From where does the craving for vocabulary expansion stem? Is it the desire to communicate more efficiently? Most likely not, since the average person will typically know enough words to communicate a typical experience. While guesses vary wildly, rough estimates put the average person’s vocabulary at around 10,000 to 30,000 words. Of course, if you can count past 30,000, you know a few more words than you think.
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Archive for the ‘bourgeois blatherings’ Category
The Power of Words
Monday, September 28th, 2009Names
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009In a troubled time where people (frequently notable celebrities) find it acceptable to name their children Apple, Blanket, or Pilot Inspektor, let’s take a moment to review what goes into creating-or simply borrowing-a name. It interests me to consider that the English language, providing via sheer vernacular volume more vocabularistic opportunities than any other terrestrial language, is accompanied by a name popularity contest, with every year seeing a new “unique” name rise dramatically to the top of the baby-naming charts. Think McKenzie, Brayden, Sophia, Grayson, and all the wonderful alternate spellings associated with said names.