Do you ever think about the vocabulary you use on a regular basis?  Do you like learning new words?  I do.  When I was working in a high school and occasionally had a little free time I would get on a computer and play on Free Rice.  This is a website for learning that quizzes you on certain topics.  For every correct answer, you earn grains of rice.  The rice would go to countries in need of food.

So I would get on this site and choose the quizzes on word meanings.  It was multiple choice, but still taught you a definition you might not know.  If you got the answer wrong, that particular word would reappear until you got it right.  And it did help me learn new vocabulary.  Some of the words I learned are etched in my memory.  But now, as I get older, my memory has suffered.  So I think I may begin to play it again.

One of the words I learned was pulchritude.  It means beauty, even though it sure doesn’t sound that way to me.  I really enjoyed this game because I love words and I liked the idea of earning rice.

To me, vocabulary is important.  The words we choose to use in daily conversation don’t need to be fancy or unusual.  But words need to be chosen carefully to convey our feelings.  They should never be a way of showing off.  That is not what I mean at all.  But the words we use should indicate our intention in a way that our friends or strangers, or even an audience if one is speaking to a group, can fully understand.

When I hear young people using profanity, carelessly and casually in public, I always think of the fact that their vocabulary is sorely lacking.

One should try to have a wide range of words to use with different groups, as to be respectful of the age of that person.  Using vocabulary for the very young, the elderly, the highly educated and people learning English as a second language are all examples to be considered.  There are many others, I’m sure.  In my opinion, the words we use are important and should not be used indiscriminately.  It’s one way to respect each individual in our dealings with others.  And respect is a very important consideration in the communications with our fellow human beings.