A small experiment which helps locate and identify the words that are closest to the skin of my brain and from which my day to day oral sentence structure is most likely to be composed. Composed as in made up, not fallaciously but elementally. Elements are pieces or portions of wholes - so in this case a sentence is a whole and the words are unifying elements within it. Punctuation being the joints in the sentence nexus or chain. Nexus means a connection or series of connections linking two or more things. Understood, in the way of establishing a comprehension. Understood in clarification - to understand means that you have comprehended the implications of the matter under discussion. Discussion is an interaction between correspondents which it is hoped will form a consensus. A consensus is an agreement put together through a mixture of ideas, some in unison others which might offer a contrary view. A view in this context is a position of knowledge held to be true but perhaps subject to challenge. A challenge is an adversarial position the holder of which seeks to question something through the weight of his own argument or evidence. Evidence is that which is presented to back up an argument as near as incontrovertibly as possible. Incontrovertible means something that might be sufficiently compelling as to resist evidence to the contrary. Contrary is a positional state that suggests other views are closer to the truth. The truth is something that has had its veracity tested and has proven itself to be so. So, in certain contexts, can mean much or more as in I am so cold - it's a intensifier. Intense might be a psychological state of mind where tension has invaded the ability to think as clearly as one would do normally. Normal means a generally or generic state that is is perceived as having a wider acceptability. Accept means to agree to receive something - this could be either an insult or an accolade. An accolade is a symbol of praise which might find its way into a eulogy or any other speech about citing positive achievement. Achievement is something that has been managed perhaps against expectation and perhaps through overcoming certain odds. Odds could describe a state or position where two antagonistic or opposing views are in dispute. A dispute is when two or more people have different preferences as to the realisation of something. Something is a pronoun that might stand to represent another thing. A thing - putting aside the famous John Carpenter movie from the early 1980s - is a pronoun that could be anything at all. All means everything - as in I have all the money so I have the total amount of money that was on offer.Offer means that someone is suggesting that something is available to them. Them takes us momentarily back to 1970s films again - but whereas the likes of Carpenter made trendy classics of the future with atmospheric mood music and iconic 70's stars drilled in expert pacing - the likes of Them were always regarded as B movies which never came close to classic status - the best they could hope for was to be considered cultishly fanzine rather than anything that stacked up as art. Art is always an interesting one - something created that provokes an emotional response - and no that can't be a queue for the supermarket check-out because that is an adventitious creation rather than the result of someone's vision and subsequent endeavour. Endeavour might be the 'held back for dramatic effect but probably wasn't even known by his creator until the mystery generated its own interest,' first name of the fictional detective, Morse - and also the name of a famous ship captained by a certain James Cook. But for literary purposes it is an act that has earned the right to be considered a successful achievement through hard work possible against general expectation. An expectation is something that is thought to be a sure outcome. confidence in this outcome allows perceptions of expectation over hopeful eventuality. Endeavour is often a slightly back handed compliment that suggests someone has done well despite having to overcome seemingly unsurmountable obstacles such as being regarded as moronically useless. Useless is word that expresses utter contempt and condemnation about someone or something. It is a monument to concision expressing a vote that the thing in question is without a shred of redemption and beyond all hope. Hope is an unfulfilled investment of optimism that fuels feelings of positivity and is suggestive that something will turn out for the better. Better means something is subject to amelioration or that someone is experiencing an upwards trending arc of improvement. Improvement is a beneficial progression from a baseline normal through to a higher attainment.
That's a trickier test than it looks. But I think it's quite effective as I'm being made to think about word meanings - even if most of them are quite easy - but in terms that could conceivably be understood by someone who perhaps doesn't know them (non English speaker perhaps). It has additional benefit of making my grey matter turn over a bit. My brain, a bit like my back garden, is looking (feeling) a little sterile. In need of weeding and enlivening. In more ways than one it's a little sluggish. It's gone hard and impenetrable - dried up a bit and in need of nourishment if there is to be any regrowth and vibrancy during the spring. Some of this will happen naturally. Organically you might almost say. The sun will come out, bringing its life force and enrichment - but some help at ground level will always help our inching towards bounty. So I'm tilling my brain and sprinkling it with nutrients - bringing it into an awakened state, alert and receptive and able to bring forth into blossom and fruition all those seeds I have sown over the winter months and which have lain in the dark, dormant though I hope, quite restive.
Note: Its hardly surprising that some obscurities and archaisms are slithering on the surface of my brain when such commonplace words such as - I don't know: obscurity and archaism never made it. It only goes to prove it's the words that you are using most at the time that furnishes your day to day vocabulary. You are what you're writing and talking about at any given time. And perhaps reading.
Here is another little vocabulary test. Going through the alphabet and writing down the first interesting word beginning with the relevant letter. Some interesting ones popped up - which in many ways was the point of the exercise. Each time I paused for in excess of about 10 seconds I went on to the letter beneath the one I was struggling over. I placed a small caveat in place that each word had to spelled correctly at the first go to continue. This was to stop the usual outcome of having huge volumes of words beginning with e and s and p for example and hardly anything beginning with some of the less common letters. Interestingly, to me anyway - some of the words are satisfyingly obscure and aren't happily accepted by blogger - but are confirmed by on line dictionaries.
amiable assiduous assume axiomatic arduous amity anonymous anodyne ameliorate analogy ambivalent ambiguous amiable asinine avid amorous antediluvian anachronistic asserted autodidact attenuate amatory affiliate axiomatic autonomous
bestiality bemuse ballast banal benign bovine badger baleful burnish brutish barrier beatitude bucolic bacchanal bumptious bemuse
curious curio corpulent candid chimera cavil caveat contemporaneous contumely chastity cliche curative cursive cartography chime churlish chippy charismatic caveat cineaste chaste canard curvaceous capricious cynical cupidity crepuscular ceremony corrosive cascade colossal chiaroscuro cosmopolitan crepuscular calumny corrective chaste chimera covetous chirk coruscate
deposition duplicity diabolical detrimental deprecatory depreciation duality deposition damask deleterious desecration divination duress devilment dullard deemed duped
dubious dubiety dilatory divinity demerit diametric devilry density diligence divergent demystify debilitate dulcet
effulgent efficacious eminent enervate emulsify egalitarian equality emulate estimate estimable esurient escapade exaggerate exigency exemplify egregious exiguous empathetic edict euphoric euphoric euphony
fatuous, fulminate fructify farinaceous foment fulminate fastidious feculence fimbriated finesse forestall
gracile gutsy gormless gravid garrote gregarious gallimaufry grume gussie gasconade gluttony grilling gelid
harbor, husbandry harridan heinous haphazard humanity horology humanistic horrify hermetic Hellenistic hasty hegemony hubris hubristic heuristic heterogenous halcyon
insipid instigate insinuate implicate inviolate immolate imposition instrumental; innocuous invoke immediate invidious immensity insensibility insidious immemorial invoke induce indignant indigenous infinite infantilise indicative inane intrepid impervious impeach indigent incisive inchoate impregnable immutable intolerable intestate imperious induce
jurisprudence jurisdiction jejune Jeremiah jazzy juvenile juxtaposition jocund Jezebel judicious justice jilted jerrybuilt jocose jubilant Janissary jilted
kismet kinetic kaleidoscope kludge kinetic kinesthetics
licentious lucid levitate lurid laminate luminous litigate litigious lambaste luminescent ligament laudable lascivious
magnanimous moribund missive manifest municipal mitigate militate minatory minion metastasized mutate mutable mandate meretricious mellifluous miscegenation
numinous normal nutritional nutrient neophyte nepotism narrative nefarious nerve nervy navigable normative naiad nary nominate narcissistic nebulous naivety nubile nullify
oleaginous obstreperous ovoid occlude ominous ossify orgulous outlandish opprobrium oppositional ostentatious
punitive paunchy proliferate parsimony putative perambulate prerogative plaintiff pawky pusillanimous pastiche perennial paracide pre-empt pretext presume portability portmanteau
quiescent quiver quintessence quire quagmire quiddity query quisling
ructions roustabout rifle ruritanian riparian rumpus rhetoric ruse rapidity rapacious restive recidivist reconnoiter rhomboid rampant restitution rally rebarbative ruminate restorative
serendipitous suppurate slippage serenity saccadic symposium stertorous sycophant scalding studious stymie
tribulation tariff turgid truism transparent truculent traipse tremulous tinnitus trafficking trollop truism traipse tentative tumult tendentious tenebrous testify transnational transient truism trite
ubiquitous ululate unctuous unperturbed umber unified underwhelmed unity utility usury underscored underwhelmed.
vituperative vexatious voracious vixen vim votive vamoose vacuum venting veracity vacillate vastness vulpine vertiginous verifiable
whimsical whimsy worthwhile wily worthy wrestle writhe wraith without withal winnow warmonger welfare whim wretched wassail wrested wary warfare
Bit of a smorgasbord as the Swedish might say. I wonder how many other words have been imported in by that language. Ombudsman perhaps: a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency. A word used generally as a reference to kind of final referee who will make the fairest and final decision. Orienteering. Another Swedish blow in which I guess replaces running around with the aid of maps as navigational devices. Can that really be Swedish? What about orient? Orient as far as I know describes a process of establishing location or position through interpreting the available information. Or, to determine one's position with reference to another point. Perhaps the Swedes just took a word and applied a relevant suffix to it studiously avoiding any of their Æ, Ø, Å type letters so that as a putative global sport and pastime it would be accepted and embraced. Who knows?
As far as the rest of the words are concerned in the above list it would take a long time to write definitions of them all - even self-made ones.
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