Donald Trump once bragged, “I know words. I have the best words.”
I have a special fondness for these:
buffet
upgrade
complementary
refreshments
succulent
waft
While these may not be the ‘best’ words, I find them truly captivating! But what are the best words?
All we have is words...
According to the playwright Dennis Potter’s main character in The Singing Detective (1986), Elbow is deemed to be the finest word in the English language.
But elbow doesn’t make it into Dr Robert Beard’s “100 most beautiful words in English” though Efflorescence does (it means flowering or blooming), and the poetic Elision is also included (it means dropping a sound or syllable in a regular word, for example ‘twas).
Since words are vital for communication and learning, it makes sense to assume that we all have a vocabulary as extensive as Donald Trump’s. We all have the best words!
Indeed, the typical adult American has a speaking vocabulary of about 15,000 words...
Yet an everyday conversation requires a mere 1,000 words, while a paltry 3,000 words covers almost 95% of common speech and virtually all media communications. Therefore, most of us have an abundance of words, though we 'get by' using very few.
Our “active” vocabulary is the 3000 words we use when we listen to media reports or chat with friends & family. The remaining 12,000 words are stored in our ‘inactive’ vocabulary. We don't use them nearly enough!
To write effectively, we should increase our vocabulary. We should learn new words and start to use them in our everyday language so they move from inactive to active! The most effective way to improve an active vocabulary is by reading extensively.
Which words are in your active vocabulary?
A word is NOT in your vocabulary if:
1. You've never run into it before
2. You've run into it very infrequently, so, honestly, you couldn’t properly define it
3. You recognise the word... but only because of the circumstances in which it's being used, or the setting, or the general tone
4. You've used the word yourself, though right now, if I were to ask you, you wouldn’t be able to explain what you meant by it
5. You've used the word yourself but since using it, you've discovered your definition might have been faulty or misleading
What are your best words? Share them below.
Neil Mach is a busy English novelist. He crafts stories centred around strong women, loners, and independent individuals. He’s a multiple-time winner of the National Novel Writing month.
