Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Power of Words
Power of Words
Why do large vocabularies characterize executives and possibly outstanding men and women in other fields? The final answer seems to be that words are the instruments by means of which men and women grasp the thoughts of others and with which they do much of their own thinking. They are the tools of thought. - Johnson OConnor
Everyone from those just learning English to journalism veterans knows the frustration of not having the right word immediately available in that lexicon (vocabulary) one carries between ones ears
Whether youre reading a newspaper, billboard sign, cereal box, or textbook, it can be extremely frustrating to encounter words whose meanings elude us Not knowing the meaning of certain words may hinder your success academically and in your daily life activities
The problem of language, however, is a global problem. Of the roughly 6500 languages now spoken on Earth, half are on the brink of extinction and only 150 or so are expected to survive to the year 2100.
Language everywhere is being whittled down to conform to the limited objectives of the global economy and homogenized to accord with the shallow imperatives of the information age.
So, what can we do to preserve and improve our crucial knowledge of words?
Sentences or paragraphs frequently offer the following clues to the meanings of unfamiliar words:
The general sense or meaning of the sentence or paragraph Tone and point of view of the writer Connectives such as and and or, which can signal a likeness, or but, yet and conversely can indicate a contrast Punctuation marks such as a colon indicating a list, a dash indicating additional information, or an exclamation mark indicating intensity
1. Many doctors today endorse a holistic view of medicine one that includes attention to nutrition, exercise, and psychological needs as well as to drugs and surgery.
Dictionary meaning?
2. In spite of the fact that the clouds scudded across the sky overhead, there was not the suggestion of a breeze, much less a wind, in the harbour.
Dictionary meaning?
3. I enjoyed meeting the affable owner of the shop; her easygoing and cheerful Dictionary meaning? manner endeared her to me.
Use visualization:
For example, to recall that draconian measures are harsh and extreme, visualize Dracula biting someones neck for missing class!
Word puzzles
Try Madlibs online or in book form
Crosswords
Make it a daily activity to complete one crossword from a book of crosswords or from a newspaper
Magnetic Poetry
The Internet:
You can use the Internet as an aid to vocabulary development by exploring the abundant opportunities for reading Read online newspapers: The Globe and Mail The Hamilton Spectator
Choose online magazines such as Atlantic and Mother Jones that challenge your mind and vocabulary with full-text articles Atlantic has a language section select from Word Court, Word Fugitive, and Word Police www.theatlantic.com/language/ Read the New York Times Book Review
www.nytimes.com (one-time registration is FREE!)
Subscribe to a service that will provide you with a new word each day: www.wordsmith.org www.vocabvitamins.com www.merriam-webster.com
Word of the Day from OED (Oxford English Dictionary) The New York Times Word of the Day www.nytimes.com/learning/students/word ofday/index.html Check out the word archive