Have you ever completed the Word Power feature in Reader’s Digest? I’m not much interested in such games – I don’t even do crosswords! – but I am committed to increasing my own vocabulary. Why? Because if I know more words, I’ll be able to read more fluently. But even more important, I’ll be able to write better. Knowing lots of words allows me – and you — to be more precise in writing. In my word-of-the-week feature I share a word with you that I’ve discovered in my own reading.
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: marmorated… I have little interest in insects but a March 12/18 New Yorker article on stinkbugs (one is pictured above) captured my attention […]
What does ‘marmorated’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: scuttlebutt… I’ve used the word scuttlebutt on many occasions — it means rumour or gossip, as in “what’s the scuttlebutt? And I’ve
What is ‘scuttlebutt’? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: festschrift… I have mostly neutral feelings towards the work of American novelist Philip Roth. I’m not a huge fan, nor am I
What’s a ‘festschrift’? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: levantine… I live in a city, Vancouver, that is roughly 50 percent Asian. As a result, reading a book titled Crazy Rich Asians
What does ‘levantine’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: blunderbuss… I’ve never been a huge fan of Stephen King’s writing. Well, apart from his wonderfully thoughtful and sensitive book called On
What’s a ‘blunderbuss’? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: skirling… I love onomatopoeia — words imitating the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Examples? Buzz. Sizzle. Cuckoo. And when I recently encountered the word skirling, I assumed
What does ‘skirling’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: lambency… I encountered the word lambency while reading Elizabeth Strout’s remarkable novel Anything is Possible. If you’re looking for a good book
What is ‘lambency’? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: oneiric… I can’t remember who recommended the novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves to me. But I read the book, by
What does ‘oneiric’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: anfractuous… I encountered the byline, ‘Anthony Horowitz,’ somewhere during the last year and — because I found his writing amusing — made
What does ‘anfractuous’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: reticule…. Even though I am moderately well read, my reading history has huge lacunae or gaps. For example, I’ve never made it
What’s a ‘reticule’? Read More »
