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I read a lot, but I have a habit of glossing over words for which I have a vague sense, but not a precise definition. For a while, whenever I'd read something,
by JabavuAdams 18y ago
I read a lot, but I have a habit of glossing over words for which I have a vague sense, but not a precise definition.
For a while, whenever I'd read something, I'd just quickly jot down any word for which I couldn't come up with a good definition. Later, I'd look them up.
It works, and it's saved me some embarrassment. Schadenfreude didn't mean what I thought it meant.
- eru 18y agoWhat did you think it meant? (Just curious - I am a native German speaker.)
- JabavuAdams 18y agoBittersweet joy, rather than joy in someone else's misfortune.
- eru 18y agoPlausible. I guess the word could have taken that meaning.
- Confusion 18y agoI find that an amazing thing about language, that you often don't need a precise definition, because the meaning is clear from the context. Perhaps 'innocuous' isn't the best example, as 'innocent' is well known and pretty close, but it also works for words that you lack any 'hint' for. I looked up innocuous when I saw the title change, but didn't really learn anything new.