Quotes Tagged "vocabulary"

Anyone who knew the word slattern was worth cultivating as a friend.

It's when your eyes rested on mine, I knew eyes had their own vocabulary.

A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one.

One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you're maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed.

All of us possess a reading vocabulary as big as a lake but draw from a writing vocabulary as small as a pond. The good news is that the acts of searching and gathering always expand the number of usable words.

One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, working for long words because you're maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed, and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed.

Schist! How did it get so late?” Jaya laughed. “Schist?” she said. “Is that another of your family expressions?” I nodded. “It was on our science vocabulary list last year. It’s a kind of rock. It’s what happens to hot sandstone when it gets squished really hard for a few million years.” “I know,” said Jaya. “But I’ve never heard anybody use it as a curse before. It sounds really bad—in a good way.” “Yeah, it’s one of my favorites. Even strict teachers can’t object to a word from a vocabulary list, right?

One superlatively important effect of wide reading is the enlargement of vocabulary which always accompanies it.

'Stay' is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary.

There is a continuum of values between the churches and the general community. What distinguishes the handling of these values in the churches is mainly the heavier dosage of religious vocabulary involved.

I don't intentionally eavesdrop. I'm not looking for salacious gossip, I'm just looking for vocabulary items.

White rhythm is waltzes, marches, and the polka. In Africa, rhythm is used for a celebratory groove, but white rhythm doesn't have such an enormous vocabulary of spirits. It's basically militant.

Everything is organic. I got the wordplay, I got the vocabulary to really, really rap.

I've learned to create a palette, a vocabulary of ways to take pictures.

I'm very educated and can give you somewhat of a vocabulary, but I don't get to the philosophical side.

Retirement is not in my vocabulary. They aren't going to get rid of me that way.

We use the vocabulary of light to describe a spiritual experience.

I've always been very wordy; I've got a great vocabulary.