MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What words do you look up in the dictionary?

DiapDealer · 01-01-2013, 04:28 PM

Reminds me of a conversation I had with some of my friends' kids who felt that reading the instructions that came with their new video games was somehow "cheating."

I look up words that I don't know the meaning of (or can't easily figure out from context) with zero regard for whether it was used "pretentiously" or not. Why a word might have been used has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the word exists and has exposed a gap in my knowledge that needs to be remedied. Since I can do that very quickly and easily, I do so, and move on. Usually the happier for it.

Now, if I have to do that for 10-12 words per paragraph—page after page, ad nauseum—then we can start talking about pretentiousness (or possibly just prerequisite knowledge that I lack).

01-01-2013, 04:28 PM	#47
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,552 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Reminds me of a conversation I had with some of my friends' kids who felt that reading the instructions that came with their new video games was somehow "cheating." I look up words that I don't know the meaning of (or can't easily figure out from context) with zero regard for whether it was used "pretentiously" or not. Why a word might have been used has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the word exists and has exposed a gap in my knowledge that needs to be remedied. Since I can do that very quickly and easily, I do so, and move on. Usually the happier for it. Now, if I have to do that for 10-12 words per paragraph—page after page, ad nauseum—then we can start talking about pretentiousness (or possibly just prerequisite knowledge that I lack). Last edited by DiapDealer; 01-01-2013 at 04:49 PM.