Thanks to Georganna Hancock at A Writer’s Edge for introducing me to 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know from the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries.
I thought I had a pretty fair vocabulary – I usually do well on the quizzes at Free Rice, which not only helps you improve your vocabulary but also raises money to feed the hungry.
However, there were a number of words on the list of 100 words that I couldn’t easily define, but I had a general idea of their meaning. And there were a couple I didn’t know at all.
I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t remember the word orthography (one of the definitions is correct spelling – as an editor, I should certainly know that word!).
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of ziggurat. I looked it up and found a ziggurat is an ancient Babylian/Assyrian temple in the form of a pyramidal tower. I’m not quite sure why it’s among 100 words every high school graduate should know. How many ancient temples will those graduates encounter in their lifetimes?
However, the rest of the words are useful, even for those of us many, many years beyond high school graduation.
[tags]vocabulary, words, Free Rice[/tags]