Vocabulary Building and Using Word Origins

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Some people think that vocabulary building happens one word at a time, and that a person needs to sit down with a dictionary and go through it from A to Z, learning the words individually and in order. Others go after words in a random fashion, learning new words as they hear or read them, but still studying words one by one. While this will increase vocabulary, it’s not the most efficient way to go about it. We recommend that when you learn one new word, you group as many other words together as possible, and learn them all at the same time. One way to do this is by using synonyms and antonyms – that is, if you learn a word, look up its synonyms and antonyms and study them as well. It’s easier to remember larger numbers of words when they’re related like this, and you’ll find that in the same amount of time it took to learn one word, you’ve managed to learn two, three, or even more.

Another excellent way to group words is by using the words’ etymology, or word roots and origins. While the words might be very different in modern English, knowing their shared origin will help you remember them because of the associations between the words. For example, say that you need to learn the word hydraulic. This word is an adjective that is used to describe something that uses water (or another liquid) as a source of power. The word comes from the Greek roots hydor (“water”) and aulos (“tube, pipe”). Just as water seeps in everywhere, the root word hydor can be found in many other common words:

Hydroelectricity is produced by forcing water at high pressure through turbines in a dam.

The element hydrogen gets its name because it produces water when combined with oxygen (H2O).

The blue-purple flowering bush called the hydrangea was given that name by the 18th-century Swedish botanist Linnaeus because of the way the seed pods capture rainwater.

Many vegetables are grown hydroponically, without soil, using only nutrient-filled water.

When you take the water out of something, you dehydrate it; you can rehydrate it by adding water back in.

Water is essential to life, and a good vocabulary will keep your studies and career alive and growing.

What is the McGurk Effect?

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In the early stages of learning to speak, infants and young children focus on a person’s face when that person is talking to them. They get as much information from the way the person’s face looks and moves as from the words themselves – more, in fact, since word understanding is usually extremely limited at first. The tone of voice and whether a person looks angry or happy will provide more clues than the actual words. In many ways, we do not lose this method of comprehension as we get older, even when we understand the words. If you inform someone with a cheery smile and a laughing tone that your house just burned down, they’ll think you’re joking, because your words don’t match your tone or the expression on your face. In fact, they might not even understand what you’ve said, and ask you to repeat yourself. Students of a foreign language know how important it is to watch a native speaker’s mouth as they pronounce new vocabulary words, especially if the new language has different phonic sounds than their own.

This tendency to look for visual as well as audible clues when communicating can sometimes cause problems, however, when what we see doesn’t match what we hear. In a phenomenon called “the McGurk Effect,” researchers have proved that in some cases what we see actually changes what we hear. They’re incorporating the results of their studies into new technology for speech recognition software. Take a look at this video of a BBC program, and see how susceptible you are to this phenomenon.

When you’re speaking to someone, it’s important to remember that communication happens through the eyes as well as the ears.

The Best Vocabulary Books For Children

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For many people around the world, the end of the year is filled with holidays and celebrations that involve family gatherings, special foods, and many gifts. In general, children receive most of the gifts in the family, and some parents think they need to get the latest games and toys in order to make everyone happy. However, children need to have mental stimulation as well as fun, and by giving gifts of books, parents can be sure that they’re providing both. It’s especially important to encourage a love of books in younger children, because studies have proven that children who read more do much better in school, and even in their later careers. Here are some excellent books for children of all ages that will encourage them to read and build their vocabulary skills.

Ages 1-2

Even though children at this age generally can’t read for themselves, these books are good for parents to read with their children; this will also make the children want to read on their own, as they “learn by example” and watch the parents read.

First Hundred Words (Cartwright, Amery) – A book with engaging illustrations showing common useful words that can be both a picture book and an early vocabulary building tool.

My Favorite Word Book (Young) – Using a cast of animals and children, the author leads the reader through familiar locations and identifies the names of the people, places, and objects found along the way.

Ages 3-5

Let’s Learn English Picture Dictionary (Goodman) – This book expands a child’s vocabulary by introducing over 1,500 new words, accompanied by helpful illustrations.

Ages 6-8

Vocabulary Power (Grades 1 and 2) Carangelo – Help your child learn new vocabulary and get them used to the more structured format of an English class or schoolroom with these books.

Ages 9-12

Vocabulary Field Trip (Le Ny) – This is a combination dictionary and vocabulary-building tool that will help older children expand their vocabularies and get interested in words.

Of course, any books that are written on subjects that interest your children make great gifts as well. Whether it’s ballet, football, ocean animals, or cooking, you’ll be able to find books on that topic. If the books you find are a bit above the child’s current reading level, make a point of reading the book with them so you can help them with the more difficult words.

Thankful for the Thesaurus: How to Increase Your Vocabulary

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There are many tools available to people who want to increase vocabulary skills and improve their ability to use words in their spoken and written communication. An important part of vocabulary improvement is learning synonyms, words that have a similar meaning. No two words mean exactly the same thing – that is, each word has a specific nuance or use that makes it more appropriate in one context than another word. For example, the word bright can be used to describe a light, or someone’s intellectual abilities. You can say “what bright sunshine!” or “your child is very bright” and be easily understood. On the other hand, although a synonym for “bright” is shiny, you’d never say “your child is very shiny!” (unless the child has been freshly waxed, of course). You can learn the correct uses for each synonym by looking up each related word in a thesaurus. You’ll be grateful for this resource when you’re searching for just the right word to use.

In the United States, the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November is a time when people show their gratitude for all the blessings in their lives. In Canada, a similar holiday occurs in October; both are based on celebrations by some of the original English settlers on the continent in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today, both holidays center around the end of the harvest season and on appreciation for abundant food. In Japan, a similar holiday is celebrated towards the end of November and commemorates workers and the products they create, including agricultural products. Wherever you live and whatever you’re grateful for, here are some synonyms that you can use to express your feelings:

synonyms for gratitude (noun): apppreciation, thanks, gratefulness

synonyms for grateful (adjective): appreciative, thankful

What are Compound Words?

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English (like many other world languages) contains a subset of vocabulary words that are classified as compound words – that is, two or more other words are put together (or “compounded”) to make one new word. This new word may or may not have a meaning that relates to one or both of the original words. Here are some examples of compound words: blackboard, redneck, undercut, sleepwalk, basketball, wallpaper, lawsuit, armchair. In this list, you can see words that relate directly back to the original words (a basketball is a ball you toss into a basket – at least according to the original game) and ones that end up having a different meaning (redneck is a term for a person who generally holds provincial and/or bigoted beliefs, not someone with a red-colored neck). In general, most words are fairly easy to understand based on the definitions of the original words.

Sometimes the original words have one meaning when they’re separate, and another meaning when compounded. For example, the phrases “I got sunburned and now I have a red neck” and “His redneck uncle really hates the current immigration policy” express two entirely different concepts. This can be confusing to many people, so it’s important to know when to use each form. We’ve picked five of the most commonly-confused compound words, and given examples below of how to use them correctly.

everyday vs. every day
Everyday is an adjective that means “commonplace, ordinary, routine” but the phrase every day refers specifically to time-based actions or occurrences.
Example: Every day this week I’ve had to go through the everyday correspondence of all of the company employees, looking for evidence of work-related fraud.

all together vs. altogether
The adjective altogether means “completely, totally.”
Example: The taste of the three herbs is altogether different when they are eaten all together rather than separately.

every one vs. everyone
Everyone is a pronoun referring to a group of people as a whole; every one refers to individuals considered separately.
Example: Everyone knows the quote from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” where Tiny Tim says, “God bless us, every one!”

back up vs. backup
You undoubtedly do computer backup (a noun), but you can also back up (a verb) your computer.
Example: She’ll back up my statement that the project won’t succeed without adequate technical backup from the IT department.

work out vs. workout
Keep an eye out for word pairs like this that are verbs when separate, but nouns when compounded.
Example: If we can work out the differences in our schedules, we should be able to plan a 30-minute workout session together at least twice a week.

Learn when to keep words together, and your English vocabulary skills will set you apart from the crowd.

Count the Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary

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Sometimes there’s a connection between numbers and words other than the fact that we use words to give names to numbers. The concept of one is meaningless unless there’s a commonly-understood word that can be used to refer to that concept. If you took a mathematics class in primary or secondary school, you’ll probably remember “story problems” that used many words to present you with an arithmetic problem to solve. Because these problems used words to describe the mathematical concepts, you’d be lost without a good vocabulary to understand all of the words.

When the words for numbers enter into everyday language, they often add more idiomatic meanings. If you’re learning English as a second language, idioms and similar phrases might be confusing, because the words sometimes don’t match their more common, literal definitions (read more about idioms here and here). Today we’ll look at number-related idiomatic phrases and their explanations:

all for one and one for all
The Latin phrase unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno has been translated into many languages, and might be most famously associated with the comrades Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and d’Artagnan, the Musketeers of the Dumas novel. It’s also the unofficial motto of Switzerland. When you use this idiom, you’re referring to the importance of working together and staying loyal to each other.

kill two birds with one stone
This refers to the act of achieving two different goals with one action. Related phrases are found in ancient Greek and Chinese literature, but we don’t know of any historical event that would have given rise to this expression.

third time’s a charm
The number three has long been associated with spiritual or magical significance (the Holy Trinity of Christianity, for example, or the repetition of chants done three times in rites and ceremonies). You might say this if you’ve tried to do something twice but not succeeded. It’s both a wish and a “good luck charm” that on the third try, everything will work out.

the four corners of the world
You might be wondering how the globe-shaped Earth can have corners, but remember that for a long time, people thought the world was flat, and were depicting it using mostly four-sided maps.

take five
This common expression, short for take a five-minute break, is one that frequently confuses new English speakers. “Take five what?” they ask themselves. When you’re learning a new language, it’s important to pay attention to slang and idiom, otherwise you’ll quickly lose track of the conversation.

at sixes and sevens
This phrase has been used since the mid-14th century to describe being confused or disorganized. In general, it’s used more in the UK than the US.

to be behind the eight ball
People who play the game of pool will immediately recognize that when it’s your turn and the cue ball is stuck behind the eight ball – the ball you can’t hit directly during most of the game – you’re in a bad situation, and that’s the origin of this expression.

a stitch in time saves nine
This is one of the oldest number-related expressions in the English language, and dates back to the days when people had to do their own sewing and mending. If you see a hole in your shirt, it’s best to fix it while it’s small (that is, taking one stitch “in time”) so that you don’t have a larger rip to sew up later (taking nine or more stitches). Today we use this expression to say that it’s better to fix a problem while it’s small than wait until it gets larger.

That’s the Spirit! Vocabulary to Enrich Your Conversations

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In Mexico, Día de los Muertos is a modern holiday centered on All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day at the beginning of November; it now follows the Catholic church calendar, but has its roots in ancient Aztec celebrations. Cultures around the world have always had festivals to honor their ancestors, or to make offerings to the spirits of the dead to bring good fortune or avoid curses. In Japan, the dance-filled O-Bon-Dori festival has been going on every August since the 16th century, and people across China participate in Qingming in early spring each year, as they clean and sweep the family burial sites and leave fresh offerings and memorials.

In the British Isles at the time of the Celts, the end of summer was celebrated with harvest festivals. When Christianity arrived, the church tried to convert the traditional celebrations into religious observances, and combined the harvest feast with the feast of all saints, or “All Hallows Day” (November 1st). The spiritual aspect of the holiday soon took on a supernatural aspect, and now “All Hallows’ Evening” – shortened to Halloween – is traditionally seen as a time when ghosts and spirits are able to walk the waking world. In the United States and to a lesser extent in Britain and other countries, children dress up as ghosts and goblins (or today, as the X-Men and Harry Potter) and go door to door with lights, begging for treats.

We’ve got a whole pumpkin-full of treats for you today: a list of words that you can use to enrich your vocabulary, which all relate to the word “ghost” or “spirit.” Remember, your communication will be more interesting the more words you’re able to use – and not just when you’re communicating with the dead.

apparition (AH-puh-RIH-shun)

phantasm (fan-TAH-zum)

revenant (REH-veh-nuhnt)

poltergeist (POHL-tur-gist) note that the final syllable rhymes with “eye”

specter (SPEK-tur)

wraith (RAYTH)

This post has been written by a “ghost writer” on behalf of the Ultimate Vocabulary team, who have all been spirited away for the evening. But we’re sure they’ll be back … eventually. MWAHAHAHAHA!

Our Strange Lingo: A Humorous Look at Pronunciation

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One of the major sources of frustration for people learning English is the frequent disconnect between the way a word is spelled and the way it’s pronounced. All languages evolve over time, of course, but English has come a very long way from where it started a thousand years ago. From its early Germanic and Norse elements, words were added over the years from Romance languages like French and Italian, which had completely different orthographies. As explorers visited and returned from the Middle East, India, and China, more words were added based on the objects and ideas found in those countries, and more ways of spelling and pronunciation were added to the mix. By the 20th century, English had become a kaleidoscope of colorful ways to put letters together, and most attempts to impose a more standardized match between spelling and pronunciation had failed. In the London magazine The Spectator, a poem attributed to Lord Cromer was published in 1902 that sums up all of the frustration caused by this quirk of the English language. We can’t change the rules of English spelling and pronunciation at this point, so we might as well laugh while we study them!

Our Strange Lingo

When the English tongue we speak.
Why is break not rhymed with freak?
Will you tell me why it’s true
We say sew but likewise few?
And the maker of the verse,
Cannot rhyme his horse with worse?
Beard is not the same as heard
Cord is different from word.
Cow is cow but low is low
Shoe is never rhymed with foe.
Think of hose, dose,and lose
And think of goose and yet with choose
Think of comb, tomb and bomb,
Doll and roll or home and some.
Since pay is rhymed with say
Why not paid with said I pray?
Think of blood, food and good.
Mould is not pronounced like could.
Wherefore done, but gone and lone -
Is there any reason known?
To sum up all, it seems to me
Sound and letters don’t agree.

Cross-posted at the Ultimate Spelling blog.

Are You Serious About Vocabulary Improvement?

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To ensure that you get the most out of your vocabulary study, and make consistent progress in learning new words and how to use them, we recommend that you devote at least 15 minutes every day to vocabulary study. This study can happen during a lunch break at work, before a science lab at university, while you’re waiting for your child’s piano lesson to be over, or in the evening instead of watching that television rerun. If you make a commitment to daily study, you’ll soon see serious improvements in your vocabulary skills.

Someone who isn’t serious about a practice or pursuit is often referred to as a dilettante. They play around with a skill or art instead of putting in the effort to really learn it, usually just gaining a superficial knowledge of a topic. A dilettante often only stays with a course of study as long as it’s fun, and drops it once it becomes work. You can see this meaning of the word if you look at its etymology; the word comes from the Italian verb dilettare (“to delight”) and the earlier Latin root meaning the same thing, delectare (note the connection to the word delectable, meaning “delightful, delicious”).

While the word is often used in a derogatory sense, dilettante can also refer to someone who enjoys the arts in general, and who “delights in” following them. While these people are mostly still amateurs – that is, they are not the professional painters, musicians, or authors whose works they enjoy – they traditionally have provided much of the financial support required so that those artists could continue creating the art the dilettantes delight in. In England, the Dilettanti Society has been supporting artists since 1733.

Wander the World of Words With the OED

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It’s time once again to check in with the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary to see what new words they’ve officially added to the English language …

Well, as it turns out, one of the new words they’re adding is songline, which describes something that’s been around for thousands of years. The Australian Aboriginal tribes have a tradition of using landmarks, petroglyphs, and ancient pictures and patterns on rocks to connect themselves to their landscape, creating songs to help them remember these mental maps. It’s a way of retaining their history through chants and stories, and also a way to chart their paths through the vast empty expanses of the Australian outback. According to legend, the first songlines were created by the gods during the Dreamtime, and those traces can be followed today – if you know the right songs.

Since the 14th century, the noun curate has been used to refer to a priest or member of the clergy who cares for the people in the region around a specific church, looking after their physical and spiritual health. The word comes from the Latin root curare, meaning “to take care of.” The new 20th-century meaning for the word also involves a measure of care, but now is a verb that describes the act of selecting objects or artists for a show. Someone who curates a museum exhibit, for example, is responsible for selecting which items to display, how they will be arranged, what signs and labels will be used to help visitors identify and understand the items, and how the exhibit will be advertised on the museum’s website.

Anyone dealing with websites and computers is aware of the problem of maintaining a secure site, and protecting information from hackers and data thieves. In response to this technological problem, the OED has added a technological slant to the noun security, which expands the meaning “to protect from unauthorized access” (formerly only used in a physical sense) to include internet safety against a virtual “break and enter” event.

In this post, we talked about carbon sequestration as a method of reducing global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In September’s updates, the OED added the new word biochar to the English lexicon. As you might guess from the two halves of this portmanteau word, biochar is the charcoal created by burning biological matter (plants, in this case) which can then be stored away.

We hope you’re storing all of these new words in your memory, because we’re sure you’ll have an opportunity to use them before the next OED update comes out.

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