via a digg link, here are the 100 words.
before i clicked, i thought i’d know most, if not all, of these words. i’m a college graduate. i taught high school english.
after clicking through?
let’s just say it was a humbling experience. there were more words i didn’t know, or at least didn’t know a precise definition for, than i thought there’d be.
and although i recognized nearly all of the words, there was even a word (moiety) that i’d never even seen before.
here’s my personal list of words for which i need to confirm a definition. for me, having a vague idea of the definition, or having the ability to use the word in a phrase without knowing the precise meaning, means i included the word on this list. context isn’t always everything.
abjure
abstemious
churlish
evanescent
feckless
hegemony
jejune
mitosis
moiety
pecuniary
quotidian
tautology
unctuous
i’ll have to get busy soon.
excluding the listed words above, i’ve used four of them: euro, wrought, reparation, and irony.
clearly i need to raise the level of the dialogue around here.
It doesn’t care if you don’t use all those words in your blog. It’s more important if you know them, and know what they mean. Maybe I can write you one wonderful paragraph with the quality of Shakespeare (is just an example, I know I can’t -in english-), but if I don’t know exactly what I’m talking about, it has no value…
well said, zim. i’ll keep it simple around here–that’s probably my best option anyway ; )