV show and I hear a word I don't know, I write it down (or make a mental note of it) so I can look it up later.

* Now that I have a Kindle, I no longer need to keep scraps of paper for jotting down words I don't know; I can immediately look them up without putting down my book.
 

Fallen

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Sounds like yo've got the best one pinned down, hun: you listen.

My kid came home with a cracker: a game called Bookworm. You get so many tiles to create a word. The bigger the better (hah, size DOES matter ;)). It's meant to be kid's game, but the whole of our family's got involved (and swear I never used the dictionary once *uncrosses fingers* honest).

And I don't think you need a good college education to extend your vocab. Kids learn language through listening way before they know pen and paper, yet they still pick up, and play with vocab (ohh: morphological inventiveness, if you want to 'go large'!). I think if you see words as natural progression, not some golden trophy held by the few, you're at a good place to be.
 

pdr

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Try...

playing the word games at freerice.com. Not only do you get voc and grammar there is art and literature and you put rice in someone's food bowl under a UN scheme.

Also subscribe to Oxford dictionary's Word a day which drops into your inbox every day with historical background, usage and examples. www.oed.com

And as everyone says read, read, read, but do check that you read widely, more than of your usual and/or favourite range
 

DeaK

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Read (hey, I'm part of the choir).

Look up words you don't know, then use them in conversation that very day, and preferably repeatedly in the next few days. That really helps me, and it keeps my husband and friends convinced that I'm a writer ;) You could even use the new words in your AW posts.

Something else I do, which isn't really to increase my vocabulary, but does, is try to be very specific in whatever description I'm writing. Sometimes it takes ages to write two sentences, but when I find the right words, the sentences shine with purpose :) I think this works best for me, even though it's such a slow process; it's the need for specific words, and the need to be certain of their meanings.
 

Xelebes

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Don't just stop at merely reading, but actually talk and talk with many people. You'll pick up other weird little words and foibles from other places that way.
 

Becky Black

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* Now that I have a Kindle, I no longer need to keep scraps of paper for jotting down words I don't know; I can immediately look them up without putting down my book.

Oh yes! The Kindle is great for this. Before, if I came across a word in a book I didn't know then frequently by the time I was in a position to go look it up I'd probably have forgotten all about it - even if I wrote it down! With the Kindle it's right there. And since it's with me nearly all the time, that means I've got a dictionary - 2 in fact - with me almost anywhere I go, so can check definitions of things encountered ex-Kindle.
 

Jamesaritchie

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I suspect a good reader has a vocabulary that's more than large enough for the job. Too many writers have a tendency to use words that don't fit the story just because they know them.

Having said that, a high school teacher once told the class that the best way to increase our vocabulary was to read classical fiction and a modern dictionary. I took his advice.

He also said the best way to increase our vocabulary and our knowledge was to read The Encyclopedia Britannica. Thirty years later, I'm still working on this one, but it was very good advice.

I also like Reader's Digest's Word Power. You have to register, but it's availble online. It's fun, and the words are just esoteric enough to mean I often miss one or two, but never feel overwhelmed.
 

Escape Artist

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What's wrong with your vocabulary? Your posts here are always clear, concise and to the point.

Please don't become one of those people who uses big words to impress. :D

Yep, read, read, read.

Awww... I appreciate that, very much. Sometimes I feel like I ramble a bit too much so it's nice to hear that I'm concise and to the point.

It's just that sometimes I'll come across a word in a book I'm reading that I've not heard before and when I look up the meaning, I'm just amazed at how a single word can capture something so perfectly. Some words are multi-taskers and can mean different things in different contexts. A lot of words, actually. So, I kind of like the idea that some words are "exclusive" and cannot be misconstrued as anything but what they are. I can't even think of a word to give as an example, but It's just that, if there's a word out there that can perfectly capture the feeling I'm trying to put to paper, I'd like to know that it exists.
 

Jamesaritchie

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And erad Ray Bradbury. He writes absolutely amazing prose filled with simple, everyday words.