Quote:
Originally Posted by Worldwalker
Some of us have the advantage of having learned our vocabulary from books rather than TV sitcoms.
|
Dear me, isn't that patronizing. Perhaps some of us like the dictionary BECAUSE we have learned to appreciate the meanings of words themselves, rather than just figuring it out (more or less) as we go along.
Just as in example--reading one of George R. R. Martin's books (a paper copy, sadly), I came across the word "destrier". I could figure out from context that it was a type of horse. I could figure out from my knowledge of word origins that it was likely to be of French origin and pronounced "dess-tree-ay". But I looked it up 'cause I wanted to know the details. I'm a horse nut and it's very, very rare that I come across an equestrian-related word I don't know. Found out that it is a term used to describe a war horse (which, yes, I was able to guess from the context, but it was nice to know for sure). I also found out that it is NOT pronouced the way I thought it was.
I have a fine vocabularly, thank you very much. One that having a very accessible dictionary helps me to expand, because I don't pretend to know all the words there are to know.
Regarding fictional words (as in A Clockwork Orange), figuring out that sort of thing is part of the immersion process into the author's world. It's a different issue altogether. I do wish massive multi-character, multi-plotline books (like Mr. Martin's) would have the ability to click on names and places and be taken to a brief, spoiler-free bio or description.