I had a life-changing moment this morning. Or really, I guess it started on Tuesday.
A few weeks ago, my boss and I were talking, and she mentioned that Shakespeare's vocabulary is estimated to have been about 29,000 words. I just fell down a rabbit hole of statistics concerning Shakespeare's and modern Americans' vocabularies, but long story short: Shakespeare puts us all to shame.
That's been bumming me out lately. I consider myself to be well-educated, and I LOVE words. However, I encounter words I don't know pretty often, and I just sort of move on. I can usually guess what they mean from context, or my ignorance doesn't affect me—that I can tell.
I've wanted to develop my working vocabulary, but I haven't known what to do. Do I just get a Word-a-Day calendar and hope something sticks?
As I read my most recent Agatha Christie (The Mysterious Affair at Styles), I decided I would make a note of words I didn't know. I'd look them up and record them in a Note on my phone. I'd think about them during the day and recite their definitions so I could keep them in my head.
One of the words I've collected is "jocosely: playfully." This morning when I was doing a writing assignment for work, I paused and tried to think of a word. "Jocosity" came to mind. I wondered if that was a real form of "jocosely," and when I looked it up, it was. It meant exactly what I thought it meant, and it worked in the sentence I was writing. (Don't worry; I was doing an exercise that had me mimicking Jane Austen's style, not writing for YA at large.)
My jaw dropped a little.
It's working.
I know this is a small, silly thing, but it filled me with a happy hopefulness I haven't felt in a while. It's always exciting and a little unbelievable when I manage to make objective progress on myself. It's like lifting heavier at the gym. You don't feel any stronger, but suddenly you just are.
New Words So Far :)
1) Stentorian: strong, powerful
2) Unctuous: excessively flattering
3) Chary: cautiously or suspiciously reluctant
4) Jocosely: playfully
5) Numinous: having a strong spiritual quality
~Stephanie
