I came across this article today on The Huffington Post and fell in love at first sight: ultracrepidarian (adj) – noting or pertaining to a person who criticizes, judges, or gives advice outside the area of his or her expertise; (n) – an ultracrepidarian person. If that is not the best word you have heard in a long time then you had better tell me what is because I need to know it! Now to find an appropriate time to slip it into a conversation…
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with adjectives, but here’s a good one to add to your vocabulary: ignominious (adj) – deserving or causing public disgrace or shame It even sounds like you’re looking down your nose at something when you say it. Go on, say it out loud. Ig-no-MIN-i-ous. I particularly like it coupled with conclusion or ending. A humiliating defeat has a very different emotional connotation to ignominious conclusion. There’s something of the stiff upper lip about the latter that is almost the complete opposite of the former, don’t you think? Perhaps that’s why this sentence
It’s time for an ‘Increase your vocabulary’ challenge. Today’s word is: Obstreperous (adj) – noisy, clamorous, or boisterous. Resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner. Unruly. What a fantastic word! And much underutilised. How many opportunities can you find to use this word over the next few days? Perhaps you would rather comment on someone’s obstreperousness? If you’re really lost for opportunities both houses of parliament will be sitting (in Australia) next week. Question time should provide you ample opportunity! Personally, I’m keen to try out, “Stop this obstreperosity at once!” However, as a homeschooling mum of five children
“A man with a scant vocabulary will almost certainly be a weak thinker. The richer and more copious one’s vocabulary and the greater one’s awareness of fine distinctions and subtle nuances of meaning, the more fertile and precise is likely to be one’s thinking. Knowledge of things and knowledge of the words for them grow together. If you do not know the words, you can hardly know the thing.” Henry Hazlitt – Thinking as a Science