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Posts from the ‘Words’ Category

Aug 15

the-grapes-of-wrath
13 Comments

On Stir-Bugs, Skitters, and Truck Skinners

One of the things I love about The Grapes of Wrath? The dialogue.

It’s filled with slang and colloquialisms, and it can be difficult to read at times, but it feels right. I can hear the characters speaking when I read it. That’s much different than, say, Gone With the Wind–where the dialogue seemed over-the-top and goofy–and Neuromancer–where the dialogue seemed artificial and stilted.

Within conversations throughout The Grapes of Wrath, you’ll want to pay close attention to some of the word choices and terminology. Steinbeck included quite a few funny terms that I had never heard of before reading this book.

Some examples (with definitions from Clifs Notes):

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May 25

words
40 Comments

7 (More) Annoying Words That Should Die A Horrible Death

Today’s post continues a loose series of unintelligible nonsense in which I dig into some annoying words and/or phrases that simply grate my nerves.

For a refresher, check out my first post on annoying words.

You may love these words and phrases and use them often. If so, I’ll apologize in advance. I might offend you. But I hope you’ll keep reading my blog. Because I like books, and you like books, so let’s like books together.

Besides, words are so silly. Who needs them anyway? So, at the very least, we should ban the following 7 words and phrases:

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Apr 27

spellingtest
54 Comments

6 Impossible Words To Spell Correctly

Every now and then on this blog, we’ll step out of the world of books and into a world that makes the world of books possible. That would be the world of words. Words.

We’ve talked about annoying words and disgusting words and even pleasant words. And, of course, since this is an English-speaking blog, I focus on English words.

Today, let’s take a look at impossible-to-spell words. Or at least words that I find impossible to spell.

These aren’t words like pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis or even floccinaucinihilipilification (both actual words) that I couldn’t be expected to spell if you gave me 24 hours and one of those wild-eyed spelling bee kids, like this girl, as a tutor.

These are simple words, words that we’ve heard and written all our lives. But for some reason, these words are the bane of my spelling existence. I simply can’t put the letters in the right order.

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Mar 2

dictionary
119 Comments

7 Annoying Words That Should Die A Horrible Death

Time Magazine recently released a list of 15 words that should die in 2012. The list included some rather annoying, trendy words and phrases from 2011—like baby bump, occupy (wait, wasn’t that Time’s word of the year?), bro (as in “bromance” and “bro date”), and sexting.

Those, indeed, are extremely annoying words. But I think I can do better. As an avid book reader, writer, and Twitterererer, I’d like to think I know a few things about words.

So, with a tip of the cap to our friends at Time, I present 7 trendy words or phrases that should die a miserable death in 2012. (Of note, this list is different from the words that make me cringe—which are time-honored words that have been auditory nuisances since they were first spoken).

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Sep 30

Monkeys roam Qixing Gongyuan
23 Comments

5 Wonderful Words That Make Me Smile

I like words. Some words, though, are gross. In fact, we talked about disgusting words a couple of weeks ago.

But the English language, fortunately, is not only comprised of nastiness. Yes, it does indeed have some beautiful words that either flow off the tongue or bring humor to the part of the brain that deals with humor (I’m not a science major, so work with me here).

With that in mind, today I present to you five words that make me smile. May we begin?

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Sep 16

MVC-0022F
87 Comments

5 Disgusting Words That Make Me Cringe

I have a friend who hates the word “moist.”

It’s true. You may ask, “Hey Robert, what does the word ‘moist’ have to do with your 101 Book project?”

Great question, to which I would answer, “Hey there. Absolutely nothing.”

But, truthfully, this blog is not just about the 101 books. It’s about reading words. Yes, I read words. Lots of words. And then I sit down and write words about the words I just read. It gets a little wordy up in here.

So, with all that in mind, I thought I’d list my 5 least favorite words today. These are the words that make me cringe, twinge, squirm and scream. Sometimes, their usage might raise the hairs on my arms.

If any of these words appear in any of the 101 books, you can count on me automatically excluding that book from the top 10 in my rankings. That’s just how I roll, to borrow a cliche’.

Curious? Here are my least favorite words.

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