Word Nerd

As David Cook from American Idol, I am a self-confessed word nerd.

It kind of makes sense. Reading builds vocabulary, and there is nothing I do more than reading. Well, maybe talking...

I've actually been told by some that I shouldn't use so many big words. They think I do it to make myself look better. Well, that just isn't the case. Big vocabulary words just fit what you are saying better and usually take up a lot less space and time.

So, I have a rule with all of my student employees. If I use a word they don't know, they can ask me what it means. I will not only tell them what I think it means, but I will also look up the official definition to make sure I am right.

At first, I checked the official definition to make sure I was explaining it right, but I have since found that it is also to make sure I am using it right. :-)

See, most readers build vocabulary by looking at the word in the context of a sentence or paragraph and figuring out what the word means by what the author is trying to say. You eventually get pretty good at this, too. But mistakes are bound to happen.

In the last few years of clarifying word meaning to my friends and co-workers, I have found the following interesting mistakes on my part:

1.Vixen (in relation to a woman):
Gretchen says: a woman who is a sly temptress.
Dictionary definition: a shrewish, ill-tempered or quarrelsome woman, a shrew, a termagant.

Now, I don't think I am the only one to mess that one up. Foxes (a female fox is a vixen) have been know to be sly in many fairy tales. I believe that this word has evolved in pop culture. It happens sometimes. Hopefully I am right, and the dictionaries will add my definition.

2. Divot (as a noun):
Gretchen says: golf term, describing the hole a wedge makes in the ground when you miss.
Dictionary definition: Golf. A piece of turf cut out with a club by a player in making a stroke.

Oops. Which came first? The hole or the dirt thrown out...
I'm definitely not an avid golfer. Now it shows.

So, I highly recommend looking up words besides figuring them out in context. The library is great for this, as we have multiple dictionaries on the shelves and online.

Now my favorite is the OED (Oxford English Dictionary). It not only gives you the definition of the word as it is currently used, but how the word was used in the past as well. This can be highly amusing at times.

I even like word games. I've added a few word games I like on the sidebar.

1. The Book Worm Adventures game is a scramble word game where the book worm defends the library from invaders with words as weapons. For some reason, this game doesn't work in Firefox. Sorry. Try Explorer instead. I've almost beat Master level multiple times. Darn those Norse gods....

2. Free Rice builds your vocabulary as you help donate rice to the UN World Food Program. Warning: it is highly addictive.

So, if I use a word you don't know in this blog, please ask me what it means or look it up. Don't be intimidated; be curious instead. I even provided dictionary links on the side bar. I'm not trying to be snooty. I'm just your average book worm word nerd.


Book of the day (almost done):
Poltergeist: a Greywalker Novel by Kat Richardson.
Borrowed from: Warren-Newport Public Library in Gurnee, IL