Full Kaleidoscope of Words
Traitor. Trader. Main. Mane. (Maine!) Grate.
Oh, Great.
The English language is full of confusing,
confounding, and convoluted words. Most of us wonder at the logic of it all …
and conclude there isn’t any.
Sometimes, even the dictionary adds to the chaos,
rather than definitively defining a definition.
LEXIS (lekʹsis)
n. – the full vocabulary of a
language, or of a group, individual, field of study, etc. [WW #73]
Do you know that the average vocabulary lexis
of a four-year-old is an astounding five thousand words? I love societal stats and
take with the proverbial grain of salt, my standing in them, as below, above or
at the stagnant average.
However, when I stumbled across this site – Economist.com
– and their interesting vocabulary stats, my eyebrows shot up in frustration,
consternation, and determination!
Their data was collected over several years
and compiled in 2013 when a research project they conducted reached its two millionth vocabulary test-taker. Scrolling
down the short list of results, they moved into adult analyses, and declared:
˜* Adult native* test-takers
learn almost 1 new word a day until middle age
˜* Adult test-taker vocabulary
growth basically stops at middle age
I balked. The first item may be true in data,
but speaking of words, how can you “learn almost
1 new word a day”? You either do or you don’t, right? Is there an almost in learning something?
While I disagree with their findings – or truly hope it isn’t true
– that we stop learning new words at middle age (I’m at the
tip-top of that group), I thoroughly enjoyed taking their test. Yes, they’re still
seeking more data. It was definitely challenging and quite surprising – they claim those
who read lots of fiction outscore the rest! (*Native English)
I’d share some of the more unique words with
you that I did NOT know – but I’m going to look them up – one day at a time, to
prove them wrong about us old folks
and our learning habits. They’ll also make great fodder for future Wordplay Wednesday fun! In the meantime ...
Don’t be confused by Toyota’s Lexus, an upscale auto with naming interest: “theory claims it is an
acronym for "luxury exports to the U.S." [But] According
to Team One interviews, the brand name has no specific meaning and simply denotes
a luxurious and technological image.”
Nor to be confused with LexisNexis; although
even the normally transparent Wiki descriptions obscure its definition. Chalk
it up to yet another prying and spying site that “also use proprietary data and
information from third-party data sources in compiling our information
products.”
Meaning, information on you is likely
erroneous on many levels, gathered and available
by yet another source (many – SO many), to those who pay for it.
How does anyone with half a brain think a lexis
of personal knowledge for sale is OK?
Word of the Week: LEXIS. My vocabulary lexis reflects my love of words. Go
ahead give it a try – fit it into your writings for the week.
# # #
No comments:
Post a Comment
Only intelligent, non-abusive comments (preferably with humor), will be published. Thank you for your interest!