That's Dictionary to Me

I majored in history and English when I attended The University of Houston and The University of Texas at Austin. I taught secondary English, English as a Second Language and social Studies for a dozen years before I finally left the classroom. Because of my majors and my favorite way to pass time when alone, I've done lots of reading in my life.

Especially when reading for college courses, and reading non-fiction in search of hard facts, I've marked up a good number of my books with asterisks and long definitions. Sometimes, the word just get circled and starred to call my attention to, but I don't always immediately go definition hunting. But then, when I find an unknown word scribbled on a half of an envelope, I know what I need to do. So, I still manage to add to my useable vocabulary.

The words and definitions in this list have come to my attention through living life. Those are the words you really need to hang on to. Often, however,We run across new words that don't have a meaning that will last forever: it just kind of fades from view like a painting exposed to too much direct sunlight. For example, I never learned to do the "Machareina," but having lived through the 1990s and being aware of the world around me, I know it was a dance with lots of hand motions. Now it's one of those words you are likely to run across in a TV trivia show.

The idea for the article came to me quite some time back. Being the procrastinator that I am, I'm beginning the list with words I looked up and remembered.


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