Between the ages of 8 and 10 I refined a list of things I hoped to accomplish in 10 years. I reviewed this list, later than I had planned after finding it neatly folded inside a book whilst packing moving boxes. One of the unaccomplished goals was to "read the dictionary to improve my vocabulary (spelt in an interesting way) and my spelling (at least I was aware)." I used to read books about young girls from 'proper' families who were sent away to boarding school or lived in big manor houses surrounded by acres of land. I think this influenced part of my childhood, telling my parents on numerous occasions that I would like to go boarding school. These young heroines always had a beautiful vocabulary and phrased their thoughts in an intelligent and sophisticated way. This, I think is the reason for my wanting to read the dictionary all those years ago.
I still think that expanding your vocabulary is a great thing to work on whatever your profession. Since I am writing a lot more recently, having a larger vocabulary helps to form the fuzzy ideas you have in your head into rational, thought-provoking ideas on paper.
Every week I will be searching for a new word, a word of the week, if you like. So you can join me on my mission of eloquence or simply learn something new perhaps.
This week the word I have chosen is;
lucubrate
verb
to write or study, usually by night
I thought this a perfect word for starters as the past past couple of weeks have seen me lucubrate for a number of projects! Once upon a time I would have described myself as a morning-person! I'm desperate to train myself to be that again.
*definitions sought from the Oxford Dictionary
*image courtesy of Pinterest
New word for me! I guess I was lucubrating last Saturday night (Sunday morning) after I got home from seeing Amanda Palmer. Normally my job forces me to be a morning person -- and not 2 in the morning!
ReplyDeleteUntil recently I had never heard of Amanda Palmer, since then her name keeps cropping up - strange how that happens!
ReplyDeletenew word for me too, I love this idea of posting a new word a week :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Before clicking publish I do wonder whether anyone else will be interested in my random ideas that I biasedly think are brilliant! Glad you enjoyed it :)
DeleteLovely blog. Hadn't heard the word 'lucubrate' before, but knowing there is a word for it now makes me feel much less guilty about being one of its perpetrators (!) :)
ReplyDeleteIt's an odd little word than many of us I'm sure are guilty of!...Don't stay up too late ;)
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