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: 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 …
What does ‘syncretic’ 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: blag…. As soon as I heard about the 2018 book with an almost irresistible title — My Sister, the Serial Killer — …
What does the word ‘blag’ 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: synecdoche… When I read the very funny book Dreyer’s English, I was not surprised to see several words that were new to …
What does synecdoche 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: gadabout… When I read Gail Caldwell’s marvellous book, Let’s Take the Long Way Home — a remarkable paean to friendship — one …
What’s the origin of the word ‘gadabout’? 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: geschrei… When I read the very funny and urbane book Dreyer’s English by Benjamin Dryer, I was expecting to be both amused …
What does it mean to ‘geschrei’? 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: faffing…. I had heard that a recent book by Benjamin Dryer was a delightful, amusing read and that it was about, of …
What does ‘faffing’ 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: luffing… I have sailed fewer than a dozen times in my life. And while I enjoyed the sport — particularly one outing …
What does ‘luffing’ 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: asymptote… I am drawn to stories on the coronavirus the way some people are drawn to car accidents. Whenever I pass a …
What’s an ‘asymptote’? 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: demesne…. Mark Haddon is a fine novelist with one bestseller behind him, and a new book in the offing. The celebrated 2003 …
What does the word ‘demesne’ mean? Read More »
