On the Vocabulary Can Be Fun website I came upon a strategy of how to expand vocabulary. Divide your vocabulary-building words into three groups. The first category has words you’re confident in using; the second one has words you encounter that you have an idea of what they mean but are not confident in using them. The third category has completely unfamiliar words.
Visualize these groups as air balloons of different sizes. Your goal is to pump up the smallest one until it is bigger than the other two. By the way, this analogy is not insinuating that advanced words are hot air. Set a goal. Joe might learn two words a day; Mary might learn ten. Both are pumping air, as it were, into their smallest air balloons. A college-ruled spiral notebook of fewer than 100 sheets is ideal to write down paraphrased sentences in which the unfamiliar word was used. The article pointed out that context shouldn’t be ignored.
Identify which category each word fits in this week’s Vaughan’s Vocabulary.
1. timorous (TIM-rus)
A. having an uncertain or intimidated disposition
B. prurient
C. facile
D. having an amiable disposition
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2. offal (AH-ful)
A. any item of any value
B. waste parts, rubbish
C. a lookout place
D. one who is prudent
No. 1 is A. Timorous can also be pronounced “TI-muh-rus.” The teacher seemed timorous on her first day of classes.
This word can be mistaken for “awful” if not given the “AH” sound for the first syllable. Waste parts, especially of a butchered animal, are the offal. No. 2 is B.
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3. turpitude (TUR-puh-tyude)
A. strong determination
B. lack of discernment
C. vivacity
D. a vile act
Aside from D, think of turpitude as someone’s baseness or vileness against what is right.
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4. de rigueur (duh-ree-GUR)
A. the degree conferred by U.S. colleges and universities
B. prescribed or required by fashion, etiquette or custom
C. a sharp instrument
D. a lesson in morals
I tell my students, “Professional-casual attire that has no writing, numbers or pictures is de rigueur for classroom speeches.” B is the answer.
5. disconsolate (dis-KON-suh-lut)
A. resolved not to become sad or weary
B. out of order, disarrayed
C. deeply dejected and dispirited
D. unsophisticated
Meghan remarked that the gray sky on a winter afternoon makes her feel so disconsolate. C is the answer.
Editor's Note: Dr. Don Rodney Vaughan is the pastor of Mt. Vernon Baptist Church near Eupora and is on the faculty of East Mississippi Community College, Golden Triangle Campus. Contact him at dvaughan@eastms.edu.
