How Important is a Good Vocabulary?
Experts say that the English language contains over 600,000 words and word forms. Now that’s a lot of words. Think about it. How many words do you know? How important is it
to have a good vocabulary?
The Artist’s Tools
Making good conversation has been likened to an art, and in every art form, whether it’s painting, glass blowing or woodcarving, the artist uses many different tools. Our vocabulary
is an important tool that we can use to make good conversation, and we should have the very best tools money (or time and effort) can buy.
Descriptive Words
Having the ability to describe something is an important tool to have if you want to make good conversation. Saying that “Caroline wore a green dress” is an adequate description if
the dress is in fact green. But how much more interesting it is if you say that Caroline wore an aquamarine, sage, chartreuse or emerald green dress. You can change your conversations
from dull to dynamic by varying the descriptive words you use.
Action Words
Get out your favorite thesaurus and look up the synonyms for the word “run”. There are literally dozens of words you can use to describe the act of running. Using a variety of action
words can make your description of events come to life for your listeners.
Avoid Clichés
Now I must admit that I find myself using clichés pretty often. However, if you want to make your conversation even more interesting, avoid clichés as much as you can. Descriptions
like “as black as tar”, or “as white as snow” have been used so many times, they have lost most of their impact. By enhancing our vocabulary, we can come up with own eloquent descriptions
that add some oomph to our conversations.
Of course you don't want your conversation to come off sounding like a cheap novel, but using various descriptive words, action words, and avoiding clichés can help make your conversations
rich and meaningful. So increase your vocabulary and you be well on your way to becoming a master of the art of conversation who knows how to use his/ her tools.
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