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What IS it with that word? In the 29-odd years since I learned to read, I don't think I encountered that word once until this last year. And now I've seen it no less than 4 times since January!
Now, the first time I was pleased to encounter a word that was truly new to me, new enough that I had to look it up. I'm always happy to build my vocabulary, and like my much vaunted typing speed, my vocabulary is at a point where it's hard to see any improvement. Unless I am reading very technical articles, and thus vastly improving my knowledge of specialist terms regarding science subfields, I rarely encounter unknown words in the wild. (This is perhaps exacerbated by my habit of reading the dictionary, but what can I do? I like the dictionary.)
Times two and three surprised me, but I chalked it up to a frequency illusion. Now that I'm at time four, I'm getting outright baffled. Did everybody know this word but me? Was it in some inordinately popular word-of-the-day calendar, and if I look at the Google N-grams I'm gonna see some spike in 2015? Did it appear on the SATs in 2013, and everybody decided to help the kid next door study for the test last year and this? DID I STEP INTO A PARALLEL UNIVERSE WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS WORD? There has got to be a rational answer for the fact that it's all of a sudden everywhere, but damned if I can see it.
Inchoate. It's not even a bad word (though it looks funny), but I'm so perplexed.
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( Read more... )
Now, the first time I was pleased to encounter a word that was truly new to me, new enough that I had to look it up. I'm always happy to build my vocabulary, and like my much vaunted typing speed, my vocabulary is at a point where it's hard to see any improvement. Unless I am reading very technical articles, and thus vastly improving my knowledge of specialist terms regarding science subfields, I rarely encounter unknown words in the wild. (This is perhaps exacerbated by my habit of reading the dictionary, but what can I do? I like the dictionary.)
Times two and three surprised me, but I chalked it up to a frequency illusion. Now that I'm at time four, I'm getting outright baffled. Did everybody know this word but me? Was it in some inordinately popular word-of-the-day calendar, and if I look at the Google N-grams I'm gonna see some spike in 2015? Did it appear on the SATs in 2013, and everybody decided to help the kid next door study for the test last year and this? DID I STEP INTO A PARALLEL UNIVERSE WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS WORD? There has got to be a rational answer for the fact that it's all of a sudden everywhere, but damned if I can see it.
Inchoate. It's not even a bad word (though it looks funny), but I'm so perplexed.
Encouraging Study Finds It Now Easier Than Ever For American Dollars To Rise Into Upper Class
The Moon is Surrounded by Neon, NASA Probe Reveals
Alaska village seeks to reunite with Russian relatives
This interactive map shows how ‘wrong’ other maps are
Chimps and monkeys have entered the stone age
The Story of Mexican Coke Is a Lot More Complex Than Hipsters Would Like to Admit
Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data (People keep saying this, but all I can think of is Invitation to the Game, where the main character finds the even her safety jobs, such as barber, are listed as "more efficient" to be done with robots. It works out well for her in the end, but not for most people. Past results are no guarantee of future success.)
Everything You've Heard About Chastity Belts Is a Lie
Angels and Errors: How the Harrow & Wealdstone Disaster Helped Shape Modern Britain
Why Is Stolen Art So Hard to Find?
The Great Chicago Onion Ring: Why Selling Onion Futures Is Against Federal Law
Cheating Wonders: Beringer's Lying Stones
The mind-blowing science of how Febreze hides your smelliness
Asked to plot themselves on a 'sexuality scale', 23% of British people choose something other than 100% heterosexual – and the figure rises to 49% among 18-24 year olds
Space Elevator Could Be Rocket Alternative for Astronauts
The farm-by-farm fight between China and the United States to dominate the global food supply.
Police Training Is Seriously Lacking in Actual Science
Synthetic Identity Fraud: A New Kind of Costly ID Theft You’ve Never Heard Of
Data show that in Utah, SWAT-style tactics are overwhelmingly used to serve drug warrants
For Kurdish youth in Turkey, autonomy is no longer enough
Scientists find evidence of prehistoric massacre in Europe
Head Lice Now Resistant to Common Meds in 25 States
Momentum builds to stop the automatic shackling of juveniles in court
Israeli Opposition Leader Fears New Palestinian Uprising
Facing legal bills, ‘Muslim-free’ gun shop teams with George Zimmerman to sell Confederate flag prints. (Actual quote: "“You cannot assume everyone who flies a Confederate flag is racist in the same way that you cannot judge every Muslim to be a terrorist, or every gun owner to be a serial killer." Perhaps not, but in this case, I'll take the bet.)
( Read more... )
