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Good Reading : August 2015
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GOODREADINGMAGAZINE.COM.AU GOOD READING AUGUST 2015 62 500 Words You Should Know Caroline Taggart Vocabulary improvement is a topic that is rarely – if ever – discussed in writing circles. Many people seem to consider it relevant only to children or to people learning English as a foreign language. But if you’re interested in reading – and especially if you’re interested in writing – then enlarging your vocabulary is an important aspect of increasing your skills. Anyone capable of reading this magazine has a vocabulary that is sufficient to enable them to get by in everyday tasks in the English-speaking world. But if you want to take your language skills to a higher level, you will need to make an effort to improve your vocabulary at some stage. This improvement might consist of looking up the definitions of words that you’re unfamiliar with as you read (and then ensuring that you remember them), or it could involve reading books such as this one, 500 Words You Should Know. Books of this kind are not in short supply, but there are significant differences between them. Amer ican writer Charles Harr ington Elster published a book in 2002 called Verbal Advantage: 10 easy steps to a powerful vocabulary. It was useful, but some of the words towards the end of the book were especially obscure, and you would be unlikely to encounter them ever again. They might help you to show off occasionally, but that shouldn’t be the aim of the true word lover. Caroline Taggart, in contrast, states in her introduction to this handy little book that she has deliberately avoided obscure, highly technical or specialised words.You’ll search in vain in the book, she writes, for words such as adiabatic, haptotropism or thigmophilic. Which is just as well, because most of us are unlikely to ever encounter such words, let alone need to use them. Including obscure words such as those would have, in any case, pushed aside other, far more useful words that most readers would be much more likely to use. Many of the entries won’t look unfamiliar (ignominious, fortuitous, exigency), but they are words that the author says that you may be reluctant to use because you’re not entirely sure of their meaning. (Or you may think yo u know their meaning but actually don’t.) This book can therefore help you to shift these words from your passive vocabulary (words that you recognise but don’t use) to your active vocabulary (words that you not only recognise but also use). Other words may be less familiar (shibboleth, peremptory, meretricious) but no less useful when you need to find exactly the r ight word to express an idea. This book is particularly helpful for words that are similar or often confused. The word churlish, for example, has always caused problems for me. According to the dictionary it means ‘rude in a mean-spirited or surly way’. This definition has never stuck in my head. I know it means ‘rude’, but isn’t every rude person mean-spirited? Why not just use ‘rude’ instead? The author draws out the difference between churlish and boorish. Churlish, she tells us, means ‘surly and ill-mannered’, but in a quieter, more sulky way than boorish. She provides an example: A churlish person would refuse an invitation briefly and ungraciously; a boorish one might well say, ‘Good God, no, wouldn’t be seen dead at Katie’s wedding. Can’t stand the girl!’ These are the kind of helpful definitions and distinctions that dictionar ies don’t have the space to provide. The book is also interspersed with witty asides. On the word feckless (used to describe people, and meaning ‘ineffective, irresponsible’), she writes: ‘The resemblance to the chiefly Irish pronunciation of a similar but much ruder word is a happy coincidence.’ An essential book for word lovers. ★★★★ Michael O’Mara $22.95 Reviewed by Tim Graham people learning English as a foreign language. GENERAL NON-FICTION WOM word of mouth RATINGS ★ ★ ★★ ★★ ★★★ ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★★ RG
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