/lit/ - Literature

>>8934099
>tfw you aren't even a native speaker and you know more than half of these words
Goddamn it feels good to speak a romance language

>>8934099
>>8934106
Are you trapped in the 1800s?

I started keeping a journal da

>>8934106
that makes sense bc if i learned a new language i would try to read classics in it asap

>>8934116
I thought about doing this too but knowing how bad I think about myself when I'm honest it looks like it could be potentially damaging practice

What are you hoping to get from it if you don't mind me asking? Just honing your writing or?

>>8934123
a number of them i knew from context, but i would look up the definitions to make sure they actually stay in my vocabulary

>>8934123
I meant that half of the words in your list have romance roots. Stuff like
>celerity
>confabulate
>fugacious
>venal
>vitiate
Have an equivalent in romance languages and are actually used
>vitiate
>expiate

>>8934131
Welp IDK what the fuck did I do there but it looks like this is enough 4chan for today

>>8934114
most of these i got from Infinite jest and ulysses. Pretty soon ill have to look in all different sorts of books to get enough words so im sure it'll balance out

>>8934099
It's a nice resolution to have, but these aren't words that you can use in everyday vernacular. People would look at you funny if you did.

What's the point? I'm not criticizing you, just wondering if you've got your marbles in the right bag.

>>8934099
A couple of these are just the most commonplace French synonyms of common English words. Being bilingual, it always makes me laugh when an author exhausts the English synonyms for a word and just pulls something out of a French-English dictionary rather than repeat himself.

>>8934155

1. to read the books that theyre in and know what they mean

2. memory exercise

3. can use many of them in writings

4. its fun, like having a collection of stamps, baseball cards, etc.

5. to get smarter, however illusory that hope is

>>8934155
The few there that I do occasionally see in non-pretentious writing are:

tawdry (take a drink every time a blogger uses this)
winsome (literature is full of "winsome smiles")
torpid
usurious
felicitous

>>8934235
lol if you don't know a word just look it up

>>8934254
i don't have my books with me rn so these arent that representative of what the list will become.

Also i think a good writer would be able to use obscure/fancy words without looking arrogant

>>8934275
ik lol i do that

as long as im looking for words every day, i can take them from more difficult books i havent read, and i'll know them ahead of time

and then the books are more fun to read

Make sure you memorize the definitions and practice with them.

Just writing ten new words in a book each day won't do you any good.

I use vocabulary.com because it has flash cards to practice with and will automatically teach you new words as you go.

>>8934334
Yep. i read the definition from a couple sources and i only move to the next one once i know how to use it in a sentence

>>8934106
>>8934131
>>8934155
>>8934254
posts related

where might I find a comprehensive-ish list of unpretentious english words without romance roots?

>>8934853
that p word means nothing at this point. it makes me so mad

>>8934853
Look up anglish

>>8934099
>dentifrice
You didn't know motherfucking toothpaste?

>>8936355
i guess toothpaste tubes say that in europe? its not seen in America

>>8934112
Pepe looks strangly handsome...