The document discusses word choice and the importance of selecting words precisely. It notes that the difference between similar words can be significant, as in the case of "lightning bug" versus "lightning". The document provides examples of words with related meanings and forms that could be confused. It also discusses how Greek origins can interfere with word choices in English. The goal is to help readers become more thoughtful about their word selection.

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, volunt
eer 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…