The sharper they are, the deeper is their impact. Vocabulary wise English is a richly endowed language and has a choice of words or expressions to express every nuance of meaning or idea. One is in fact spoilt for choice. How many of us have not wondered why somebody is said to have been assassinated when it is plain murder, or why robbing a bank is not embezzlement or why there is a distinction between an autopsy and a post-mortem? Why is a conversation less intimate than a tete-a-tete? Why does a king abdicate a throne? What is the difference between a blessing and a benediction? What is deferred and what is to differ or who is a trickster and who is a prankster? The examples can go on ad infinitum. What is a coup-de-tat? What does it mean when something is adjourned sine-die? What is quid-pro-quo? Who is a persona non grata and what is a sine-qua-non? What is Hobson’s choice? Who is a lion in a goat’s flesh? Who is a know-all? What is a temper-tantrum? What is a chequered career?
Knowing words and expressions, having a good vocabulary can be advantageous. Vocabulary is power; the power to communicate, the power to influence and the power to create.
Improving your vocabulary is a matter of practice, diligence and enthusiasm. Speaking from my experience, I would say reading is a good way of getting to know and learn new words and expressions. Practice doesn’t mean only learning new words, but also ways of using them as and when a situation arises or the occasion demands. In the years during my graduation when I had just started to read and write more English, I would always read and underline. I would keep a dictionary by my side and refer to it regularly to learn the meaning, spelling, usage, and pronunciation of every new or interesting word that I came across. I tried to make a habit of using these words, since a word when it is not used according to its need and merit slips into oblivion and retrieving it may need another attempt. This became an obsession and I used to set tasks for myself to discover more words. When I came across several words with the suffix ‘ism,’ I started to write down as many isms as I could find and the list went on to exceed 100 words. In the process, I discovered some new words like ‘recidivism, syncretism, syllogism, Cubism, Dadaism, surrealism, somnambulism, atavism and parochialism.’ Many of these words had no use for me then and they have no use for me even today. Yet the process that I went through gave me an opportunity to look at these words in context and enhance my interaction with the language.
Having a good stock of vocabulary is not to use high sounding words but to make yourself more comprehensible and lucid. People who tend to use polysyllabic expressions are able to display their mastery of the language but at the expense of reaching out to more people. Yet a serious and sensible user of the language is careful enough to distinguish the nuances in various words and expressions. When I looked up the various words that meant destruction, I could identify demolition, annihilation, decimation, extirpation, extermination, ruination and liquidation. When a situation demands the use of a certain word, the speaker/writer should be able to summon it or he or she may be called laconic or reticent. However the ability to capture more expression or meaning from small and simple words is a tremendous gift and it shows a person’s felicity with the language.
The simplification is not dilution but arriving at a certain lucidity of thought and expression cultivated over years of serious study and understanding. The most absorbing and striking lines of poetry have been composed from simple words: “To be or not to be,” ( Needs no intro)
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where; (The Arrow by HW Longfellow : Pl read the entire poem
Coming back to the strategies, learning to use words in a figurative sense is a very important step towards improving vocabulary. Looking at the following sentences, “He stormed into the room. They swept the test match series. The situation was ripe for a disaster, They rooted for their team. He stood like a rock. They ramped up the facilities. The sea unleashed its fury on the ship. It was a massive show of strength” show how integral a figurative use of language is to conversation. At the risk of being dubbed banal, the words that get repeated over time, and become clichés nearly, are examples of the figurative use of words and expressions.
Many language teachers are at a loss to explain the reason why languages are taught in the school curriculum. The problem has its origin in the thought that a language is another subject. When students and teachers start to enjoy the process of learning/ teaching a language , language becomes life, the representative vehicle of our collective learning. (To be continued-More strategies)