Beauty of Vocabulary: Expression, Understanding and Higher Income
Guide your mind through a world of business negotiations, classroom presentations, sports commentating, relationships, dinner dates, clandestine operations, movie scripts, court room trials and even social networking conversations. What do you get? A web of people expressing themselves, for better or worse, through something we have identified as language.
Within all those scenarios, one thing matters — effectively communicating a message. A regular animal can communicate a simple message; human beings on the other hand, are able to communicate complex feelings, emotions, rules, critiques, etc. Vocabulary is a tool to enhance the efficiency of communication.
To take it back, vocabulary is defined as:
"The system of techniques or symbols serving as a means of expression."
Many fail to see the importance of vocabulary. A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to increase my understanding of language and expand my vocabulary (so I could read more complex books, and express my ideas more proficiently), which led me to the dictionary, etymology, and books such as How to Build a Better Vocabulary, Verbal Advantage, and the Vocabulary Dictionary.
During these studies, I came to find out that the English language is VAST. It encompasses words from an assortment of languages, and contains advanced words that express a concept that would take a smaller word a few sentences to express. No lie, I would read the word, then turn to the definition; it would be around two sentences long.
You've heard the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words." How about, a word says a thousand words? For example, the word "sinecure" is defined as "a position that provides a good income or salary but that requires little or no work." That one is able to explain a complex set of realities.
As I studied more, I found that an increased vocabulary allowed me to express myself exceedingly well. A short pool of words lacks the ability to describe all the phenomena we deal with in a cosmopolitan society; this is the reason new vocabulary words are created in the first place. Imagine trying to describe to your mother how a fire started in your house using the words "the", "but", "hot", and "damn". Could you do it? Is that even possible? Now imagine trying to describe an abstract concept such as string theory or a physiological function of the body with those same words. Not possible.
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