I subscribed to Merriam-Webster's word-of-the-day service a few months ago to improve my vocabulary. I'll be taking the GRE in August and every bit of vocabulary practice helps.
Merriam-Webster has not been very helpful in improving my vocabulary. It has been much more entertaining.
Very few of the words are useful for vocabulary building. Most of the words are either obscure or common. I've managed to build up a fairly large vocabulary, so common is a relative term here. The definitions are what one should expect from a professional dictionary. They are succinct and helpful. The best part is the etymology (or word history). I think they're informative and funny, and that's not just because I'm as much of a language geek as the lexicographers.
Appropriately, the word of the day for today is lexicographer, or someone who writes dictionaries. I used to think writing a dictionary would be a boring job. That was back in the day when I scribbled poems all over brightly colored notebooks. Now I think being a lexicographer would be fascinating. I could pour through modern literature and the internet, searching for new words and new uses of words. I could find out where those words come from, digging deeper into the ever-evolving English language.
Anyway, I would recommend Merriam-Webster's word of the day to any lover of words.
Merriam-Webster has not been very helpful in improving my vocabulary. It has been much more entertaining.
Very few of the words are useful for vocabulary building. Most of the words are either obscure or common. I've managed to build up a fairly large vocabulary, so common is a relative term here. The definitions are what one should expect from a professional dictionary. They are succinct and helpful. The best part is the etymology (or word history). I think they're informative and funny, and that's not just because I'm as much of a language geek as the lexicographers.
Appropriately, the word of the day for today is lexicographer, or someone who writes dictionaries. I used to think writing a dictionary would be a boring job. That was back in the day when I scribbled poems all over brightly colored notebooks. Now I think being a lexicographer would be fascinating. I could pour through modern literature and the internet, searching for new words and new uses of words. I could find out where those words come from, digging deeper into the ever-evolving English language.
Anyway, I would recommend Merriam-Webster's word of the day to any lover of words.
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