Learning Words While Reading
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I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
Lady Chatterley's Lover was published in 1928. While it may seem that words are the same now as then, some aren't. Definitions shift. One interesting shift is relatively recent change in the meaning of the phrase "make love", which used to mean wooing or courting. (Another fascinating shift over the last two centuries is the meaning of "perfect.") The ultimate electronic dictionary would be one that would both define the words contemporary to the writing AND to show what the modern meaning is. (Allowing for the fact that occasionally writers really do use the wrong word and/or misunderstand the meaning. "Bemused" did this to me.)
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I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
If I'm reading a book that is that much of a challenge, I'll probably put it down and find something else. I read to relax and to entertain myself. If an author feels compelled to demonstrate his superiority through unusual vocabulary, I feel compelled to toss his crap into the church rummage sale donation box. I recently read Darwin's Children[^] by Greg Bear. It very nearly went flying into the box. You needed a graduate degree in biochemistry to follow some of it, but he managed to keep the story moving along just well enough to keep me reading.
Software Zen:
delete this;
Fold With Us![^] -
What? You dont know those words? I guess ou dont read much. I think the last time I came across a word I dodnt know I was about 15 or so. Hazel nuts, chuffed pleased, bracken cut my hands to crap on it when I was about 5, denuded reduced, coliery mine, palfreys horses, velveteens fabric, equanimity fairness, abeyance put aside, coquetry cute, squib a fake. Now I am going to check I actually DO know them! :) Yep. Perhaps squib is more a failure as in 'damp swuib'.
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
I got to admit I agree with you, I am astounded someone with English as their milk language does not know the meaning of these words. Mind you I'm into my 50s and enjoy reading but if my son did not know these words I would be astonished!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
aspdotnetdev wrote:
've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently
You naughty boy! :-). Got to the bit with the flowers yet (you'll know which one.). Also, as a heads up (if you'll pardon the pun) "John Thomas" is a euphemism for the "male generative member".
Dalek Dave: There are many words that some find offensive, Homosexuality, Alcoholism, Religion, Visual Basic, Manchester United, Butter.
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And I am a crap typist by the way! But I read a lot. About 2 books a week if I can. I alays have, my dads the same and my sister too. I gues its in the genes. I shouldnt criticise really, some of those words arent very common and perhaps very much more used in England like chuffed for example. Havr to say though isnt Lady Chatterlies Lover a little old and particular? I like historical novels currently, used ot be into scifi alot.
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
I have no idea how old it is. It's just been on my list of books to read for quite some time (few years)... ever since I heard it mentioned in the movie Phenomenon. I ususally read science fiction, so this is quite the departure from what I'm used to.
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I got to admit I agree with you, I am astounded someone with English as their milk language does not know the meaning of these words. Mind you I'm into my 50s and enjoy reading but if my son did not know these words I would be astonished!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
American kids these days (i.e., me) don't read for the most part. Well, I do, but mostly only technical books.
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aspdotnetdev wrote:
Brilliant.
Sometimes, you clearly remember the original (incorrect) meaning that you made up yourself, and the fact that it was wrong, but you can't recall the correct meaning :(
Regards Senthil _____________________________ My Home Page |My Blog | My Articles | My Flickr | WinMacro
I did that with my girlfriend's middle name once. :~
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I didnt think anyone would answer this post. I guess my sense of language is too advanced for people here. Call me superior if you like. but its just living, learning, using to me. Fortunately I have had the good chnce to live outside of the UK. Its a great experience.
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
fat_boy wrote:
I guess my sense of language is too advanced for people here
not necessarily - I do the same in English/French/Italian/Swahili/German and Swedish - when I was in Sweden last year I read a paragraph in Swedish, and translated it quite well into English, to the delight of my tour-guide - just on the 'concordance' between words I knew in other languages (mostly German) - I also found that just going from the airport into Stockholm gave me more vocab as well .. ps.. Swahili doesnt actually help much because nothing I know links to it, but I occasionally use Swahili words/phrases, and if you're wonder 'why Swahili', I lived in Kenya for 2 years as a kid
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Interesting. Maybe children should be taught only the difficult words and assume they'll naturally pick up the common ones.
My High School english teacher did that 1 word a day... I have an emense mental anthenium of dearthly articulated coloquialisms', archatectural nuances', flora, fauna and the ocasional verb. :laugh:
I'd blame it on the Brain farts.. But lets be honest, it really is more like a Methane factory between my ears some days then it is anything else...
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fat_boy wrote:
I guess my sense of language is too advanced for people here
not necessarily - I do the same in English/French/Italian/Swahili/German and Swedish - when I was in Sweden last year I read a paragraph in Swedish, and translated it quite well into English, to the delight of my tour-guide - just on the 'concordance' between words I knew in other languages (mostly German) - I also found that just going from the airport into Stockholm gave me more vocab as well .. ps.. Swahili doesnt actually help much because nothing I know links to it, but I occasionally use Swahili words/phrases, and if you're wonder 'why Swahili', I lived in Kenya for 2 years as a kid
It is amazing how flexible the brain becomes when youy have leartn a second language. I think the rigid connection of object to sound has gone, and hence far subtler stimuli provoke a recognition. I qas in Schipol airport past year. In fornmt of me was an Englich family.One of the kids asked what Instappen meant. Of ocurse it is related to boarding a plane since it was displayed when the gates opened. But the meerest glance tells you that it means 'step in'. In fact English speakers have a natural advantage since our language is a mixture of germanic and latin. No other language makes it easier to learn either a latin language or a germanic one. And yet we are the linguistic dulards of europe.
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
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My High School english teacher did that 1 word a day... I have an emense mental anthenium of dearthly articulated coloquialisms', archatectural nuances', flora, fauna and the ocasional verb. :laugh:
I'd blame it on the Brain farts.. But lets be honest, it really is more like a Methane factory between my ears some days then it is anything else...
ely_bob wrote:
High School
high school
ely_bob wrote:
english
English
ely_bob wrote:
emense
immense
ely_bob wrote:
anthenium
athenaeum
ely_bob wrote:
coloquialisms'
colloquialisms
ely_bob wrote:
archatectural
architectural
ely_bob wrote:
nuances'
nuances
ely_bob wrote:
ocasional
occasional
ely_bob wrote:
I have an emense mental anthenium of dearthly articulated coloquialisms', archatectural nuances', flora, fauna and the ocasional verb.
I'm not going to lie, this sentence confuses me. But was spelling almost every word incorrectly part of what you were trying to convey, or did it just happen to end up working out that way? :laugh:
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:-D Here,let me help you with that: JABBERWOCKY Lewis Carroll (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872) `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves ..Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, ..And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! ..The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun ..The frumious Bandersnatch!" He took his vorpal sword in hand: ..Long time the manxome foe he sought -- So rested he by the Tumtum tree, ..And stood awhile in thought. And, as in uffish thought he stood, ..The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, ..And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! And through and through ..The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head ..He went galumphing back. "And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? ..Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' ..He chortled in his joy. `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves ..Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, ..And the mome raths outgrabe.
Opacity, the new Transparency.
Thanks for that. I was trying to think of the name of that so I could reference in my above reply to peterchen.
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Lady Chatterley's Lover was published in 1928. While it may seem that words are the same now as then, some aren't. Definitions shift. One interesting shift is relatively recent change in the meaning of the phrase "make love", which used to mean wooing or courting. (Another fascinating shift over the last two centuries is the meaning of "perfect.") The ultimate electronic dictionary would be one that would both define the words contemporary to the writing AND to show what the modern meaning is. (Allowing for the fact that occasionally writers really do use the wrong word and/or misunderstand the meaning. "Bemused" did this to me.)
You might want to check out Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary. I have the electronic version installed on my computer. Here are the definitions given for "make love":
1 : WOO, COURT
2 a : NECK, PET b : to engage in sexual intercourseWhen words change their definition, it labels the old definition as "deprecated" (or something along those lines). It's really quite nice. I just wish I had access to the dictionary data so I could make my own search bar in the Windows XP taskbar.
Joe Woodbury wrote:
"Bemused" did this to me.
Do you mean to say that you misunderstood the meaning of "bemused" or that authors you've read did? Or that you/an author used "bemused" in place of another word (e.g., "amused"). Anyway, while I'm at it, here is what my dictionary says about "bemuse":
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Main Entry:be£muse Pronunciation:bi-*my*z, b*- Function:transitive verb Date:1735 1 : to make confused : PUZZLE, BEWILDER 2 : to occupy the attention of : DISTRACT, ABSORB 3 : to cause to have feelings of wry or tolerant amusement <seems truly bemuseed that people beyond his circle in Seattle would be interested in his ruminations — Ruth B. Smith> –be£mus£ed£ly \-*my*-z*d-l*\ adverb –be£muse£ment \-*my*z-m*nt\ noun
Note that some of the characters show up strangely (i.e., not how they are displayed in the dictionary software).
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ely_bob wrote:
High School
high school
ely_bob wrote:
english
English
ely_bob wrote:
emense
immense
ely_bob wrote:
anthenium
athenaeum
ely_bob wrote:
coloquialisms'
colloquialisms
ely_bob wrote:
archatectural
architectural
ely_bob wrote:
nuances'
nuances
ely_bob wrote:
ocasional
occasional
ely_bob wrote:
I have an emense mental anthenium of dearthly articulated coloquialisms', archatectural nuances', flora, fauna and the ocasional verb.
I'm not going to lie, this sentence confuses me. But was spelling almost every word incorrectly part of what you were trying to convey, or did it just happen to end up working out that way? :laugh:
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.... um..... I was tired? :-\
I'd blame it on the Brain farts.. But lets be honest, it really is more like a Methane factory between my ears some days then it is anything else...
ely_bob wrote:
I'd blame it on the Brain farts.. But lets be honest, it really is more like a Methane factory between my ears some days then it is anything else...
Say no more. ;)
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You might want to check out Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary. I have the electronic version installed on my computer. Here are the definitions given for "make love":
1 : WOO, COURT
2 a : NECK, PET b : to engage in sexual intercourseWhen words change their definition, it labels the old definition as "deprecated" (or something along those lines). It's really quite nice. I just wish I had access to the dictionary data so I could make my own search bar in the Windows XP taskbar.
Joe Woodbury wrote:
"Bemused" did this to me.
Do you mean to say that you misunderstood the meaning of "bemused" or that authors you've read did? Or that you/an author used "bemused" in place of another word (e.g., "amused"). Anyway, while I'm at it, here is what my dictionary says about "bemuse":
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Main Entry:be£muse Pronunciation:bi-*my*z, b*- Function:transitive verb Date:1735 1 : to make confused : PUZZLE, BEWILDER 2 : to occupy the attention of : DISTRACT, ABSORB 3 : to cause to have feelings of wry or tolerant amusement <seems truly bemuseed that people beyond his circle in Seattle would be interested in his ruminations — Ruth B. Smith> –be£mus£ed£ly \-*my*-z*d-l*\ adverb –be£muse£ment \-*my*z-m*nt\ noun
Note that some of the characters show up strangely (i.e., not how they are displayed in the dictionary software).
re: "Make Love" I disagree that Woo, Court is #1 in today's usage; the order seems to be more the order in how the definition has changed since the 1940s. I haven't heard or seen it used in the context of woo/court in my own life time (thought that was the exclusive meaning not long before I was born.)
aspdotnetdev wrote:
Do you mean to say that you misunderstood the meaning of "bemused"...
Yes. I thought it meant amused (as its primary meaning) for a very long time. When I was a little kid, probably eight, I thought rape meant simply attack and said something that very much embarrassed my mother.
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re: "Make Love" I disagree that Woo, Court is #1 in today's usage; the order seems to be more the order in how the definition has changed since the 1940s. I haven't heard or seen it used in the context of woo/court in my own life time (thought that was the exclusive meaning not long before I was born.)
aspdotnetdev wrote:
Do you mean to say that you misunderstood the meaning of "bemused"...
Yes. I thought it meant amused (as its primary meaning) for a very long time. When I was a little kid, probably eight, I thought rape meant simply attack and said something that very much embarrassed my mother.
I'm not sure if they are ordered for any relative significance (such as which is most common). More likely, they are numbered because other entries in the dictionary will refer to different terms and their number (such as when indicating a synonym). But I happened to figure out that it uses "archaic" not "deprecated" to indicate a definition has fallen out of common usage, such as with "dragon":
Dictionary:
1 archaic : a huge serpent 2 : a mythical animal usually represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws 3 : a violent, combative, or very strict person 4 capitalized : DRACO 5 : something or someone formidable or baneful
Joe Woodbury wrote:
When I was a little kid, probably eight, I thought rape meant simply attack and said something that very much embarrassed my mother.
Nice. I used to think "muff" meant "butt". I came up with the term "muffication" to mean "become asphyxiated, such as by a pillow or J-Lo's muff". Hilarity ensued.
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And I am a crap typist by the way! But I read a lot. About 2 books a week if I can. I alays have, my dads the same and my sister too. I gues its in the genes. I shouldnt criticise really, some of those words arent very common and perhaps very much more used in England like chuffed for example. Havr to say though isnt Lady Chatterlies Lover a little old and particular? I like historical novels currently, used ot be into scifi alot.
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
Chuff is a very interesting word - it is an old English dialect word for the "ladyparts" - it can be used as a noun e.g. he is as tight as a gnat's chuff (he is very mean)
==================================== Transvestites - Roberts in Disguise! ====================================
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Well done! :) My velveteen palfrey was chuffed to abey me at the coliery denuding the hazel inequitably startled by a squib in the braken. Ah, and all that in les words!
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
I tend to keep reading and hope for the best. With books like 'A clockwork orange' or 'Feersum Endjinn' that's about all you can do because the words don't actually exist outside of the book. Besides, I have no real desire to learn archaic English. That said, I am reading my first ever Wodehouse! Which is pretty odd, because I've read everything by Tom Sharpe and Pratchett. He's a bit like Shakespeare, you're kinda assumed to have read his stuff, it's like the foundation upon which the language is built.
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And I am a crap typist by the way! But I read a lot. About 2 books a week if I can. I alays have, my dads the same and my sister too. I gues its in the genes. I shouldnt criticise really, some of those words arent very common and perhaps very much more used in England like chuffed for example. Havr to say though isnt Lady Chatterlies Lover a little old and particular? I like historical novels currently, used ot be into scifi alot.
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
Damn! I don't know if I am stupid, or your fingers are. A thread about words, claiming you can't type, and you can't even proof-read what you write.
fat_boy wrote:
i.e., alays gues shouldnt criticise arent Havr isnt Chatterlies ot
Makes one discount everything you are writing (i.e., 1 votes, I guess). :mad: Turn on your damn spell-check, at least. Your writing reads like you're about 10 years old.
Gary