If you want to improve your command of English words, you need to take a positive and active approach to developing your vocabulary. Here’s a simple ten-point plan to help you get a grip on words.
lexis
It’s been a long time in the making, but my latest title, Lexis – an introduction to English words is finally available. You can see full details here. Lexis takes a relaxed and – I hope – entertaining look at our vocabulary.
After a good dictionary, a thesaurus is the most useful word reference book in a writer’s library … provided you know how to use it.
It’s obvious that if you want to find out the meaning of a word you need to look it up in a dictionary. But which dictionary should you choose?
The words you use can communicate personal, social, or political prejudice. Nowhere more so than in the case of words containing ‘man’.
In an article about a property, Country Life once famously said that it was ‘almost the most unique residential site on the south coast.’ Purists were horrified.