This week’s Vaughan’s Vocabulary is pertaining to the truism that vocabulary gets results, the third reason discussed in the article “Top 3 Reasons to Improve Your Vocabulary,” published on the Litemind website. The article cited Johnson O’Connor, who is known for his research about vocabulary’s impact on lives. No matter which factors he considered and no matter how he analyzed the data, he found that one’s vocabulary level is the best single predictor of occupational success. O’Connor’s studies have found that vocabulary typically comes before achievement, not as a result of it.
The article underscored that occupational success depends on thinking skills and communication skills. If you see yourself as a knowledge worker in analyzing every activity you perform, you’ll always engage in thinking and communicating. Well, since words are tools for both thinking and communicating, is there any wonder that individuals who master them have a greater chance of success?
Find out the number you answer correctly in this week’s word quiz, and be sure to add these tools to your thoughts and communications.
1. pat (PAT)
A. sensational
B. a companion
C. a hazy glaze
D. when something is brought down to a simple or trite form
E. the setting sun’s glare
——————-
2. mollify (MOL-uh-fie)
A. to soften in feeling or temper
B. to mitigate or reduce
C. to attenuate someone’s anger or anxiety
D. to appease
E. to quell
——————-
3. deleterious (dell-uh-TEER-ee-us)
A. something that needs to be deleted
B. something that has been deleted
C. harmful, injurious
D. pertaining to a small, wooden valley
——————-
4. hubris (HUGH-bris)
A. rocky
B. arrogance, pride
C. an individual who sees to be the best candidate for a position
D. a keen knowledge of words
E. an animal resembling a hippopotamus
No. 1, pat, is D. After seeing the end of the play, Margaret remarked to Devante, her date, “That’s too pat an ending.”
Sometimes in Vaughan’s Vocabulary all choices are correct. This is the case with No. 2, mollify. Jim, the left end, tried to mollify the coach’s anger by telling him the glare of the setting sun was in his eyes.
No. 3, deleterious, is C. It’s always good to give the third syllable in deleterious the TEER sound. Beth learned that using some cleaning solutions in unventilated rooms is deleterious to her health.
No. 4, hubris, is B. Hubris is the opposite of humility.
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.
