The Quotidian Word » vocab

The Power of Words

epeolatrist — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:10:59 +0000

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.

Is it for pure bombast and the opportunity for pedantic display of linguistic prowess? Sure, many people choose to use $100 words in conversation, but unless in the company of like-minded peers or Quotidian Word ~~victims~~ audiences, these enlightened folk are looked down upon and labeled as sesquipedalian cockalorums (although in much more laconic, four-letter terms). Is the layman afraid of big words or learning them? More likely he is scared of appearing intellectually inferior to the palaverous speaker and must thus make a sneering comment rather than inquire about the meaning. Some may also nod their heads and blink as if they understood the word and are hoping that it wasn’t critical to the essence of the sentence, but this, too, is fear.

Personally, if someone says a word to me that I haven’t heard, I immediately interrupt them and have them explain what it means (and then tell them about Quotidian Word, of course!). This is because I am one of those who loves learning. Asking doesn’t make you appear dumb; not asking makes you look like a fysigunkus. However, there are those who will mention a word simply so they can be asked what it means, but you’ll know who they are by the curl of smug that hangs off the edge of their lips.

What many people do not understand is that words carry a latent power, just like anything else, and their relative use and ubiquity defines their power. Also, their shade of meaning is influential in their power. For instance, everyone knows what a meteor is, but do they know what a bolide is, and what the difference between them may be? How about the difference between something hairy and something velutinous? To know these words and use them correctly empowers one as a communicator to speak descriptively and precisely.

Of course, your communicative efficiency is always determined by the vocabulary of your audience, and therein lies the rub. However, if you offer to gently inculcate them, you may find that not only are they getting smarter, but to them you become less of a, oh, what’s the word, pompous douchebag.

Why do you love new words?

Supercilious Sunday!

epeolatrist — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:24:03 +0000

As you can see, Supercilious Sunday has arrived! Since Sundays are much slower internet days in general, we figured we’d toss a really crazy word out there worth big points for those loyal QWers who visit the site quotidianly.

The rules are simple: You post your sentence (only if you actually said it), but you don’t automatically get a vote. Someone has to really believe that you said what you are saying you said. Voters are extra critical, posters are extra awkward. You have to try to end your sentence with, “Mrah!” because that’s what a snooty person would do (like the guy in the watermark).

What do you think about Supercilious Sunday?

Necro-Sentences

epeolatrist — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:46:23 +0000

If you are an active participant of this site, you’re probably not just using The Word once the day it appears, post your sentence, and forget about it. If you’re anything like me, you’re actively trying to insert it into your ever-expanding vocabulary. One thing I noticed about this site after I first built it is that it wasn’t necessarily friendly to words once they had had their day in the sun. Vocabulary is augmented through rote and re-use. Additionally, new users are less likely to go back and use learn the words because they have no way to record their usage.

Enter Necro-Sentences. For those who don’t know, “necro” is a prefix meaning “dead” or “death,” and for those familiar with internet forums or sites with user-generated content, to “necro-post” is to post on an old, or “dead” thread or topic. My thought was, why should I restrict users from continuing to use the word after the word is “dead?” I have since lifted that restriction, and you can even earn points from posting your necro-sentences!

The way it works is very simple: use a word that is not today’s word, find that word (try the Archives or check your user profile under “Word Usage” if you recorded your usage) and post a sentence. Voting is disabled on necro-sentences, but you may post as many as you like. At the time of this writing, for every 10 necro-sentences you post, you earn a point. While the lion’s share of your points will be derived from sentences and votes on the current QWOD, at least there is still some pointeriffic motivation (should the motivation to expand your vocabulary not drive you enough!) to continue using the words on the site.

On the discussion of features, what features would you like to see on this site? I’m in the process of working on a very nifty and useful one that should be done soon…