Experts Say…

Hi all, the response that we got for our previous blogs was very encouraging. You all have shared some really wonderful vocabulary learning and retention techniques. Now, I would like to share with you what the experts say….I mean in this article I would like you all to learn what Felicity O Dell and Michael McCarthy of/at  Cambridge University, teach…

Types of meaning

A. Basic meaning: when you look up a word, the main thing that you want to know is its basic meaning. For ex, in ‘She has fair hair, the word fair= light, opposite of dark or in It’s time to wind up the discussion now, the words wind up= end’.

However, there are lot of other aspects of meaning that it is important to be aware of, particularly when you are studying in more advanced level of English.

B. Polysemy or multiple meanings: A great many words in English have more than one meaning. Look at fair and wind up and their different meanings in these examples:

1. That wasn’t a very fair thing to say (adjective: just)

2. The handsome knight fell in love with the fair maiden (adjective: beautiful)

3. His knowledge of French is fair (adjective: neither very bad nor very good)

4. She has a fair chance of winning the prize (adjective: reasonable)

5. Fair weather is forecast for tomorrow (adjective: dry and pleasant)

6. There is a fair on at the park this week (noun: public event with games and rides)

1. Don’t forget to wind up your watch (turn a knob on a clock work watch so it keeps going).
2. She seems to enjoy winding him up. ( tell someone something in order to deliberately annoy)
3. If he carries on like this he’s going to wind up in prison. ( end up in an unpleasant situation)

C. Synonymy: English has a lot of different words with similar and slightly different meanings. Look these words that are synonymous with fair and wind up (with the meanings illustrated in A):

Fair- light, blonde, colorless, pale, bleached

Wind up- end, finish, complete, close, close, conclude, terminate, discontinue, and abort

D. Collocation: words are used with each other in fairly fixed ways in English. You cannot, for example use all of the synonyms in C as replacements in the example sentences in A. Hair ca be fair, light, blonde or bleached (though each of these has a slightly different meaning) but it is not usually described as pale or colorless. Skin can be fair, light and pale but it is not usually described as blonde, colorless or bleached. Colorless collocates with, for example gas or liquid.

E. Connotation: Words do not only have meanings, they also have associations. At an advanced level of English, it is important to develop an impression of what connotations certain words have. The sentence ‘who is fairest of them all’, for example, immediately makes English speakers think of the wicked step mother in the children’s fairy tale Snow White and the fairer sex refers to women. Fair meaning beautiful or attractive is an old-fashioned word and it has associations with fairy tales and stories about the past.

F. Register: It is important also to note whether any words you are learning have a particular register. For example, apparel is a formal or literary word and to wind up someone is both British and informal.

I want you all to come up with similar words like fair/wind up and their usage.

I shall wait for your response.

Kind Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager, Learnwordlist.com

9 Responses to “Experts Say…”

1. baskaran on June 4th, 2009 1:25 pm

   i want to speak english fluently. learning vacablury helps me to kick start th learning english .very useful, thanks lot for your help.

2. baskaran on June 4th, 2009 1:27 pm

   experts says about english is very good.it is very much enjoyable to read the experts say about english.

3. AnuVeluri on June 6th, 2009 11:13 am

   Hi Baskaran, you already write flawless English. When are you taking the GRE? Do keep in touch.

   Regards,

4. Amrita on August 4th, 2009 4:10 am

   I want to get prepare for the GRE 2011 &Learn Word List.com is a very good source for its preparation. i am enjoying reading over here. Give some more tips on how to prepare for GRE exam.

   Regards.

5. AnuVeluri on August 4th, 2009 12:31 pm

   Amrita, our recent blogs speak from the GRE perspective. Do read them and u will benefit a lot!!

6. poku dennis oteng on November 16th, 2009 3:02 am

   To confirm, I am realy enjoying readig from the world List .com since I want to prepare massively for the GRE 2011 exam.

7. AnuVeluri on November 16th, 2009 7:12 am

   Ohh is it, then you have massive time frame for preparation..you take all the tests available on the site and read the blogs too..get back to us with queries if u have any..

8. online stock trading advice on January 11th, 2010 8:51 am

   There is obviously a lot to know about this. There are some good points here.

   I’m Out!

9. AnuVeluri on January 11th, 2010 4:41 pm

   Hi, would like to know more about you..:-)

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