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TDWolseyGuest Post by Jack Milgram
Jack Milgram is a freelance writer and editor who agreed to share his words and an infographic about words with Literacy Beat. I hope you enjoy this vocabulary challenge!
Find your own vocabulary subpar? Can’t keep your audience listening to you with interest for more than two minutes? Do you use words like “nice,” “good” and “new” way too often?
Well, we might have a solution for you.
Make your first step toward improving your speech by replacing some of the words that are responsible for very boring conversations.
And you know what?
We have exactly what you need: an infographic with some super helpful synonyms to 28 dull words that overpopulate our conversations. It’s time to realize that these words have overstayed their welcome in everyday use.
Moreover, when you vary your speech, you improve your thinking. Words are our most frequently used mental tools, and the more of those you have in your vocabulary, the quicker your thinking will become.
Everything’s quite obvious when you think about it.
All those common, dull, and boring words just sit on the tip of our tongues, and using them requires no effort whatsoever. On the contrast, bringing something new into your vocabulary involves thinking quite a bit harder.
That’s another reason we’ve made this infographic. The most difficult part has already been done. All you have to do is to start including these word alternatives in your everyday life.
Scroll down and see how you can give your vocabulary a significant boost!
28 Boring Words and What to Use Instead
Meet Jack:
Jack Milgram is a writer at Custom-Writing.org. He started his freelance career when he was a student. Jack has been interested in writing since he first took pen and paper in his hands. And he never stopped writing ever after. He loves combining his job with traveling around the world.
- Connect with Jack Milgram and read more of his work:
10 Tips for Public Speaking
200 Powerful Words to Use Instead of “Good” [infographic]
w: CW blog e: milgram.jack@yahoo.com t: @Jack__Milgram f: Jack.Milgram
Jack Milgram
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Filed under: digital tools, vocabulary, writing | Tagged: boring words, infographic, Milgram |
Literacy Beat 
I found this blog post very interesting. Often when I write, either academically or personally, I find myself casting about to find better words to use than the ones that first pop in to my mind. A list like this comes in very handy! And not just for me, an adult reader and writer, but I think it could be especially useful for adolescents in the early stages of their literacy development. I appreciate that you included the link to the infographic that presented the information in such a clear, concise, and vibrant way. It would be great if Literature and Composition teachers could get physical copies of this – maybe as posters – that they could display in their classrooms. That constant reminder of word choice and convenient list of suggestions and examples could be effective in forming these habits in elementary students as they develop their writing skills. Also, word choice is an important indicator of vocabulary strength. It is undeniable that a better vocabulary and make you a better writer. This type of information and graphic could be essential to helping students build stronger vocabularies.
So much of our vocabulary development is dependent upon the language and conversation we hear. Continuing to expand your vocabulary simply by eliminating boring words and replacing them with more interesting words that contribute to conversation is a simple idea. Yet, I would imagine that very few adults make a conscious effort to use more interesting vocabulary/language on a daily basis. Which is exactly why we should teach children this skill at an early age. We should be showing them the importance of incorporating strong vocabulary not only in writing but in speaking as well. While this skill is a state standard, we often focus on it in writing and ask students to improve word choice during the editing and revising stage. It is rarely taught in the context of speaking.
Teaching at a Title I school in South Georgia, many of my students have limited vocabularies due primarily to lack of exposure. I’m often surprised when they have never heard or don’t understand the meaning of a word we come across while reading a third grade text. Sharing this infographic with children as early as elementary school could be very beneficial. I imagine introducing one boring word each week along with the words that may be used instead. The class could then work together to continue developing the list.
There are a lot of activities and ideas on the websites Teachers Pay Teachers and Pinterest that pertain to expanding vocabulary and retired or dead words. I’ve included some links to activities here:
•https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/rs=ac&len=2&q=dead%20words%20activity&eq=dead%20words%20ac&etslf=6350&term_meta[]=dead%7Cautocomplete%7Cundefined&term_meta[]=words%7Cautocomplete%7Cundefined&term_meta[]=activity%7Cautocomplete%7Cundefined
•https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:dead%20words
Hi Emily, thank you for your contribution and thoughts. Many Literacy Beat readers will appreciate the links, too.
This infograph would even be valuable in my high school classroom. We assume that students come to high school with a wide range of vocabulary but this is far from the truth for a wide range of students. I have some students who still use academic language of a 3rd grader while other students are above and beyond the spectrum and speak with scholarly diction. Sometimes, as the teacher in the classroom, I have to step back and reflect on the academic language that I am using in class. Which students understand the words that I am using? How can I re-word a phrase to fit the wide spectrum of learners in my class? Will I see this infographic as a valuable tool when implementing writing and speaking for my students, I would personally include tiered words for each original word, that way as students begin to attain higher vocabulary they can move towards a collegiate level of diction. With the more exposure to advanced vocabulary, the more likely students are to begin using the words in an academic setting and hopefully, a daily manner.
Hi Kaylee, terrific idea to use tiered words to scaffold students’ uptake of academic vocabulary.