I am picking up right where I left off last week with Deena Siefert’s fifth reason why vocabulary is important. As I mentioned, this one has to do with making money. Occupational success is the fifth reason. Siefert cited research by Johnson O’Connor, who found that vocabulary level is the best single predictor of occupational success. Success in the business place depends on your communication skills and communication skills in the business place depend on your vocabulary level. Why not use these five vocabulary-building words, along with others that are given as choices, in the workplace? 1. amiable (AIM-ee-uh-bul) A. someone with objectives, aims B. trenchant C. having or displaying a friendly disposition D. disagreeable E. polemic 2. superb (sue-PERB) A. polemic B. of excellent quality C. pretentious D. trenchant 3. flextime (FLEX time) A. physical exercise as part of a company’s employees’ benefits B. a system that allows employees to choose their own times for starting and finishing work C. working extra hours D. makeup hours 4. exponential (ek-spo-NEN-chull) A. profit loss B. an ex-employee C. outlier D. rising or expanding at a steady and rapid rate 5. amortize (am-or-TIZE or uh-MORE-tize) A. an advertisement that did not work for the company B. when a debt or cost is reduced by paying small regular amounts C. to seize an opportunity D. to hire someone on a temporary basis E. to escalate costs Find out how well you did on the quiz. No. 1, amiable, is C. The supervisor said that Fred shows such an amiableness to his co-workers. No. 2, superb, is B. Mrs. Grunder’s work at the firm has been nothing short of superb. No. 3, flextime, is B. Thanks to Merriam -Webster for the following example: Nearly every company offers flextime and telecommuting, with a majority of women employees using those benefits. (Erin Delmore, NBC News, Sept. 24, 2019). No. 4, exponential, is D. The company The Barber of Starkville is growing exponentially. No. 5, amortize, is B. Think of amortization this way: a method for reducing the principle and interest of a mortgaged loan in filled monthly payments. Amortize means to kill down a debt. From the French we have the word mortgage (“mort” for death and “gage” for pledge). Originally, signing a mortgage figuratively meant a death pledge. Well, to amortize means to “kill down” the mortgage. 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.
