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 ...
