100 Words to Make You Sound Great (100 Words)

100 Words to Make You Sound Great showcases 100 words illustrated
by quotations that are historic, moving, insightful, humorous, and fun
to read. The Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries have carefully
selected them as evidence that it pays to have a strong vocabulary.

These 100 words have been put to great effect by some of our most
important and beloved speakers and writers. Each sense of a word is
shown in a separate quotation. Many quotes are from famous public
speeches and award-winning books. A number were used in personal
letters, showing that it is just as important to have a vibrant vocabulary
in private communication as it is in public.

The people quoted range across the spectrum of human endeavor.
There are famous political leaders from the past (Mohandas K. Gandhi,
Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan), contemporary politicians (Benazir
Bhutto and Barack Obama), scientists (Rachel Carson, Carl Sagan,
Edward O.Wilson), economists (Alan Greenspan, John Maynard
Keynes, Adam Smith), academics (Henry Louis Gates Jr., Ruth Simmons,
Helen Vendler), figures of conscience (James Baldwin, Bono, Eleanor
Roosevelt), and even humorists (Garrison Keillor, Groucho Marx, Sarah
Vowell). They are all captivating communicators, and they all sound great.

100 Words to Make You Sound Great offers a fascinating way to
improve and reinforce a versatile vocabulary. Anyone who is interested in
the effective use of words will find it hard to put down.
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