DescentBB

my vocabulary sucks, i bet a lot of you guys wouldn't mind expanding yours too. it seems my brain is kulling english from it's memory for reasons it only knows, it's been damn annoying for the past few years.

for example, i'm wondering what is a word that means "an emotional high caused by music". i'm not sure one exists . (★■◆● maybe we should be making up new words). anyway...

what's some good handy words to know? got any adoptable personal favourites you'd like to share?

Let's start with the basics. It's spelled "favorite" by any respectable person.

In all seriousness, to learn new words, I found that when typing a paper using Word, shift-f7 is my friend. When IM'ing my stupid friends, http://www.thesaurus.com is king.

A comprehensive vocabulary isn't always a good thing either. Especially with girls. I was IM'ing one the other day when she made the observation that she only understood one out of second line that I sent. (Although I suspect that this had more to do with her vocabularly than mine.)

But I would say that the key to impressive sounding English is to use any word but English (Latin, French, et al.).

i'm not talking comprehensive vocabulary, i'm talking more, um... a rich tapestry of ACCESSABLE imagery. incl metaphor.

when i noticed i was saying "like" a lot when i was around 20, i knew things were going downhill.

this isn't to score roots. it's personal development.
& i recon the richest source of vocabulary and imagery would be from one's communitys.

it's a weird request i know. but maybe if someone recently learnt an interesting word/metaphor they'd like to share, or has a "word they'd like to hear more of", or whatnot. this thread is here for you.

roid wrote:i'm not talking comprehensive vocabulary, i'm talking more, um... a rich tapestry of ACCESSABLE imagery. incl metaphor.

when i noticed i was saying "like" a lot when i was around 20, i knew things were going downhill.

this isn't to score roots. it's personal development.
& i recon the richest source of vocabulary and imagery would be from one's communitys.

it's a weird request i know. but maybe if someone recently learnt an interesting word/metaphor they'd like to share, or has a "word they'd like to hear more of", or whatnot. this thread is here for you.

Let's start with the obvious. Reckon. Communities.

In all seriousness, try http://www.dictionary.com . They feature a word of the day, which is often highly unusual, yet usable in everyday conversations. Reading this dictionary from A to Z will be a neverending process, since it's updated as time goes by to reflect current slang and/or new words, whether officially defined as new words by the government or not.

roid wrote: "an emotional high caused by music"

In my book this is commonly known as, a purple haze in your brain.

Especially if lately things just dont feel the same.

Hope that helps man.

I don't have a problem with a lack of vocabulary, i do however get into all sorts of problems when i have to string the words together coherently. When i go back to the UK for a visit i'm embarrassed to speak in public. Thats what nigh on twenty years of speaking a foriegn language does for ya i suppose!!

Alcohol does help to smooth things out though.

Acting funny, and I don't know why.

Jeff250 wrote:Let's start with the basics. It's spelled "favorite" by any respectable person.

"Favourite" is actually the British way of spelling it. Like to you "Colour" = "Color". How very unrespectable that you didn't know that

sigh.

I really understand what you're sayin. I find myself always useing "so". I use it in every sentence. I would love to learn more than just "so" and "you know what I mean" to fill my senteces in conversations.

I think it comes from your parents. My mom always repeats herself all the time(it drives me nutttttts).

A WORD A DAY:

My favorite word I learned from my accounting classes:
bifurcate (buy - fur - kate) -- to split into two or more things

Well...I think it's a cool word.

Robo wrote:

Jeff250 wrote:Let's start with the basics. It's spelled "favorite" by any respectable person.

"Favourite" is actually the British way of spelling it. Like to you "Colour" = "Color". How very unrespectable that you didn't know that

sigh.

Do they not have a sense of humor (humour) in Britian either?

Symphonic euphoria.

Aural pleasure.

The list goes on and on for colorful words/phrases for that.

I'm a firm believer in the "If you can't impress them with intelligence, baffle them with bull sh-t" theory. It ALWAYS works with the illiterate masses.

A good place to learn big colorful words is to read those little chapter words on the movie Clerks. Hell, the whole movie is full of good words.

Catharsis is my favorite colorful word.

Acquiesce instead of "Agree".

Most words that start with X are good too

Just use the thesaurus a lot while typing inane posts and replies, it's how I broadened my vocabulary repertoire.

This language filter is absolutely re-fu-cking-tarded.

Defenstrate: to throw somebody or something out of a window.

Decimate: to reduce to one tenth of original size (not to totally destroy; c.f. obliterate).

Illuminating instead of "I see".

roid wrote:this isn't to score roots. it's personal development.
& i recon the richest source of vocabulary and imagery would be from one's communitys.

The cool thing around here to do is to use common Spanish words (this is not the same thing as Spanglish*) in place of otherwise common English words. Por ejemplo:

girl -> chica
man -> hombre
good/well -> bueno/bien
thanks -> gracias
beer -> cervezas

It works especially well with cognates, or words with similar meaning that sound the same in both languages. E.g. fantastic -> fantastico

*Spanglish is using Spanish words because of one's inability to use an English equivalent.

I'd consider Spanglish using English words for lack of a Spanish equivalent, but I guess I'm looking at it from the other side.

callipygian
snath
palimpsest
Schadenfreude
coprolite
renifleur
(Sorry, I got lazy.)

Improve your vocabulary - Read!
Classics are good - I like Shakespeare.
Keep a dictionary or two handy for reference. Reading in context will help with comprehension and retention.

Nitrofox125 wrote:Defenstrate: to throw somebody or something out of a window.

not to be pedantic, but it's 'defenestrate' according to the oed. Remember the scene in Braveheart where the king tosses the 'guy' out the window? Very satisfying.

fwiw, in german, window is 'das Fenster', so the extra 'e' is sometimes optional.

Since we're on the subject of vocabulary, let me get this off my chest. The word 'reticent' seems to be becoming a synonym for 'reluctant', but it specifically means a disinclination to speak. Its middle syllable derives from the same root as 'tacit' (which means unspoken)

Finally, Roid: If you want to improve your language skills, I suggest that you read books that are well written. I have to concede that the English are superior to Americans in this regard (I have little experience with Aussies). The author I most benefitted from was CS Lewis. I have always aspired to imitate the elegance and precision of his prose. As an example, he was writing about how some pleasures we experience are preceded by a biological need, like drinking water while being thirsty. To cite an extreme instance he asks, 'has not the sight of the word 'Gentlemen' above a door roused a joy almost worthy of celebration in verse?'

The two words I always use are ostensibly and esoteric. They're quite handy and apply to a lot of situations.

Ostensibly
Function: adverb
1 : in an ostensible manner
2 : to all outward appearances

This is a great substitution to "sorta" or sometimes "essentially" as a reply to a question. I usually think of it as meaning "appears to be but may not necessarily be so", in order to essentially tell people that what they're asking me is true for the most part but may be false if you actually want to delve deep and argue sementics and stuff like that.

-------------

esoteric
adj.

1) Intended for or understood by only a particular group: an esoteric cult. See synonyms at mysterious.
Of or relating to that which is known by a restricted number of people.

2) Confined to a small group: esoteric interests.
Not publicly disclosed; confidential.

That link seems to imply that esoteric has the additional meaning of "confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle" but you don't need to use it as such. Descent as a game is quite esoteric. Pretty much anything that falls into a niche is. Unfortunately I mostly use it as filler conversation in pointing out that so-and-so is esoteric, so I've been trying to cut back.

Jeff250 wrote:

Robo wrote:

Jeff250 wrote:Let's start with the basics. It's spelled "favorite" by any respectable person.

"Favourite" is actually the British way of spelling it. Like to you "Colour" = "Color". How very unrespectable that you didn't know that

sigh.

Do they not have a sense of humor (humour) in Britian either?

Yes, in Britain we have a sense of humour. A better one at that

isn't it Britland?!

Land of the Britishers? Yes.

De Rigueur wrote:I have to concede that the English are superior to Americans in this regard (I have little experience with Aussies).

In my travels i found that your average South African had the best vocab'.

I'm the same way. I chalk it up to being out of college and not being challenged anymore. So the list quickly accessible vocabulary seems to get smaller and smaller since most people fall into a rut with the words they use.

Im in the same boat you are Roid (so we'd better row together so we get there faster!), but I try to read more books and articles and making an exhaustive effort to look up a word which I dont understand. I suppose having the drive to expand your vocabulary is always a good thing vs actually knowing all the words there is to know.

Defenestrate has got to be the best word in here. I definetly need to find occasions to use it. How's it pronounced?

Flabby Chick wrote:In my travels i found that your average South African had the best vocab'.

In that case, call batteries "dry cells". It does sound rather technical.

dee - fen - es -trayte

Excelent, I shall start defenestrating things!