Expand your vocabulary

[HurinWillSmite]

As a player that has english as a second language I can at times find my perfomance ingame underwhelming. I dream of being able to write the way that I see others IG or other games write. I figured why not put some lists that give synonyms or in some way expands ones vocabulary:


You need to learn to write faster? http://phoboslab.org/ztype/

And Moar insults. It's an image because I don't know how to make columns here

[Archon]

I recommend this site for everyone who wish to expand and improve their vocabulary. Great stuff.

[Tathkar Eisgrim]

Oh, a nice idea Hurin! Thanks for posting!

For anyone learning new words (especially English): don't be afraid to ask for help and advice of other players. You will be surprised at how quickly you improve.

[The Man of the Moon]

Clicking on like and follow (I will print that to use in my RPs!)

Thank you mate, for those (as me) that are English-dumbas will be...superb!

[Rattus_norvegicus99]

thesaurus.com is rather handy

[Seven Sons of Sin]

Some of the best writers of the English language use the plainest language. If English is a second language for some players, I want to truly endorse the idea that expansive vocabulary should not be something to fuss over (or even dream about).

Dirty beats squalid nine times out of ten.

That said! This is great to understand other players. There are some folk out there who abuse the thesaurus.

[Daedin]

More vocabulary is always welcome. Even if we do not use it, at least to understand it, as Seven mentioned it.

I can say that when I started playing, while I my english was pretty good, there were a LOT of words I had never encountered before, either at school, university, or my own books, and I am not talking just high english or fancy stuff, but more the opposite: everyday, casual slang and terms and expressions I had no idea existed until I started reading them here.

[Rattus_norvegicus99]

Dirty beats squalid nine times out of ten.

That's an opinion, and we disagree.

[Rystefn]

As a rule, purple prose is the mark of an amateur at best.

P.S. Do not follow that link. TV Tropes will ruin your life

[Seven Sons of Sin]

Dirty beats squalid nine times out of ten.

That's an opinion, and we disagree.

Squalid is a synonym. It's not dirty. It's a different, specific dirty. They're not interchangeable. One is a nuanced word with limited use and obtuse use.

If language is about conveying meaning, why would you ever jump to an obscure word when a simple one can do.

Which is what Rys was referring to.

[The Pretty Prince of Parties]

I tend to agree with Seven; if you go out of your way to use "fancy" language, it often ends up making it sound forced and artificial. Like Seven said, a lot of the best writers I know (and many of the best writers throughout known history) have preferred to use simple language - just because it looks better, improves people's understanding of what you're trying to say (it even became American law, in 2010, to use Plain Language in government writing; if that helps underscore its importance) and doesn't make you sound conceited. Of course, if you're trying to sound pompous, by all means, go for it. It's all about the character you want to play.

Popularly, it's said that one of Dicken's contemporaries accused him of writing too simply, so that his readers "never had to bother looking up a word." Dickens responded along the lines of "I believe, good sir, you've mistaken complexity for quality."

[Rattus_norvegicus99]

Odd fact, Dickens was paid by the word for his books. Alas, why they were sooooo wordy.

[CragOneEye]

Copacetic, frolic, bullocks, sod, fatuous, hoosegow, ranivorous, quean.

[Yma23]

One of my dreams was to see Palas, the grim ranger Drumstick played, give off this simple emote.
*Frolics*

[CragOneEye]

I honestly just picked words I loved XD

[HurinWillSmite]

Last steam sale round I got myself BG:EE and I was reminded of the fantasy(esque??) words and dialogue that happens in that game. As I am writing this I haven't read much of the Icewind dale quotes but I know that on the Baldur gate wiki quote is a lot of interesting sentences. I myself found them funny and I think I will read them again to maybe hope someone sticks so I can use them on Arelith.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Baldur%27s_Gate_series
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Icewind_Dale_(series)

[Razmo_de]

Dirty beats squalid nine times out of ten.

The table says "avoid saying 'very xyz' say instead:"
So its not dirty vs squalid, but 'very dirty' vs squalid.
That said, yes, some of the words in the table do have specific ... direction? meaning? taste? associations? connotations? ... to them. Whatever the right word for that is.

[IndifferentPerson]

Doesn't it ultimately depends on the character? I can picture a peasant saying stuff like "That ogre is unyieldin'!", less so "That man has an atrocious taste for food!", it would fall down to cultural words and the education level of the character, at least I assume.