When I was in Zaandam this week I spoke to my 16-year old niece and it was about the most beautiful words we knew in English. She is a very clever girl, I told her that I used the word "vicissitudes" in my blog. "Oh, there are so many funny words in English!" she said and promised me to e-mail her list she collected. Here they are:
1. Abbreviations2. Abominable,3. Ambivalence,4. Anthropomorphic,5. Benevolence,6. Double-declutch,7. Flabbergasted,8. Hieroglyphic,9. Homoeopathic,10. Incomprehensibility,11. Immoderation,12. Impermeable,13. Imperturbability,14. Indecipherable,15. Kilderkin,16. Kleptomaniac,17. Knighthood,18. Knowledgeable,19. Knuckle-duster,20. Labyrinthine,21. Lachrymose,22. Lackadaisical,23. Laryngologist,24. Latitudinarian,25. Leatherette,26. Lickspittle,27. Liquefaction,28. Loquacity,29. Machiavellian,30. Macroeconomics,31. Magniloquence,32. Maladjustment,33. Malevolence,34. Materialization,35. Medievalism,36. Misdemeanour,37. Misrepresentation,38. Multilingual,39. Mythological,40. Necromancer
Well, I hope the English native speakers can comment on this: maybe they discover failures, or may add new words for her collection.
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4 comments:
Wow Erik, I had to look up immoderation to start with, not used much but we tend to say "in moderation" a lot, which is, of course, quite the opposite in meaning.
I will look up a few more for you both when I come back. I have some shorter ones which are quite fun, trouble is my spelling is poor so I will have to check them first! Well done your niece mastering these words in a foreign language at any age!
My younger daughter is organising an international exhibition in Birmingham, comparing prints from Northern and Southern Europe, it starts this week. It seems only yesterday I was read her nursery rhymes!
saw you on Robert's blog and thought I would pop in for a visit.
I took several years of German and did better with german spelling than I did with English.
My last spelling error on a public forum was redo- which I spelled redue. It seemed right at the time! I just need to be more up on spelling check.
loved you boat pictures.
Robert I agree with the nursery feeling. My niece was born when My wife and I got to know each other. I still see how they made a mess of the breakfast table (she is one of twins) when they were staying with us. My daughter is from 1973. Children always keep that part for their parents, and often it's also the other way around, although newspaper and TV make us believe the contrary.
There are a few words I don't recognize. Perhaps some are a new vanacular.
Most of the words are not all that unusual and use in everyday conversation.
I have been told that English is one of the more difficult languages to master as there are many "exceptions to the rule." There are also words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and do not mean the same thing. ie. There, they're, their / to, too, two / blew, blue / course, coarse / road, rode / picture, pitcher / clothes, close
I am not very adept to learning other languages. I am embrassed to say that I live in a bilingual country yet I have a difficult time putting the most basic sentences together. I did not do very well in my French classes. I struggle to even speak English properly.
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