50 slides from the talk I gave at the IP Exhibit today (now subtitled "50 Shades of Meaning")

1. Choices, Choices:
Word Choice
(or: 50 Shades of Meaning…)
Phil Holland
IP Exhibition
April 14, 2013
phil.holland44@gmail.com

2. TESOL Macedonia Thrace
A non-profit,
member-
supported,
volunteer
organization

3. Recognize this man?

4. “The difference
between the almost
right word
and the right word is
really a large matter –
it’s the difference
between the lightning
bug and the lightning.”
– Mark Twain

5. “The reports of my death have been
greatly ________.”
A) falsified
B) distorted
C) overestimated
D) exaggerated

6. “The reports of my death have been
greatly ________.”
 A) falsified
 B) distorted
 C) overestimated
 D) exaggerated

7.  Webster's Third New International
Dictionary, Unabridged, together
with its 1993 Addenda Section,
includes some 470,000 entries.
The Oxford English Dictionary,
Second Edition, reports that it
includes a similar number.
◦ -- merriam-webster.com

8. “Provided our pupil is
well equipped with
substance, words will
follow only too readily.”
-- Montaigne
“When things have
taken possession of the
mind, words come thick
and fast.”
-- Seneca

9. There are choices to be made
 Interlocutors negotiate meaning
 It takes two to tango

10.  Register
 Words related in meaning
 Words related in form
 Word confusions and interference
from Greek

11. To break the ice
 Ask students what their favorite and
least favorite English words are

12. impolite polite
I want a coffee. I’d like a coffee,
please.
Give me a coffee. Could I have a cup of
coffee?
Gimme cuppa coffee. Would you be so kind
as to…

13.  to get – to obtain
 to bear – to tolerate
 to force – to compel
 to leave – to depart
 to tell – to relate
 to build – to construct
 to last – to endure
 to keep – to preserve
 to change – to modify
 to break – to fracture
 to live in – to inhabit
 to rot – to decompose

15.  to stop – to arrest – to terminate
 to start – to commence – to initiate
 to end – to finish – to conclude
 to look at – to regard – to consider
 to ask – to question – to interrogate

16.  to put off – to postpone
 to come up with (an idea) – to conceive
 to fall off – to decrease
 to get by – to manage
 to hand in – to submit
 to tear down – to demolish

17.  The City Council met on Tuesday to look at
a proposal to tear down the old Bijou
Theater. The Mayor called the Theater a
safety hazard, noting its run-down
condition. The spokesperson for a
preservationist group said they were
against the proposal…
 The City Council convened on Tuesday to
consider a proposal to demolish the old
Bijou Theater. The Mayor characterized the
Theater as a safety hazard, remarking on
its dilapidated condition. The spokesperson
for a preservationist group objected to the
proposal…

18.  The City Council met on Tuesday to
consider a proposal to demolish the
old Bijou Theater. The Mayor called
the Theater a safety hazard, noting its
dilapidated condition. The
spokesperson for a preservationist
group objected to the proposal…

19. A B
rich wealthy
sick ill
jam preserves
napkin serviette
What? Pardon?

20. “Would you ever want to be
famous?”
 “Sure, why not? Everybody wants to be
famous now. You get much money,
everybody is talking for you, they see
you on the street and they know you. I
would like to be a famous football player
and play for PAOK.”
 “Famous? Yes, but on my own terms.
Fame is great, we all want our share of
glory, to earn a lot of money, to be
recognized on the street, but not at the
expense of…”

21. A few euphemisms
 to pass away / to pass on / to kick the
bucket
 collateral damage
 friendly fire
 correctional facility
 to terminate with extreme prejudice
 to put to sleep / to put down
 vertically challenged
 The Department of Defense
 The Ministry of Truth (in 1984)
 pacification (“War is Peace”)

22. From Thesaurus.com

28. Grading word sets
 minute – tiny – small – large – huge –
enormous
 calm – annoyed – angry – furious – ballistic
 freezing – chilly – cool – lukewarm – warm –
hot – boiling
 miserable – unhappy – pleased – delighted –
overjoyed – ecstatic
For you to solve (go from worst to best):
 wicked – angelic – good – evil – naughty – nice

29. www.visualthesaurus.com

30. http://www.visualthesaurus.com

31. impressionability
unimpressive
impressionable
impressive
impression
impress
impressed make an
unimpressed impression on

32. uninteresting uninterested
interesting interested
interest
be interested in
have/take an disinterested
interest in

33.  impress (in-  im-)
 express (ex-)
 repress (re-)
 compress (con-  com-)
 suppress (sub-  sup-)
 oppress (ob-  op-)
 depress (de-)

34.  impress your boss
 express an opinion
 repress a memory
 compress a file
 suppress a rebellion
 oppress the people
 depress the economy

35.  repel/ repulsive
 impel/ impulsive
 compel/ compulsive
 expel/ (expulsive)
 propel/ propulsive

36. δουλειά  job
 work
αποτελιςματικόσ  effective
 efficient
καθαρόσ  clean
 clear
αποτελεί  consist in, constitute
αποτελείται  consist of
αρνούμαι  deny
 refuse

37.  interesting vs. interested
 boring vs. bored
 ενδιαφέρομαι = I am interesting for
 I am interested in

38. τυπικόσ  typical
 formal
 official
οικονομικόσ economic, financial
economical, money-
saving

39. Verbs
 accept / agree
 achieve / manage / succeed
 annoy / bother / disturb
 avoid / prevent
 award / reward
 be worth / deserve / merit
 beat / win /earn / gain
 borrow / lend
 check / control

40.  collect / gather / pick / pick up
 cooperate / collaborate / work together
 crash / crush
 do / go
 do / make
 dress / dress up / get dressed
 expect / wait / wait for / await
 forget / leave
 get / take
 grow / grow up
 learn / teach
 let / leave

41.  listen / hear
 lose / miss
 meet / see / get to know
 open / turn on / switch on
 close / turn off / switch off
 owe / own
 paint / dye
 pass / spend
 pay / pay for
 read / study
 remind / remember
 say / tell

42.  support / argue / maintain / contend
 swim / go swimming / take a bath
 take place / take part
 talk about / discuss
 throw / throw out / throw away
 want / need / take
 watch / look / look at / see
 wish / hope
 understand / realize

43. Adjectives/ adverbs
 active / erergetic
 biological / organic
 broken / destroyed
 conscious / (conscience) / conscientious
 empty / blank
 ethnic / national
 natural / physical
 nervous / upset / irritable / anxious
 other / next / another
 pleased / satisfied

44.  skeptical / thoughtful
 sympathetic / friendly
 too / very
 ugly / awful
 widespread / widely / worldwide

45. Nouns
 agony / anxiety
 air / wind
 antagonism / competition
 attempts / tries / efforts
 base / basis
 basket / basketball
 child / student
 circle / cycle
 clue / sign / element

46.  cook / cooker
 company / friends / group of friends
 conscience / consciousness
 crisis / judgment
 editor / publisher
 episode / incident
 facts / events / acts / actions
 fantasy / imagination
 fortune / property / possessions
 fresh air / oxygen
 grade / degree / extent

47.  habits / customs
 humans / human beings / people / man /
mankind/ humankind
 kitchen / cooking / cuisine
 letters / handwriting
 mean / means
 mechanic / engineer
 paradise / heaven
 participation / participant
 physician / physicist / physics teacher
 possibility / chance / opportunity
 program(me) / schedule / timetable

48.  room / place / space
 seat / place / post / position
 shade / shadow
 shot / shoot
 sight / site / sightseeing
 stop / station
 stranger / foreigner
 sympathy / empathy
 target / goal / aim
 view / sight
 woman / wife

49.  These slides are available on-line at
the Better English Για Ελληνες
Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/BetterEng?fre
f=ts

50.  Language users must be language
choosers
 Lead students to make not just the
“right” choices, but informed choices,
and (like Flaubert) creative choices…