Let’s Start With a Poem
How to Improve Your Vocabulary
At the risk of sounding wordy,
or maybe just plain nerdy,
I am here to tell you straight
that the way to levitate
your daily conversation
to a whole new elevation
is to scour the dictionary
with a fine-toothed comb, and vary
your word selection smartly
as you speak—well, that is partly
how to sound more fascinating,
but then, it could sound grating
to the crowd with whom you’re speaking,
and you may need to start seeking
others who will listen to you
throw your big words around.
So do proceed discreetly
as you try to speak more sweetly,
or more smartly if you’d rather;
or if you simply want to blather
all your new vocabulary
to the people on the ferry
or the bus or train or taxi,
thinking you sound very classy—
beware, not everybody
(perhaps not anybody)
likes ostentatious people.
But, hey, they’re not illegal!
Folks like colorful expression
when it’s used with great discretion,
so don’t be shy to try new words
and see how they might sound.
Ginger Kauffman, 2013
A Couple of Delightful Resources
Phew! Now that I’ve got that out of my system, here are some word-wise sites that will stretch you and make you sound smart, though not ostentatious. Merriam-Webster Online is filled with words. Not only does it offer a dictionary and thesaurus, but there are plenty of word games and quizzes, a word of the day, and delightful, informative videos.
Lately I’ve been enjoying A Way With Words, a radio call-in show with marvelous stories and words and phrases and jokes and lots of fun. They also have a blog and other features on their website. You really should check it out.
One final thought: Why use a flat word when there are so many robust ones out there?
Happy searching,
Ginger
Our cousins, Carl and Nancy Hess, a word-wise couple, always challenging themselves to find the perfect word for Scrabble—thanks for sharing your photo with us on today’s blog.
Fun to see and read this, Ginger! We liked you wordy poem too – quite apt and fun to read aloud. Oh how our words can bless, or stress! Our prayer – Psalm 19: 14
Amen!
We greatly underestimate the power of our words, don’t we! We’d all do well to pray David’s prayer (Psalm 19:14) every day: “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” And I find that spell checking my spell-checker when I write is also a very good habit!
Ginger
Loved your poem, Ginger, and it was fun to see the Hess Scrabble board featured. Our families do love words!
So glad you enjoyed the poem, Elizabeth. As for Scrabble, do you and Bill ever play it with Carl and Nancy? I’d love to see the board with the words you all would come up with!