Hello, my name is Ann. And I am a logophile.
In other words, I love words. It’s not so much about using obscure words or peppering my everyday conversations with big words. I just love putting sentences together. Mixing and matching the words until I get them just right. And the cool thing is, “just right” is always different depending on what you have to say and who you’re saying it to.
As a writer, it feels like magic when a word I haven’t used in forever is suddenly summoned from somewhere in my subconscious and lands in a sentence to perfectly convey what I mean. But how does it happen? How many words do we know? And how many do we actually use?
Where your words come from
According to research, the average American knows 42,000 words by the time she is 20 years old. After that, our collecting of new words slows way down. The average word total only increases by around 6,000 words between the ages of 20 and 60. For context, there are more than 171,000 currently active words in the English language.
To get an idea of how your vocabulary ranks, here’s an online test you can take to see how many words you know, with your results contributing to ongoing research. My score was 82 percent. I’m feeling good about it because the words I didn’t know included “ferronickel” (an alloy of iron and nickel used in making nickel steels) and “gaskin” (the part of the hind leg of a horse or related animal between the stifle and the hock). I’m adding these words to my collection, but I’m not sure I’ll ever have a chance to use them!
As young children, we’re actively learning words at a rapid pace. As adults, we primarily add to our vocabulary by reading, especially novels. We also pick up new words through conversation. When we read or hear something we like, our brains file it away for future use.
Use your words
Even if you have an impressive vocabulary, you probably aren’t making full use of it. It turns out we each have an active vocabulary and a passive one. For the most part, we rely on an active vocabulary of around 20,000 words to communicate. The other 22,000 or so words stay dormant, only getting called out for special occasions!
And, in day-to-day use, our universe of words is much smaller. Analysis shows that 95 percent of what we read on an average day uses the same 3,000 words. That seems a little sad, especially when there are so many under-used words just waiting to be put to work in your email or blog!
Shakespeare got it. Across his works, he used 25,000 different words. And when he didn’t have the right word, he invented his own. He’s credited with introducing 1,700 words that are still in use today, such as “lonely,” “unaware,” “swagger,” and “unreal.” Compared to Shakespeare’s prolific active vocabulary, The New York Times only used 20,000 different words over a ten-year period.
Give your words a workout
So, here’s the challenge, if you’re up for it. The next time you type an email, write a blog post, or chat with a friend, look for chances to go beyond the same old 3,000 words that have got to be feeling a bit tired. Start by making simple substitutions to expand your active vocabulary.
- Instead of “important,” try essential, critical, meaningful, or notable.
- Instead of “I like,” use admire, appreciate, or even revere.
- Rather than describing something as “good” or “great,” choose terrific, fantastic, wonderful, or valuable.
- Instead of saying something is “nice,” try appealing, delightful, lovely, or pleasant.
- In place of “interesting,” substitute fascinating, remarkable, or noteworthy.
You get the idea. It’s all about letting more of your words come out to play. Nine times out of ten, you’re likely to find they better convey your message.
No more blah, blah, blah
But why stop there? There are some words that are plain fun. Borrow this list of favorites to catch your readers’ – or listeners’ – attention.
- Kerfuffle: When things are in a state of disorder, confusion, or commotion. (The politician’s statement set off a kerfuffle.)
- Brouhaha: Closely related to kerfuffle, but it’s a more precise way to express an overexcited response to a situation. (He caused quite the brouhaha when he misplaced his phone.)
- Cattywampus: My favorite way to give directions when something isn’t directly across from something else. (The park is cattywampus from my house.)
- Lollygag: A nicer way to say you’re wasting time or procrastinating. (I’ve been lollygagging all day.)
- Poppycock or malarkey: Effective ways to sum up exactly how you feel when you think something is complete nonsense. (That show was complete poppycock. Or, the malarkey never ends.)
- Cockamamie: The absolute best way to say something is implausible or foolish. (She came up with a cockamamie scheme to avoid paying the fine.)
- Skedaddle: So much more fun than saying, “Let’s go.” (We’re late, so we’d better skedaddle.)
Once you focus in on word choice, swapping out overused words for lesser-used, more precise alternatives gets easier – and even a little addictive. When you’re stuck for a word, click on your software’s thesaurus option to spark ideas or try Words-to-Use, a website that provides word suggestions by categories such as business, occasions, and romance.
And, when you need help finding the right words to share your company’s story or generate leads, Write Hand Ann can help you craft attention-grabbing blog posts, click-worthy emails, and compelling content.
