How Vocabulary Develops

 Right now, we all know what Remdesivir (or Dexamethasone) is, or what devices are used to measure Oxygen levels, or supply Oxygen to patients. Or have learnt that antibodies are good for us-they are not against our body. In other words, a lot of words about health or medicine.

In 2004, we were at IIM Bangalore for our batch (84) get-together, when I first heard the word Tsunami. It had started in Indonesia, and spread till India, causing huge damage. 

What I am trying to get at, is we get familiar with words that we need, more than others. If you are a writer, you may need a lot of words of all kinds. But for an average Joe (or Jane), we probably need a couple of hundred words for everyday use, and 2000 for non-everyday use. If you don't use it, you may lose it..the word!

But I do look up word meanings from Google (it has replaced maps, dictionaries, thesauruses among other things), and not just English words/phrases. It helps to make sure what I am saying is intelligible to most. I write a blog, you see, I have to be careful..

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