Blog entry #40
Lexicography | Loquacious
Lexicography
I’ve found this word joyous to say out loud ever since I watched Erin McKean’s TED talk. Lexicography is the activity of compiling dictionaries. For a lingual nerd like me, that spells happiness and fun. What a greatly enjoyable job it must be for a lexicographer! They get to decide which words would make the cut, and which words would not, based on facts of course. It’s a cool thought exercise to try and define words in a generic way. For instance, try to define the word 'itch' without using the word scratch - tough, isn’t it? Merriam-Webster defines itch as “an uneasy irritating sensation in the upper surface of the skin usually held to result from mild stimulation of pain receptors.” Sweet!
Loquacious
Synonymous to 'talkative' and 'garrulous', this word is used to describe someone who is very chatty. I learnt this word when my teacher made us play the dictionary game. Obviously, I was the winner, and in the process, learnt several new words in grade 7, like this one. The etymology for this comes from 'loqui-', which in Latin means "to speak." Definitely not 'low-key', eh?
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