Unknown words

[Guest ii]

Every now and then we all come across a word we may not know, of which meaning isn't quite perfectly clear to us, or maybe it's used in an unfamiliar way. So we check it out from the dictionary.

 

What was the last word you had to check, and where was it?

 

Mine was 'lexicographic', from one of the school texts: "We reserve d_{i = 0 for the lexicographic preference..."}

[JudyB]

Discommoded - my boss used it twice about a colleague and I had no idea what she was telling me. Later on I goggled it and found it meant inconvenienced. I checked out 'discombobulated' while I was at it as I was a word I kept hearing and again had no idea about.

[Guest ii]

I now had to check 'discombobulated', it just sounds such an discommoded word to use! *laughs out loud* Sorry, coffee's still dripping...

[beef]

Munificent.

 

Not from a book but kryten calls legion munificent in an episode of red dwarf.

 

May I suggest we share the meaning of our new found words too?

 

munificent:

 

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

 

Munificent Mu*nif"i*cent, a. [L. munificus; munus service,

gift + -ficare (in comp.) to make. Cf. {Immunity}, {-fy}.]

Very liberal in giving or bestowing; lavish; as, a munificent

benefactor. -- {Mu*nif"i*cent*ly}, adv.

 

Syn: Bounteous; bountiful; liberal; generous.

[1913 Webster]

[vinay87]

My vocabulary is a mess. Mostly so because I've never been the sort to look up new words when I encounter them. I've been of the belief that this would take away from the sheer pace of the book in question but would you know it? It doesn't.

 

I decided to give Dickens one more chance with Oliver Twist. I've said that I have trouble with his writing. I thought to have a dictionary handy with me so I can look up every word that I am not sure of. And it's helping me a LOT. It could be that OT is an easy read as well, but I'd like to think that the dictionary is helping me.

 

It's mostly because I've neglected my vocabulary for a long time. I'm rectifying this now so I was wondering if there were others with this problem around here for moral support.

 

So do you look up difficult/new words as you read?

[Kate]

Yeah I'm likely to look up a word if I don't know it

[Stephanie2008]

I don't. I tend to keep reading then forget what word I was supposed to look up. Sometimes the word is repeated and I will have to find out the meaning, but generally I don't bother.

[Coffin Nail]

Only when I'm reading Will Self.

[Kell]

LOL - I ticked the last box, but it's only partially true. Usually I can grasp the meaning of the word from the context and I don't look it up while I'm reading as it breaks my flow. If I'm still unsure, I'll check it out when I've finished my reading session though.

[Kidsmum]

I'm too lazy to dig out the dictionary so just tend to go with the flow.

[Blackrina]

I'm too lazy to dig out the dictionary so just tend to go with the flow.

 

Ahaha yeah thats the same with me but most of the time you can figure out the word as you keep reading so it doesnt bother me all that much.

[AbielleRose]

I checked no because usually I'll either skip over it or figure out the meaning after reading further. Can't mess with the flow!

[Vanwa]

Like Kell, I've checked the last box, and for me it's only technically true.

 

It's rare that I come a cross a word I don't recognise (and I mean maybe once every couple of years or so). So I don't need to look words up often. However, the reason I don't need to look them up is because I have (oh god I'm admitting this in a public place)... read the dictionary. So also technically, I have pre-looked-up any difficult words I might come across

[Readwine]

I usually look up the word as I read to ensure I get the context of the meaning as used by the author. I have the OED on my iphone so it is very quick to look up. I am not good at remembering meanings, so it helps me a lot to look it up as I read.

[Scoopalicious]

I don't look up every word I come across that I don't know the meaning of because like a couple of other people have said I can usually figure out the meaning from the rest of the sentence. However, if this isn't the case I will jot down the word and look it up at a later time.

[chesilbeach]

I will look up most words I come across that I don't know if I can't figure out what they mean within the context of the sentence. It doesn't happen very often, and mainly with classics where words have fallen out of use.

 

One of the reasons I hated Captain Corelli's Mandolin was that for the first half of the book there were so many words I didn't know and couldn't understand what the author was trying to say, so I looked up the words, to find most of them had been out of use for decades and that their meanings didn't actually make sense within the context of the sentence anyway.

 

Can't really vote in the poll, as I fit somewhere between options 1 and 2

[anisia]

I rarely look up the words. Sometimes I get them from the context and if they really don't make any sense then I might look them up.

[pickle]

Probably not all the time i do usually try and work it out in the context it was written, and I don't always have a dictionary handy.

[bookworm44]

I rarely look a word up because I don

[ethan]

Never look up words when I'm reading a book. But one of the great features of the Kindle is you just move the cursor to the word and the definition appears at the bottom of the screen. Didn't think I would use it much, instead I use it all the time, it's so quick.

[Pixie]

I usually can figure out the meaning within the context of the sentence, but if not, I will look up a word I don't know.

[Kylie]

Usually I can grasp the meaning of the word from the context and I don't look it up while I'm reading as it breaks my flow. If I'm still unsure, I'll check it out when I've finished my reading session though.

 

This pretty much sums me up as well.

[BookJumper]

I like the sound of that Kindle function because for me, the flow is broken by the very fact that I don't know a word - I am left physically unable to read onwards when it happens (there I go again with the unturnoffable Close Reading): thankfully it doesn't happen often!

 

the reason I don't need to look them up is because I have (oh god I'm admitting this in a public place)... read the dictionary. So also technically, I have pre-looked-up any difficult words I might come across

You goddess *kisses hallowed feet* as anyone told you how radiant you look today in your sacred shimmering gown?

[book-worm]

yep i have to look words up sometimes as if not wheres wally would be making a great profit

[Kell]

Like Kell, I've checked the last box, and for me it's only technically true.

 

It's rare that I come a cross a word I don't recognise (and I mean maybe once every couple of years or so). So I don't need to look words up often. However, the reason I don't need to look them up is because I have (oh god I'm admitting this in a public place)... read the dictionary. So also technically, I have pre-looked-up any difficult words I might come across

I went through a phase when I was a teenager of learning several new words each day (I started at the beginning of the dictionary and worked onwards) and trying to work them into conversations so I would remember them! Of course, I wouldn't bother with the words I already knew, but it made for some interesting conversations! I can't remember if I ever made it to te end of the dictionary, but I thnk I got pretty far into it. Maybe I should take that up again - could be fun!