Bergh - How to Sound Really Clever: 600 Words You Need to Know

www.sandrahowgate.com

First published in Great Britain 2013

This electronic edition published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Copyright Hubert van den Bergh, 2013
Copyright illustrations Sandra Howgate, 2013

The moral right of the author has been asserted

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eISBN: 978-1-4081-9486-7

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To my parents, John and Marion, and 10 siblings:

Antonia, James, Mary, John,
George, Elizabeth, Benedict,
Caroline, Sarah Jane and Lucy.

Boris Johnson: what a fun man. And the reason? His joyful approach to language. To Boriss mind, the ending of the Olympics was a final, tear-sodden juddering climax; and the female beach volleyball contestants were glistening like wet otters. As well as this salacious turn of phrase, Boris has a penchant for slightly tricky words that brighten up everyones day just look at these three examples:

On the Olympic Village: Tessa Jowelltakes her duties as deputy mayor of the village so seriously that she actually pernoctates in the village, sharing the life of the young men and women on whom we pin our hopes. (The Daily Telegraph)

On Roger Federer: money is surely among the embrocations that has kept his genius so elastic for so long. (The Daily Telegraph)

On Norways mass killer, Anders Breivik: Some people will read his dismal expectorations and conclude that this inflammatory guff is what really drove him on. (The Daily Telegraph)

But what do the three words in bold mean? Read this book if you want to find out. All three are in here, along with another 600 or so that are equally fun (whilst still managing to be common currency, and definitely not dead or obsolete). For the last two years, Ive been jotting down the most wonderful words Ive come across (in conversations and in newspaper articles), and this book is the result. These are the words that made me raise an admiring eyebrow, when I heard them trip off other peoples tongues; and smile at, when I came across them in newsprint.

As you read them, some will give you that delightful rush as you recognise le mot juste like iridescent (to describe the rainbow sheen of the soap bubbles in your bath), umami (of that meat-like taste in mushrooms and miso soup) and casuistry (of an argument that sounds great at the time, but afterwards doesnt quite add up).

And also the stories behind everyday words which pepper this book will surprise you like that behind pastiche (and why it derives from the Italian for piecrust); piece of cake (and what it has to do with American slaves working in 1900); and virago (an insult that started out as a compliment to Joan of Arc).

Finally, youll be able to clear up those linguistic riddles that no one around a dinner table ever seems to be able to such as the true meanings of the words nonplussed (which people use wrongly to mean not bothered), disinterested (which everyone thinks means not interested, but actually is all about money) and gauntlet (which in fact boasts two completely separate meanings and backstories, both steeped in buckets of blood: but how to tell which from which?).

Perfect for reading for 10 minutes before drifting into the arms of Morpheus, youll amuse yourself as well as any interlocutor (wholl be relishing your richer vocabulary) with the answers in this book, and also ensuring your diction approaches the level of that most cunning linguist of all, Boris himself.

PS If a words pronunciation is difficult, I have included a phonetic guide to saying it out loud; if its not, I havent.

For a moment she
rediscovered the purpose of her
life. She was here on earth to
grasp the meaning of its wild
enchantment and to call
each thing by its right
name

Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago

(in) abeyance (noun) = to be temporarily unused(pronounced uh- bey -uhns) from the Old French abeance: aspiration to a title, from a: toward + beer: to gape

e.g. Her hair was unkempt and her appearance slovenly: from this, he deduced her love-life was in abeyance

abject (adj.) = (of a situation)very degrading; (of a person) very degraded from the Latin abjectus, past participle of abjicere: to reject, from ab-: away, and jacere: to throw

e.g. One art critic has described Tracy Emins condom-filled tent as abject

to abjure (verb) = to renounce in a solemn way(pronounced ab- jur ) from the Latin abjurare, from ab-: away, and jurare: to swear

e.g.Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has said of his drinking, As much as I would love to be a person that goes to parties and has a couple of drinks and has a nice time, that doesnt work for me. I do that very unsuccessfully; consequently, the star has now abjured alcohol

abnegation (noun) = saying no to something desired from the Latin abnegare, from ab-: away, and negare: to deny

e.g. The late Christopher Hitchens who was a militant atheist once described religious belief as limitless abnegationof self: a celestial North Korea

abrasion (noun) = the process of gradually wearing away from the Latin abradere, from ab-: away, and radere: to scrape

e.g. He spent too much time at work, and the resulting abrasions in their relationship caused them to divorce