Have you ever completed the Word Power feature in Reader’s Digest? I’m not much interested in such games – I don’t even do crosswords! – but I am committed to increasing my own vocabulary. Why? Because if I know more words, I’ll be able to read more fluently. But even more important, I’ll be able to write better. Knowing lots of words allows me – and you — to be more precise in writing. In my word-of-the-week feature I share a word with you that I’ve discovered in my own reading.
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: glossolalic… As a former high school debater and debate coach, I don’t think I’ve ever before encountered debating as an event in …
What does ‘glossolalic’ mean Read More »
Reading time: Less than one minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: punctilious… In a riveting novel, a young nun is sent by the Vatican to investigate allegations of misconduct at a Catholic school …
What does the word punctilious mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: maieutics… When I read the memoir Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener, I encountered several new-to-me words. One was chelonian and the other, …
What does the word maieutics mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: codswallop… I’ve known the expression, “that’s a load of codswallop” since I was a child, likely on account of my father’s British …
What’s the origin of the word ‘codswallop’? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s phrase: in spate… When I read the novel The Porpoise by Mark Haddon, I was struck by the number of “British-isms” in his …
What does ‘in spate’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: chelonian… It doesn’t take much to persuade me to read a memoir. But make the main character a writer who’s exploring a …
What does the word ‘chelonian’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: gormless… My father had English-born parents — his dad was a farmer from Cornwall and his mother, a highly educated woman from …
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Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: orrery… When my children were young, a dad in our social circle decided to acquaint all our young kids with the concept …
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: demersal… When I read Casey Cep’s marvellous non-fiction book — Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee — …
What does ‘demersal’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: syncretic… You may find it odd to see a Halloween type of photo on top of a post running in July, not …
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