3 ms·

Great bit of research but what are the criteria for knowing the word? I doubt many western men actually know what a bolshevik is. Is this selfcertified or multi

• gabemart 12y ago
  The criterion is distinguishing words from non-words. That's it. You don't have to know the meaning. You just have to distinguish it from a word-like series of letters. If you incorrectly identify a non-word as a word, your score is penalized in some way.
• SimpleXYZ 12y ago
  Of course we do comrade.
• jobigoud 12y ago
  I was surprised to find Bolshevik in the list of little known words. I learned about it in secondary school during classes on Russia history (live in France) and everyone is supposed to know his Lenin from its Trotsky. Although we spell it « Bolchéviques ».
• kps 12y ago
  I was surprised it was on the list, but for the opposite reason. The others could be excused as technical or niche vocabulary, but bolshevism was critical to the third-most influential (for English speakers) historical event of the 20th century.
• pessimizer 12y ago
  They know it as a 1950s slur for a Communist, not as opposed to Menshevik (which triggers my spellcheck btw.)