Tuesday, 3 April 2012

A brief thought about vocabulary...


Words: they’re everywhere.  And sometimes unexpectedly.

It seems to me as though the brain has a secret store of words. It's full of ones we hardly use, and even forget completely they exist until, just at the right moment, the mind says: ‘Here you go, something I had out the back.  Try it!’ 

This happened to me twice this week already: ‘industrious’ was the first and ‘pervade’ the second.  (Not particularly exotic words, I know, but also not ones I use with any sort of regularity!)

I find the more I exercise the part of my brain that is ‘wordy’ (obviously didn’t have an adjective in stock for that one), the better, and easier to use, my vocabulary becomes.  I can honestly say I’ve noticed this since starting reading more again (all hail the Kindle!), and spending more time writing.

So read, damn it, read! The world needs more lexicologists! (And there's another..! Though I have to admit I'm not sure if it's the right one in this sense...)

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