Test your vocab

[Reincarnate]

Re: Test your vocab

Some things CAN be misleading and counterintuitive. KFC, today, gets their chicken from a variety of sources although it started in Kentucky. If you asked someone, say, how long the Hundred Years' War lasted, the answer's actually 116 (1337-1453), etc.

[Spenner]

Re: Test your vocab

Your total vocabulary size is estimated to be: 32,600 words

I think it was luck that I happened to have seen most of the words being used in the right context (or in a way that gives them a clear definition) in some of the weird books on my shelf.

[xXAll-ProXx]

Re: Test your vocab

I laughed my ass off at the part where the guy was shocked about how North Korea was a lot bigger than south korea. haha

[Hakulyte]

Re: Test your vocab

Ironically, I can see why so many people would come up with simple stupid answers by being spontaneously asked a question without a solid context.. with additional time/better idea of what's been asked, most of them would probably be right. It's like typing text without thinking and realizing that what you think don't fit with what you're writing.

[Sephiroth28]

Re: Test your vocab

what did i just watch

This.

[Reach]

Re: Test your vocab

Honestly, the guy who didn't know about KFC was probably a bit more justified than the others in my opinion. Sometimes titles can be misleading. However, I'm certain that those people don't reflect the general population.

EDIT: Of America.

Of course they don't represent the general population. Most people know how many sides are on a triangle. My point, however, was never to assume that other people know something just because you do. Most people on this forum are fairly well educated and certainly have above average vocabularies, so it's easy to assume that the rest of the world does too.


Here's a list of words from a standardized IQ test and the % of the population that was correctly able to define the word AT LEAST PARTIALLY (i.e. vaguely correct answers were counted as correct) in a very large randomized sample of the american population.

This should give you a better idea of 'average vocabulary', e.g. words like remorse, terminate and sanctuary are words the average person understands. However, don't expect many people to entirely know what you mean when you use words like audacious, impaled, ominous or travesty (I once offended someone by using the word 'capricious' in a letter I wrote for them, as it made me sound like a 'dick'. I also had 'genuflection' underlined and followed with a (??) on a college paper once, though to be fair it was marked by a TA).

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Test your vocab

He's from Texas he's gotta be right!

[-zeroSKILL-]

Re: Test your vocab

Your total vocabulary size is estimated to be:
37,100 words

Due in large part to just reading anything and everything I can, and learning words from context. I've never seen the definitions of many of the words, but feel I could use them in conversation. There were several words I have just flat out never seen before, but I now know the definitions of each and every word in the list. That will probably last for all of 3-5 days if I don't find some way to use them in conversation or give myself some means or retaining them in my long term memory.

Fun test though.

[Sephiroth28]

Re: Test your vocab

There was only 2 words I don't know the definitions for in Reach's list. Edifice and Tirade. I can see how a lot of people would have a hard time with some of those words though.

[Hakulyte]

Re: Test your vocab

Edifice is a building in French.
Tirade is a one-liner reply that can be said one shot during sketch/theatral context/whatever..

I'm unsure about Ominous, but that's about it and I have the worse score in this thread. ?_?

[Spenner]

Re: Test your vocab

I remember Tirade, three years of drama class and I've come across it a few times.

Edifice I hadn't seen before though :s

[Sephiroth28]

Re: Test your vocab

Edifice is a building in French.
Tirade is a one-liner reply that can be said one shot during sketch/theatral context/whatever..

I'm unsure about Ominous, but that's about it and I have the worse score in this thread. ?_?

Thx and it was already pointed out that this test is not greatly accurate in showing someone's vocabulary.

[-zeroSKILL-]

Re: Test your vocab

"Edifice" has been an extremely common word used in a lot of fiction novels I've read, and I'd be surprised if I found out someone didn't know the definition to be honest. It's not hard to guess the definition after seeing it used in context enough times though.

edit:
same for "Tirade", and pretty much most other words that aren't commonly used in speech. They fit well in text, and flow properly. I don't see myself using 75% of the words I knew on the list in speech probably for the rest of my life though.

[Reincarnate]

Re: Test your vocab

I've never heard "tirade" used in a drama context. As far as I know it's just "a long pissed-off rant"

[-zeroSKILL-]

Re: Test your vocab

I've never heard "tirade" used in a drama context. As far as I know it's just "a long pissed-off rant"

Basically how I would define it as well.

Dictionary definition is "n. A long angry or violent speech, usually of a censorious or denunciatory nature; a diatribe."

Diatribe I don't recall being used often before seeing this definition. And I didn't know it was a synonym of "Tirade" until now.

edit: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/diatribe

That online dictionary is really cool because you can just double click on any word (just like you would to highlight a word) in the definitions and it will automatically redirect to the definition of the word you double click. It's kinda like the wikipedia of dictionaries.