100 Words To Make You Sound Smart (100 Words)

I recently got this book at my elementary school's book fair, and I was sucked into it immediately. I love to learn big words and impress my peers. I also adore writing, and now that I have this book, I can use the vocabulary in my stories. My dream is to be in the Scripp's National Spelling Bee, and these are the type of words given to contestants. I reccomend this book to anyone who had a love for reading and most of all, spelling to impress!

I bought this because I wanted to expand my vocabulary, so you could imagine my disappointment when I got this book and already knew most of the words in it. Save your money.

The book would make a cute stocking stuffer for the kids, but I wouldn't recommend it for the educated adult. Most of the words in the book are words you probably use regularly. It is something to flip through on the commute to work.

True, these 100 words in the book may make me sound smart, but I wonder if I use them in writing to the eighth-grade-reading-level public, will I make them feel stupid?

A book I read recently said that we are to write to that reading level, not because our reader's ability, but because today people are sssssoooooo busy and stressed they don't want to take the time to read "harder," higher-level words.

I was thrilled that a writer/editor of other people's words, I knew every single one. So now let's see how many of those 100 words I can use in a sentence (do I need a hobby, or what?)

The lurid (explicit/vivid) paradox (contradict) is insidious (treacherous), making me peevish (irritable) in that it is Spartan (simple manner) and without stigma (disgrace), but is also stoic (show no emotion), ostentatious (pretentious), and fastidious (attention to detail)--a dichotomy (divided into two parts) that is a red herring (draws attention from matter at hand) that is 100 percent non sequitur (does not follow logically).

So there. Writers and readers, if you can catch an idiosyncratic word (peculiar to a specific group), write me at P.O. Box _____.

Armchair Interviews says: The 100 Words That Make You Sound Smart would be a fun gift for anyone, including you--because anything that can make you sound smart can't be all bad. You think?

Words are fun, entertaining, and educational! And that is what '100 Words To Make You Sound Smart' is all about folks. I have purposefully never reviewed a reference title, but this was simply to good to pass up. The editors of American Heritage Dictionaries really did a nice job here in selecting interesting, useful words that can and are used in our day-to-day vocabulary.

Each specific word was easily defined and placed into a useful context for readers to understand. Quoting from an assortment of sources including movies, television, magazines, and newspapers, it was fun to explore new words and to reacquaint myself with some old friends.

I have a suggestion for anyone interested: next time you're taking a road trip with someone you like, take this little diddy with you . . . and have some fun!