Love Your Dictionary!

I'm talking about real, turn the pages dictionaries, not the online dictionaries. Online dictionaries are handy and quick, but you won't be able to discover chance words or have the extreme tactile pleasure of holding a solid reference work.

I personally own many dictionaries, both old and new. I tend to use the Mirriam-Webster's 10th edition more often, though the new 11th Edition is certainly on my wish list! One of the features I love is the information on what year a word entered the language. (For example, the word "dyke" as a term for a lesbian entered the language in 1942 - something to do with the war, maybe? Unfortunately, the origin is unknown.)

The "word origins" is another great feature. Looking at the origins of English words will teach you a lot about common Latin and Greek prefixes, which will help you identify the meanings of words when there is no dictionary handy.

Looking up words in an actual dictionary will help you in two ways:
1/ you have to know or be able to work out the spelling of the word in order to look it up
2/ other words on the page will catch your eye as you scan and this will expand your vocabulary

Many times when I have a few minutes to spare I browse the dictionary, opening it to a random page and seeing what catches my eye. This is a great way to learn new words. One of my favourite chance discoveries was the word "infundibular", which means "funnel-shaped". I was surprised that there was another word for funnel-shaped, and very amused that a 5 syllable word could be used for a simple 3 syllable word. To date, I have never seen "infundibular" in anything I have read.

Discover for yourself the treasures in a good dictionary. And if you train your child to get in the habit of looking words up in the dictionary, that child will remember the definitions more easily from seeing it on the written page, will expand his or her vocabulary, and just may develop a love and passion for the English language.