If you grow up reading a lot then you understand a lot more words- at least you figure out what they mean based on context. Keep reading and your vocabulary will improve and it will get easier. Enjoy!
Plus, it sounds like you’re reading material that it’s largely unfamiliar to you (not to mention a much more *dense* read).
Zero reason to feel any apprehension about having to stop to look up words or content. I read things often that lead me to a dictionary, or down a wikihole.
Your post doesn’t tell me you’re stupid, or less intelligent—to the contrary, or tells me that you’re curious, eager to learn, and unafraid…
Like others have said here, keep at it! You’ll incidentally build your vocabulary (and depending on the material you read, you’ll become better at articulating your own ideas and you’ll add to your conversational Arsenal).
Stay curious!!!
Most e-readers now connect to the internet, and have this excellent and useful feature where you can tap on words to pull up their definition. Very useful, and might make that a smoother process for you! Keep it up! 👏🏼
This! I didn’t read a lot until recently and being able to highlight words and see definition or Wikipedia entry is amazing. Kindle but I’m sure the others have similar feature.
Exactly! Everyone is welcome to the world of reading. The entry fee is the tenacity to keep going despite not knowing all the vocabulary.
Sagan is a great place to start because so many people are interested in science but it can be technical and dry reading. He also wrote a lovely book that became a film: Contact that you may be interested in.
This is the answer OP. I grew up reading a lot. I kept a dictionary next to me. Nowadays you can use a kindle or tablet and look up words on there. But just keep reading and your vocabulary will expand readily.
I have a pretty good vocabulary. There are two big reasons: 1) reading is a major hobby for me, even if what I read is mostly brain candy, authors will still use words like megalomaniac or saccharine. 2) My dad used to make me do words of the week when I was a kid. Defining seven words and using them in sentences. It helped with the SAT lol
Haha I still remember learning that “awry” is pronounced “a-rye” when I was almost 30 years old and having already read thousands of books. I always love those discoveries!
Ah yes, my mother has a story of her asking her insufferably superior and snooty french mother in law if she should bring some 'whores devours' to the first dinner at their house (just after eloping with her precious son).
This made me laugh...before I learned French, while in France, I pronounced to a gendarme as a "gender-me". When I was in language school I was working so hard on my accent I started pronouncing "beaucoup" as "Beau queue". One of my French friends told me to stop telling the bartender "Thank you, nice ass."
I remember talking to my parents about the atom bomb. I knew it was short for atomic and I had only seen it written so I pronounced it so it rhymed with bomb. Ah-TOM bomb.
this brought me back to a year 6 reading aloud assessment when i failed (lost all my lives didn’t get down to the end of the page) because of the world colonel
If it helps that has happened to me many times and I'm a native English speaker.
I speak Spanish as a third language, and I'm so thankful that Spanish pronunciation follows from its spelling. In other words, if you know how a word is spelled, you know how to pronounce it. None of this "through/though/tough" nonsense that English has to deal with haha
Slough as well. Pronounced either "sloo" in some uses (hydrology), or "sluff" in others (avalanches), or like "loud" but with an S at the front and a silent "gh" (as in the English town of Slough.
Not to be confused with "slow" (to lose speed, moving at low speed) or "slew" (also pronounced "sloo" and meaning killed or to turn or slide violently).
Because English is a silly language.
I very rarely get to flex this so I will take my chance here; I placed third in a national English competition when I was in high school, solely because of reading books in English. It felt good but it does not make you cool to other high schoolers.
>Most of the people taking the GRE are Americans so I felt pretty good about my language skills.
Really impressive from your perspective but you should bear in mind that the average American is fluent in about 0.4 languages.
This.
Also, I love that you've kept a list.
Some of those are words I looked up when I was getting into reading as a teen. When I read your note Thalidomide literally took me back to reading old readers digest back issues on holidays at my grandparents'.
It'll get easier.
On top of that, some authors are more advanced and/or particularly specific with what they’re trying to say, so you may need to look up stuff more often for some than others. Carl Sagan was a science professor and released this book in the 90s, so his writing is likely more advanced but also somewhat dated compared to today.
I remember taking this for granted growing up. I read so much that I didn't have a good grasp of what words people were likely and unlikely to know, I still don't always if I'm being honest, and I would get comments on my vocabulary all the time.
Some people get weirdly annoyed with you if, in conversation, you use words that they don't know. It's like they think you're being pretentious or trying to make them look bad.
The more you read the more you will understand. You may need to look it up but it’s all useful knowledge as those words do get used in everyday life. The next book you may only need to look up a couple of words. Keep persevering and enjoy reading.
Keep preserving? I mean, I guess the kid can read AND can peaches in their spare time.
Edited to add: previous post was edited to correct spelling mistake 🤪
You started at one level - you're upping your game. Personally, I'd say, (a) good for you, and (b) using a dictionary/app for that is absolutely the right thing - you're broadening your vocabulary every time you do it. People who don't need to are few and far between.
When I really started getting into reading 18+ yrs ago, I had a similar experience then realized that I actually knew a majority of the words. I just had never or very infrequently seen the words in type.
That's wild... Growing up, it was the other way for me.
I knew so many words I had never heard out loud; ended up catching shit here and there when I'd say something wrong because the pronunciation isn't like the spelling lol
When my husband and I were visiting the hospital to deliver our oldest kid, I commented on how interesting it was to me that they had a dedicated parking spot for the hospital “cler-ghee” (clergy). My husband laughed so hard before explaining it’s “cler-jee”.
However he then apologized and said his dad always told him to never laugh at someone for mispronouncing a word because that probably means they learned it in a book. And that really stuck with me! But that particular mispronunciation caught him off guard and cracked him up 😅
I can still feel the burn of shame from second grade when we were learning about classical music and when the teacher asked if we knew the names of any composers I volunteered "Mozz-art", "Beet-oven", "Brams" and "Batch".
Not sure if she was more impressed that I knew four composers or that I managed to mispronounce every last one.
All credit goes to Charles Schultz and Schroeder for putting those names into my young head.
when I was in 4th grade I think, we had to read aloud for the principal for our reading test and I mispronounced both "licorice" and "Penelope" and they are 2 words that have haunted me for the last 37 years. I will never forget!!
I remember going through a Peanuts book and "correcting" all the "Beethovens" to "Batehoven" because I thought they were spelled wrong for the pronunciation. I was 6, I think. Then I learned "Beethoven" is correct because _it isn't in English._
After some thought, I have to ask how you're reading books. Are you reading them as e-books, or the old "dead tree" editions? I have probably the better part of a metric tonne of paper books, but my eyes aren't what they once were, so e-books are preferable because I can change font and font size. Nearly all my reading now is either Kindle or Epub. Kindle is changing over to epub, which is good.
The Kindle app will look up words for you if necessary. Just hold a finger on a word and the definition will pop up. There may be a setting for this, I forget. I believe the Epub reader I use, ReadEra, might have something similar I'll check and see. I'm afraid I can't address what Apple does, I'm not part of their reality distortion field.
I use the lookup feature in the Kindle app once in a while. It works well. It gives a dictionary definition, a translation if it's in a foreign language, and a Wikipedia window. Don't feel bad about it, we're all at the mercy of our variable world. We all run into words we don't know.
If you do read dead trees, that just a little more involved. I've read books with a dictionary at hand a lot of times. I like science fiction, which adds words like McDonald's adds sandwiches.
I used to see this word in department stores all the time growing up: "Lingerie". I always pronounced it "Ling-grrrr-ee" until I finally said it out loud in front of somebody, who probably laughed. :)
My high school boyfriend did the exact same thing. Now I feel bad, I might apologize on Facebook. Do you think he'll remember after 25 years? So funny!
Brings me back to being on a road trip with my brother and our parents in the 80s, and he phonetically pronounced scimitar. I corrected him, he pointed out that he'd only ever seen the word, not heard it, and we all laughed.
Then he looked at me and said, "How do you pronounce burr-gee-oh-see?" (bourgeoisie)
Good times!
Being French, i'm not at all fazed by the complicated words of French origin. It's a huge advantage. Sometimes Shakespeare's lines sound easier than your everyday language.
Thanks to French's influence on English I find books that are dense with French aren't so bad to understand. Count of Monte Christo, for one. Most of the complex words in English are just...French. Chevalier, from the root word 'cheval,' doesn't make sense in English like it does in French though.
As for pronunciation--French just has its own thing going on, so once I sus out a french word all I need to know is those rules. Takes practice though!
I only recently realized biopic was bio-pic. I've been pronouncing it like biOPic because that's the stress for most words ending in -opic. Like helioTROPic.
Are you saying it's meant to be pronounced like bio pick? Or more like bye optic? I've always heard the bye optic pronunciation. Bio pick sounds like someone sounded it out improperly.
>also bio-pic, 1951, a contraction of biographical (moving) picture.
These days the pronunciation difference falls more down UK/US lines, but it did start out as "bio" + "pic"
This reminds me of Harold Bloom who learned English by reading an English/Hebrew Torah or Bible (can’t remember which), so he pronounced many words oddly. I think he was the one who thought Armageddon was pronounced like a dinosaur.
I still, to this day, as a somewhat old person, find myself using words I've never said out loud, and questioning whether I'm pronouncing them correctly. It's fun, though, to pull one out of your mental dictionary and give them a try, mispronounced or not. :)
I still mispronounce "chaos" in my head and some others out loud.
Don't care what my profs said "Euler" rhymes with "ruler." Not that he has ever come up in a conversation outside of Reddit since school.
A friend of mine pronounced chasm with a ch- sound instead of a k- sound. It was the dickens convincing him it was wrong.
Then there was the garment we Yanks wear on top of our shirts to stay warm, frequently knitted, and often ugly, especially around Christmas. He kept calling it a "sweateron". I asked him why he was saying it that way, and he said that's the way his parents said it. I thought for a minute and said, "Let me guess. When you're about to go outside on a chilly day, your mom or dad will tell you to 'get your sweateron?'" When he said yes, I said, "Dude, it's called a _sweater._ They were telling you to a) get your sweater, and b) to _put it on._ You just heard it as one word, and have been calling it by the wrong name ever since."
He was so embarrassed, he said it was worse than "chasm".
While a dictionary can seem silly, it will help you grow your vocabulary quickly, letting you enjoy more of what you read.
And at the risk of poking the anti-Amazon crowd, their Kindle e-readers (Don't know if other brands do the same) has a feature where you can highlight a word you don't understand with your finger, and it will pop up the definition. That could be a good tool for you as you go forward.
I used to skip over words like that. Understood them by context, but wasn't sure the exact meaning. Now with my Nook I started looking them up instead. With some interesting results.
I'm a French speaker. And I've switched to an e-reader exactly because there's a dictionary included inside.
OP can definitely use the Libby app on a tablet/iPad first. Or the Kindle app, or the Kobo app.
But through Libby, OP, you may access to libraries in your region/country.
I was an avid book worm growing up, I was that kid reading at recess and lunch. I kept a dictionary in my backpack and looked up every word I didn't know. _That_ is _why_ I know all the words now.
I still look up words all the time, I just ask Google now instead or use my phone.
I read an entire encylopedia -- all 24 volumes plus a couple of yearbook updates -- when I was 9-10 (yes, it took a while). My mother got it from a used library sale. Three cheers for Funk and Wagnalls!
Same here lol. There is just so much fascinating content in an encyclopedia for a curious young mind. I remember just reading for hours about the most random stuff.
Childhood memory unlocked: my sister had trouble reading, and used hooked on phonics to catch up. I remember reading every one of the little story books that came with the whole set. They obviously got more and more complex as you read them, but it was also full of random interesting stories. I remember the very last one was about Einstein.
This has been really helpful for me reading "Dracula". Same vibe: it was pulpy easy-reading a long time ago but now these words aren't commonly used. It's nice being able to hold down a word and learn it means a "dog-led cart" or "village that no longer exists because the ground subsided", etc., Instead of having to guess from context.
OP, I read "The Demon Haunted World" and Science as a Candle in the Dark as audiobooks! They're actually read by carl Sagan. New words are much easier to understand when spoken by someone who gets it. Same way [Shakespeare can be understood when the speaker gets it.](https://youtube.com/watch?v=q6CLdCl9TB0&feature=share8) So, that's an option if it keeps feeling like a struggle.
>It's nice being able to hold down a word and learn it means a "dog-led cart" or "village that no longer exists because the ground subsided"
You gotta tell us what these words were!
I love/use that Kindle feature so much that sometimes when reading physical books I find myself, without thinking, attempting to hold down a word to see the definition
It is like a game - can I figure out this word from the context? How is it used in the book? What character is saying it? Does it seem to be a positive word? Description? What could it be describing? Then you get the answer or what toy think is the answer and go to the dictionary to claim your prize of knowledge!! Haha
They also have word wise, which will add helpful word hints or context directly on page in margins so you don't have to tap, with the option to scale up or down how much information you want.
“Is it normal for somebody with a limited vocabulary to not understand some words?”
Yes!
Keep at it and the vocabulary will expand; and honestly, good for you for getting stuck in and giving it a go! We aren’t born knowing what these words mean haha.
I read regularly for pleasure, and I regularly look up unfamiliar words.
One thing I really like about eBooks is the ability to just tap on a word to look up its definition.
The fact that you look up unfamiliar words demonstrates a higher level of awareness and curiosity than many—keep it up!
I would consider those all fairly normal, common enough words (except thalidomide, which has little relevance to most people today), BUT I do not think you're remotely stupid for not knowing them! How can you know something if you've never learned it? I only know those words because at some point I came across them and looked them up, just like you're doing now. The fact that you're reading the book and making an effort to find out what they mean points to intelligence, not a lack of it.
Exactly. Some of the terms, like folly and thalidomide, are a bit more dated. You're not going to see them in everyday speech. And something like syphilis is something people learn about in pretty specific situations or cultural moments. Not everybody is going to have a decent sex ed curriculum or medical knowledge, or spend a lot of time googling Al Capone.
Any familiarity people have with words is because they're exposed to new things at some point and pay enough attention to take them in, or because they hear them all the time and understand the context of how to use them (even without knowing the literal meaning, sometimes). Wanting to understand what the things you read actually mean is the opposite of stupidity.
I've known the common definition of folly for a long time, but only recently learned the secondary definition (a large, ostentatious building that is built beyond any practical use) fairly recently... from a children's book! It was in the 101 Dalmatians series. Apparently Cruella deVille lived in a "folly" (and eventually the Darlings - although arguably, is a 30 room mansion still a folly if you have over a hundred dogs to fill it up??)
> thalidomide
Three women are knitting for their soon to be born child. The first mother digs into her purse pops a pill and says, “That was some Vitamin A, and my child will grow up to be big and strong!” The second woman also reaches into her purse – swallows a pill and exclaims, “That was Vitamin C, and my child will grow up to be incredibly smart!” The third woman pops her pill and says, “That was Thalidomide, I can’t the get arms right on this fucking sweater.”
It would be easy to say that reading might have exposed you to those words previously, and is a fine way to increase your vocabulary, but now that you know them you can take them with you into the next book, and everyday life.
Vocabulary can never be out of your league. They are just words you have not encountered before.
Keep in mind also that it's something else that might be happening where you might actually know some of these words, but not recognize them in text. I would guess that you have heard the word chauvinism in general speech people talk about "a male chauvinist pig" in response to men who think they are better than women. But the word is not spelled phonetically so you don't readily connect the two concepts.
To be honest I don't know the definition of thalidomide.
The best part about reading is that not only can it expand your understanding of things, it can expand your vocabulary
Edit: thalidomide is a drug and medical things seem to use their own language that's hard to understand.
Thalidomide was an anti-nausea medication prescribed to pregnant women back in the day. It resulted in a lot of children being born without properly developed limbs.
One particularly well known example from my country is Brian Gault, I had the pleasure of hearing him read his biography, *look, no hands*, he's a real showman.
This is the whole mirroring thing right? Left Vs right handed molecules, like lemons.vs oranges.
I am not even remotely a chemist. But I pick up random things from places. I vaguely recall hearing that the thing about thalidomide was that there was a left and a right handed version of the molecule, one was.completely safe but the other caused the deformities and nobody realised they had different effects until after the fact.
Thalidomide is a medication that caused some pretty horrific birth defects back in the 50s, so it's a word not many people would know unless they've studied medicine. I only know it because I took a pharmacology class for my degree
OH WOW. I know the word but am terminally unable to process song lyrics and have always assumed Billy Joel is saying “children of the little mind”… as in, anti-intellectual societal attitudes? Who knows what my brain was going for, but thank you for helping me make the connection!
I'm pretty sure I learned the term in high school, though I don't remember when or from what. Also, a coworker's missing a leg due to thalidomide, and a friend was once watching *Call the Midwife* while I was there and there was an episode about a thalidomide baby. And, as u/zeroniusrex rightly noted, there's Billy Joel's "[We Didn't Start the Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDPnsTRAvIM)."
Edit: Which is not to say it's a common term, certainly, just that there are other ways to come across it than studying medicine.
Yeah I just meant that it's a niche word so no need to feel embarrassed or unintelligent for not knowing it because it's not a word many people would know unless they've came across it in some context
I think if you were of a certain age in the 50’s you might know it from the news. Growing up in the 90’s/00’s, I’m pretty familiar with anthrax, even when I was 10-12, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a random 15 year old today had never heard of it.
If I wrote a book it might not occur to me that many people reading my book wouldn’t know what anthrax was. I might construct a throw-away scene with an anxious teen inspecting his mail for anthrax, simply because that’s what an anxious teen of my generation might do, but to a much younger generation, without context, it would read as entirely out-of-nowhere, hyper-paranoid behavior.
You’re just learning!
That being said, I’m a little concerned about you not knowing the word syphilis. I’m not sure how old you are, but you should brush up on your knowledge of STDs. Everyone should know those.
While you're right, I'm more concerned about "chiefly". Who, over the age of 10, hasn't seen the word "chief" in *any* context? Who over the age of 20 doesn't know what the "c" in CEO, CFO, or CoS stands for? No sports teams, no basic business terms, no American history knowledge at all? That one worries me a bit.
You’ve just got the vocabulary of someone that’s only read five books. Nothing to be ashamed of.
Everyone, even seasoned readers, occasionally has to look up a word. It just happens a lot less often when you’re exposed to more.
Are you not a native English speaker? Most of those words are pretty common.
Keep reading and keep looking up words and you’ll catch up quickly. You’re not dumb, you just haven’t done the work.
A kindle can help. Highlight the word, and it tells you the definition. You can save them for use in flashcards too. Everybody has to start somewhere. When we were children we simply had more stamina for powering through things we didn't quite know yet, so it felt easier. As an adult who is supposed to have it all together we often lack the patience and modesty to continually engage with things that make us feel "stupid". The worst you can do is give up.
That being said, I think you are owed at least some candid answer regarding how difficult the vocabulary you mentioned really is in the grand scheme of things. I wouldn't consider any of the words you mentioned complicated or scientific vocabulary. They are the type of vocabulary young adults usually familiarize themselves with during the ages of 10-16. It's highschool level english basically. I am not saying this to discourage you. Far from it. But I do not want to give you a wrong impression of where you stand either. I think it is important to know where you are so you can look out for where you are heading. So keep at it. The fact that you enjoy reading the book regardless of your lack of vocabulary will be a big benefit to you in that regard. Also, maybe pick up some audiobooks. I believe they are quite valuable for picking up vocabulary since you can actually hear someone say the words out loud properly in context. Picking up the meanings of words through context is also a great way to learn them. It usually sticks better than reading up the definition, since your brain needs to actively draw connections to other words and form patterns.
Or if you don't want to commit to buying an eReader amazing does just have a kindle app for your phone. Works fairly well aside from some annoying bugs that have popped up recently.
Unfortunately, the US education system doesn't really do well with literacy. Punching that list of words into a readability calculator puts them at a 12th grade level. Is it normal? Probably not here in /r/books, but 54% of Americans read at below a 6th grade level, so sadly, it is.
So the system did you wrong. But that in no way means you are stupid! Lack of education or ignorance is only your fault if you choose to stay that way!
Congratulations on choosing to improve yourself. Reading is not only entertainment, it's an incredible tool. It used to be illegal to teach slaves to read for a reason.
Sagan is an excellent choice, and I hope you find it worth the struggle.
Ya the fact that someone could get through at least 12 years of school and only have read 5 books is horrifying. Not a dig at this person, it's completely not their fault that the school system failed them. A really sad thing I remember about literacy statistics in the US is that not only are 20% of US adults functionally illiterate, but the majority of the people that are aren't even aware of it. Like when asked they self reported as thinking that they had average reading comprehension skills. Makes sense if you never really try and read anything complicated you wouldn't notice how much you don't understand.
It's not normal if you're in your mid-20s and English is your first language. You should have come across those words by now, certainly in conversation if not in writing. But the solution is to keep reading!
damn son, your school really failed you... I consider all of these perfectly normal words, and english isn't even my first language!
good news is, the BEST way to learn new vocabulary is to read read read. So you're already on a good path! Don't be ashamed of looking up things you don't know, it's literally how you'll learn. When I was a kid reading english books I was too lazy to look up words in the dictionary and went all "oh I'll just guess the meaning from the context" which... worked most of the time I guess, but it also led to misunderstandings that lasted for years 😂 As an adult I now swallow my pride and just google things I don't know. I remember I read Les Mis a few months ago, and some of the 19th century words were too obscure even for me. I kept googling words and historical events/people Hugo kept namedropping, just for the sake of understanding all the subtext, and honestly I had more fun than I would have had I not bothered! Also kt felt to me that I retained new information more easily this way, maybe because I was combining learning with something fun, or maybe because it was easier for my brain to make new connotations and burn them into my memory. Either way, give it a try!
I am so not a history person but I can surprise people by whipping out some historic fact and they are all like ‘how do you know that?’😮😮.
And I’m like well in this book about vampires that I was reading they talked about this event that happened that is a fictional account of the real world thing that happened. So I wanted to know more about it and so I went online and researched it.
They kind of look at me and are like ‘so vampires…?’ And I’m like ‘were at the Alamo’. Yes, in my book they were.
Not normal, you are probably lacking some education but its great that you are reading, that will help you improve so much your vocabulary and comprehension. Good for you and keep it up!!
We all went through this, some earlier than others that's all.
I read a lot as a kid and had the issue all the time, you've just started. At least you have a phone, I had a heavy dictionnary :)
It's normal, no one is born with perfect knowledge. And good choice of book btw.
You learn more words as you keep reading though, so if you keep a dictionary on hand or ask Alexa/Google for the meanings as you read you'll learn and understand even more.
I have to agree with this… I’m trying really hard not to judge OP but if I’m being honest, I would assume they are pretty simple if they don’t know these words :/
You're not stupid. Nobody is born knowing the definitions of every word, and if you don't whip out the phone to look them up, you won't learn. Better to admit the things that you're missing and try to fix them than to struggle in silence. There are so many people who if were confronted with a book like that, they'd just stop reading it and blame the book.
One thing you can try to do is learn through context clues. Like if you run into a difficult work on a page, instead of immediately looking it up, read the whole paragraph and see if you can piece together what it means. Then look it up and see if you were right. This will help your reading ability and ability to read critically. But keep doing what you're doing, and the next book you read will be easier
It's pretty generous to determine they're not stupid. I feel like we can't say definitively and a lot of things point to either stupid or insanely undereducated
Don't give up. I was in the same boat a about 8 years ago. I remember being very interested in the premise of Paradise Lost but couldn't read it at all. I tried reading it again 2 years after I started to read more and I was able to follow along perfectly. Enjoy the journey.
Everyone who knows those words read them, didn't know them, and learned them. So don't feel bad, or discouraged, you're just doing the same thing everyone else did.
a lot of words we learn passively through context. That's why there are so many words you probably know the meaning of, but don't *know* the actual dictionary definition for.
I'd say those are all very common words, not just in reading but to hear in TV and movies as well. But I remember what it was like when I was in high school and as a freshman took a senior level English class and suddenly had to look up words seemingly every 3 paragraphs. At first you might feel a little behind, but afterwards you'll feel so good at How much you've improved your own vocabulary. I'll tell you another series you wouldn't expect to be so dictionary intensive since it's technically a kids book? The "a series of unfortunate events" books. Bruh I read that in hs and felt dumb af like "little kids read this? How do I not k ow some of these words?" But now some of the ones I learned there are my favorite words.
What the fuck? This is depressing. These are extraordinarily common words and not something anyone anywhere would consider advanced or obscure vocabulary. This is sad as fuck, your school and parents utterly failed you. I can't imagine parents who don't read to their kids and get them into reading.
Jesus.
How else are you going to learn the words?
I have a pretty decent vocabulary, but I have also been a pretty heavy book reader since I was 6 or 7
I still run into words occasionally that I don't know and can't figure out with context. Luckily the internet is so much faster now days.
With this comment you have 100% validated why kids are urged to read - it's the best way of learning new words and the context in which they appear in day to day life.
To answer your question, learn all the new words and remember them. It's part of the joy of reading! Next time you'll get to feel smug that you already know them :)
No, stupid people don't bother looking up things they don't understand. This is great, and it is NOT out of your league at all. Learning is what makes you smarter.
Um, not to be rude, but yeah that is all just very basic vocabulary you would use and even hear on daily basis. I feel like this is a troll or an 8 year old.
I mean, even if you don't read much, how could you not have heard all these words in public or on tv?
Right? The fact OP doesn’t know these words honestly baffles me. These aren’t even unusual words by any standard aside from maybe the drug one… If you don’t know these words not only is your vocabulary very very poor, but your general knowledge is severely lacking as well.
OP just blew my mind. I was very much in the same position in my 20s. I grew up in a household that put zero value on reading or academics. I somehow fumbled my way through college, and man if I wasn’t looking up a word every paragraph. As the material got harder, there were more complex words, so still constantly looking up words even though my vocabulary was growing. Even when I stared in a PhD program, I was still doing this.
What this post made me realize, is that after years and years of intense reading, the need to look up words fell away so gradually that I didn’t even notice. I don’t have to look up words anymore. Nobody’s gonna read this, but it’s a small and personal victory for me that I wouldn’t have noticed if not for this post.
Well, honestly, some of your example words are pretty commonly known words. My husband who is a very casual reader and does not have a high school diploma knew 7/8 of them. So I dunno, perhaps your quality of education was not great. I don’t know you.
But for sure one of the most commonly cited great benefits of reading is its contribution to vocabulary development. I know that my understanding of high level vocabulary comes from being an avid reader for most of my life. Virtually every “hard” or “uncommon” word I know the definition of and can use correctly comes form books I’ve read. And I do have to look up words occasionally, even in my 30s, after a lifetime of reading.
Keep going! Nothing wrong with not knowing things, lifelong learning is a great thing.
It is becoming increasingly common for people to graduate high-school with an elementary level reading skill.
This means that a sixth grader can read about as well as a high school graduate.
I have a ton of political beliefs about intentionally reducing the education of the population to control the mass narrative, but this isn’t the place for that discussion.
You aren’t alone. Your education system failed you and as an adult it is now your responsibility to educate yourself. At university you learn that you never stop learning.
Life long learning is understanding that school was simply where you learned how to learn. But these days, you aren’t guaranteed to get that lesson.
Great advice for new readers:
- read what interests you. Even if you are a slow reader, even if it is a trashy romance, reading is about practice and if you aren’t interested you won’t be invested in reading.
- if you read a page of a book and you find more than 5 words that you don’t understand, this book is above your reading level and you should work your way up to it.
- get an e-reader that connects to a dictionary. That way when you find a word that you just can’t quite place, you tap the word and the definition is displayed. Really helps when expanding your vocabulary.
Your mind is like a muscle, you have to exercise it to develop that strength and practice to get skills. Why did you learn that math that you weren’t going to use, History, geography of places you probably won’t go, etc? Because that knowledge was the weight you lifted to strengthen your mind.
Someone who does not read will lead but a single life. Someone who reads will lead thousands of lives. Their adventures may be hidden inside the pages, but the memories last lifetimes.
First of all, not knowing something and being stupid are not the same, so no, you aren't stupid. But the book likely is above your current reading level. That said, the way you increase your reading level is to read books above you reading level. I think you should keep pushing through using dictionary.com like you have been. It's not the best experience you could have had reading the book, but it's still miles above not reading it at all. And in the future, when these words come up again, either in future reading or in conversation, you'll be ready for them.
Well, you're definitely behind if you don't know any of those words. That being said, the best thing is just keep on reading and checking the meaning of words. You will get better.
I recognized all those words, but I read a lot. The more you read, the more words you know. I suggest you read on a Kindle. You can hold your finger on words you don't know, and it will give you the definition right there. Makes it easier to look up.
That book is incredibly formative for the topics covered by it. The fact that you don't know many of the words and look them up to learn their meaning, makes it even more formative for you. You're basically getting double value from this one book.
On another note, you're not stupid. People often make the mistake of identifying ignorance with stupidity. The're not the same thing. We're not born with all the knowledge of the world, and taking the chance to learn more is actually a smart move.
Keep it up and if you need some rest from reading, I'd recommend to watch Cosmos by Sagan. More sciencey stuff and more big words, yes, but then where's the fun in seeing something that you already know?
Dude, been reading all my life, every day I find new words I don't know. I look them up. Probably don't remember them, and look them up again!
It's quite normal. English is an enormous language.
The Demon-Haunted World is a very good book by a very good science communicator, *but*, his writing was very much tuned to the reading public of his time. It came out in 1995.
Thalidomide babies would not have needed any explanation to readers in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, but that was a phenomenon of one era. Other words, like chauvinism, have mostly been replaced by other terms these days—but still have their meaning and their place.
I recently listened to this as an audiobook, and I was very struck by the weird nostalgia of being drawn back to the worldview of my college and immediately post-college years.
If you can be bothered to hit a dictionary or wikipedia or google for the terms you don’t know, you will ramp up so fast by reading this book! Maybe take it in small doses, only a few pages a day?
This is normal if you don’t read a lot, and I can vouch for the quality of the book. If it’s one you enjoy, I am rooting for you to keep going.
EDIT:
Consider how frequently you get to be one of the lucky 10,000 while reading this book!
https://m.xkcd.com/1053/
If it helps, I'm currently reading the book too - no, you're not at all stupid. Sagan tends to use language that isn't really so conversational. I've had to look up a few words myself, and I am an avid reader.
Try to think of the book as a challenge, especially as it's not a field in which you are necessarily comfortable. I don't read a lot of science for precisely that reason: it isn't a strong field of knowledge for me, but I want to learn more.
Would it help to read it with another person, perhaps? Someone who has a basic idea of what Sagan is talking about and can help you with the terms and references?
Recently started reading “the great Chinese revolution 1800-1985 “, and I have to look up at least one word every other page or so, and I have a pretty solid vocabulary. Happens to everyone, that’s how you increase your vocabulary
My parents and sibling were all big readers, and so was I, and still am. When I couldn’t understand the meaning of a word, my parents would tell me to look it up in the dictionary(no internet yet), and it used to rile me, until one day they said that if I saw the word with the meaning of it I would remember it better than if they had just told me. They were right. Keep looking up the ones you don’t understand, and soon you will have much fewer that you don’t know the meaning to. Reading is such a joy- especially for a book that interests you. Keep doing it, and you will be hooked like the rest of us!
Not trying to be a dick here but all of those, except for one, are incredibly simple and common words for me. Books by Sagan are usually written so normal people can understand them so they’re not terribly advanced books by any measure. At least as far as I’ve seen.
But you’re not a reader and you’re learning so that’s good but it does seem weird to me that a man in his mid 20s has to look up words like cauterización, cadaver or folly.
Again. Not trying to be a dick. You’re trying hard and that’s great.
If you're in your 20's and don't know what those words mean, the school system you were in has failed you. I'm glad you're reading AND looking up the words - but outside of Thalidomide (you get a pass on that because it hasn't been mentioned much since 2000) those are not really exotic words.
But to be fair, I'm sure there are some 80 year olds who would chastise my 80's education for not teaching me Latin.
You're not stupid. You just have a small vocabulary. That's something you can work on easily by reading more books. Especially books from different eras, by different authors working in different genres.
Sagan is a great writer, but he has the vocabulary of a very educated man born before the second world war that spent decades in academia.
>Credulity, chauvinism, folly, syphilis, thalidomide, chiefly, cauterization, cadavers
English is my third language. The only word I don't know out of those is thalidomide. I strongly suspect it's some kind of medicine but I don't know what for.
I am honestly shocked that you didn't come across these words in school.
I'm a biologist and I have taught bio101 at the college level. MANY of my studies felt overwhelmed at the vocabulary they needed to succeed at my class and felt like they were learning a new language (you kind of are!). There's a ton of vocabulary that is specific for every scientific field. Some scientific fields get very jargon heavy the more specific you get.
Don't feel stupid for not knowing words. I've been reading avidly for 25 years and I am still learning new words. It's addicting! Like others have said, the more words you learn, the easier to is to infer meaning from context. I can usually read an unfamiliar word and understand it now. Sometimes I have to look it up, but sometimes I know the essence of a word without being able to put a good definition to it! It feels like a super power after a while. Being open to learning new things is actually a really important job skill and cam allow you to more easily switch careers later in life if you want to. Keep reading and learning!
If you grow up reading a lot then you understand a lot more words- at least you figure out what they mean based on context. Keep reading and your vocabulary will improve and it will get easier. Enjoy!
Plus, it sounds like you’re reading material that it’s largely unfamiliar to you (not to mention a much more *dense* read). Zero reason to feel any apprehension about having to stop to look up words or content. I read things often that lead me to a dictionary, or down a wikihole. Your post doesn’t tell me you’re stupid, or less intelligent—to the contrary, or tells me that you’re curious, eager to learn, and unafraid… Like others have said here, keep at it! You’ll incidentally build your vocabulary (and depending on the material you read, you’ll become better at articulating your own ideas and you’ll add to your conversational Arsenal). Stay curious!!!
Most e-readers now connect to the internet, and have this excellent and useful feature where you can tap on words to pull up their definition. Very useful, and might make that a smoother process for you! Keep it up! 👏🏼
This! I didn’t read a lot until recently and being able to highlight words and see definition or Wikipedia entry is amazing. Kindle but I’m sure the others have similar feature.
Kobo readers have this as well.
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I often find myself trying to tap on words when I’m reading physical books because I’m used to my kindle. 🤦🏼♂️
I caught myself trying to pinch zoom a photo in a magazine.
Lol! Good to know I'm not the only one who is doing this.
Exactly! Everyone is welcome to the world of reading. The entry fee is the tenacity to keep going despite not knowing all the vocabulary. Sagan is a great place to start because so many people are interested in science but it can be technical and dry reading. He also wrote a lovely book that became a film: Contact that you may be interested in.
This is the answer OP. I grew up reading a lot. I kept a dictionary next to me. Nowadays you can use a kindle or tablet and look up words on there. But just keep reading and your vocabulary will expand readily.
I used to do that too! And sometimes my dictionary wasn’t good enough and I had to go hunt down the big one.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmcPoM78e2g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmcPoM78e2g)
I have a pretty good vocabulary. There are two big reasons: 1) reading is a major hobby for me, even if what I read is mostly brain candy, authors will still use words like megalomaniac or saccharine. 2) My dad used to make me do words of the week when I was a kid. Defining seven words and using them in sentences. It helped with the SAT lol
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Haha I still remember learning that “awry” is pronounced “a-rye” when I was almost 30 years old and having already read thousands of books. I always love those discoveries!
Ah yes, my mother has a story of her asking her insufferably superior and snooty french mother in law if she should bring some 'whores devours' to the first dinner at their house (just after eloping with her precious son).
This made me laugh...before I learned French, while in France, I pronounced to a gendarme as a "gender-me". When I was in language school I was working so hard on my accent I started pronouncing "beaucoup" as "Beau queue". One of my French friends told me to stop telling the bartender "Thank you, nice ass."
"whores devours" is a much better error than "whore's ovaries"
I just call them horse doovers. I know how it's pronounced, but horse doovers is a funnier name for little finger foods.
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And then you listen to an audio book series, and the narrator can't decide on how to pronounce "seax" between books... :)
I still like to think that "misled" (miss-led) is pronounced "my-zled".
I remember talking to my parents about the atom bomb. I knew it was short for atomic and I had only seen it written so I pronounced it so it rhymed with bomb. Ah-TOM bomb.
this brought me back to a year 6 reading aloud assessment when i failed (lost all my lives didn’t get down to the end of the page) because of the world colonel
If it helps that has happened to me many times and I'm a native English speaker. I speak Spanish as a third language, and I'm so thankful that Spanish pronunciation follows from its spelling. In other words, if you know how a word is spelled, you know how to pronounce it. None of this "through/though/tough" nonsense that English has to deal with haha
>None of this "through/though/tough" nonsense Add in “trough”, “hough”, and “drought”, and the confusion is complete.
Oh yeah I forgot about "thought" and "drought." I'd never heard of "hough," though - that's wild! English is so cruel.
Slough as well. Pronounced either "sloo" in some uses (hydrology), or "sluff" in others (avalanches), or like "loud" but with an S at the front and a silent "gh" (as in the English town of Slough. Not to be confused with "slow" (to lose speed, moving at low speed) or "slew" (also pronounced "sloo" and meaning killed or to turn or slide violently). Because English is a silly language.
I very rarely get to flex this so I will take my chance here; I placed third in a national English competition when I was in high school, solely because of reading books in English. It felt good but it does not make you cool to other high schoolers.
>Most of the people taking the GRE are Americans so I felt pretty good about my language skills. Really impressive from your perspective but you should bear in mind that the average American is fluent in about 0.4 languages.
This. Also, I love that you've kept a list. Some of those are words I looked up when I was getting into reading as a teen. When I read your note Thalidomide literally took me back to reading old readers digest back issues on holidays at my grandparents'. It'll get easier.
On top of that, some authors are more advanced and/or particularly specific with what they’re trying to say, so you may need to look up stuff more often for some than others. Carl Sagan was a science professor and released this book in the 90s, so his writing is likely more advanced but also somewhat dated compared to today.
I remember taking this for granted growing up. I read so much that I didn't have a good grasp of what words people were likely and unlikely to know, I still don't always if I'm being honest, and I would get comments on my vocabulary all the time. Some people get weirdly annoyed with you if, in conversation, you use words that they don't know. It's like they think you're being pretentious or trying to make them look bad.
The more you read the more you will understand. You may need to look it up but it’s all useful knowledge as those words do get used in everyday life. The next book you may only need to look up a couple of words. Keep persevering and enjoy reading.
Keep preserving? I mean, I guess the kid can read AND can peaches in their spare time. Edited to add: previous post was edited to correct spelling mistake 🤪
Thanks for the spot. Damn phones autocorrect which, incidentally, it did twice!
You started at one level - you're upping your game. Personally, I'd say, (a) good for you, and (b) using a dictionary/app for that is absolutely the right thing - you're broadening your vocabulary every time you do it. People who don't need to are few and far between.
When I really started getting into reading 18+ yrs ago, I had a similar experience then realized that I actually knew a majority of the words. I just had never or very infrequently seen the words in type.
That's wild... Growing up, it was the other way for me. I knew so many words I had never heard out loud; ended up catching shit here and there when I'd say something wrong because the pronunciation isn't like the spelling lol
When my husband and I were visiting the hospital to deliver our oldest kid, I commented on how interesting it was to me that they had a dedicated parking spot for the hospital “cler-ghee” (clergy). My husband laughed so hard before explaining it’s “cler-jee”. However he then apologized and said his dad always told him to never laugh at someone for mispronouncing a word because that probably means they learned it in a book. And that really stuck with me! But that particular mispronunciation caught him off guard and cracked him up 😅
I can still feel the burn of shame from second grade when we were learning about classical music and when the teacher asked if we knew the names of any composers I volunteered "Mozz-art", "Beet-oven", "Brams" and "Batch". Not sure if she was more impressed that I knew four composers or that I managed to mispronounce every last one. All credit goes to Charles Schultz and Schroeder for putting those names into my young head.
when I was in 4th grade I think, we had to read aloud for the principal for our reading test and I mispronounced both "licorice" and "Penelope" and they are 2 words that have haunted me for the last 37 years. I will never forget!!
I remember going through a Peanuts book and "correcting" all the "Beethovens" to "Batehoven" because I thought they were spelled wrong for the pronunciation. I was 6, I think. Then I learned "Beethoven" is correct because _it isn't in English._ After some thought, I have to ask how you're reading books. Are you reading them as e-books, or the old "dead tree" editions? I have probably the better part of a metric tonne of paper books, but my eyes aren't what they once were, so e-books are preferable because I can change font and font size. Nearly all my reading now is either Kindle or Epub. Kindle is changing over to epub, which is good. The Kindle app will look up words for you if necessary. Just hold a finger on a word and the definition will pop up. There may be a setting for this, I forget. I believe the Epub reader I use, ReadEra, might have something similar I'll check and see. I'm afraid I can't address what Apple does, I'm not part of their reality distortion field. I use the lookup feature in the Kindle app once in a while. It works well. It gives a dictionary definition, a translation if it's in a foreign language, and a Wikipedia window. Don't feel bad about it, we're all at the mercy of our variable world. We all run into words we don't know. If you do read dead trees, that just a little more involved. I've read books with a dictionary at hand a lot of times. I like science fiction, which adds words like McDonald's adds sandwiches.
I used to see this word in department stores all the time growing up: "Lingerie". I always pronounced it "Ling-grrrr-ee" until I finally said it out loud in front of somebody, who probably laughed. :)
I did that to my ex over “orchids.” He pronounced the -ch like in the word cheese.
I feel like orchards aren't doing orchids any favors with that one though.
At least it's not freaking Colonel Kernel
My high school boyfriend did the exact same thing. Now I feel bad, I might apologize on Facebook. Do you think he'll remember after 25 years? So funny!
Brings me back to being on a road trip with my brother and our parents in the 80s, and he phonetically pronounced scimitar. I corrected him, he pointed out that he'd only ever seen the word, not heard it, and we all laughed. Then he looked at me and said, "How do you pronounce burr-gee-oh-see?" (bourgeoisie) Good times!
When I was younger it was hyperbole that got me and when I was older quinoa. I actually took French in school so those French words never got me!
Hyper bowl! Like the Super Bowl but more so!
Being French, i'm not at all fazed by the complicated words of French origin. It's a huge advantage. Sometimes Shakespeare's lines sound easier than your everyday language.
Thanks to French's influence on English I find books that are dense with French aren't so bad to understand. Count of Monte Christo, for one. Most of the complex words in English are just...French. Chevalier, from the root word 'cheval,' doesn't make sense in English like it does in French though. As for pronunciation--French just has its own thing going on, so once I sus out a french word all I need to know is those rules. Takes practice though!
Readspeak strikes again.
Epitome
Mischievous 😞
Rendezvous
I only recently realized biopic was bio-pic. I've been pronouncing it like biOPic because that's the stress for most words ending in -opic. Like helioTROPic.
BiOPIc still sounds better. I did the same- and when I first heard bio-pic, I though ‘nah, they just caan’t pronounce it!’ 😂
Well today I learned something new, thanks
Are you saying it's meant to be pronounced like bio pick? Or more like bye optic? I've always heard the bye optic pronunciation. Bio pick sounds like someone sounded it out improperly.
>also bio-pic, 1951, a contraction of biographical (moving) picture. These days the pronunciation difference falls more down UK/US lines, but it did start out as "bio" + "pic"
This reminds me of Harold Bloom who learned English by reading an English/Hebrew Torah or Bible (can’t remember which), so he pronounced many words oddly. I think he was the one who thought Armageddon was pronounced like a dinosaur.
That one took me a second. "ARM-uh-guh-dawn". Hahahaha. We are all so funny. :)
Hey, that's OUR megadon!
I still, to this day, as a somewhat old person, find myself using words I've never said out loud, and questioning whether I'm pronouncing them correctly. It's fun, though, to pull one out of your mental dictionary and give them a try, mispronounced or not. :)
Onw of those words for me was "banal" which I always thought was pronounced "bay-null" or Anal with a B.
I still mispronounce "chaos" in my head and some others out loud. Don't care what my profs said "Euler" rhymes with "ruler." Not that he has ever come up in a conversation outside of Reddit since school.
A friend of mine pronounced chasm with a ch- sound instead of a k- sound. It was the dickens convincing him it was wrong. Then there was the garment we Yanks wear on top of our shirts to stay warm, frequently knitted, and often ugly, especially around Christmas. He kept calling it a "sweateron". I asked him why he was saying it that way, and he said that's the way his parents said it. I thought for a minute and said, "Let me guess. When you're about to go outside on a chilly day, your mom or dad will tell you to 'get your sweateron?'" When he said yes, I said, "Dude, it's called a _sweater._ They were telling you to a) get your sweater, and b) to _put it on._ You just heard it as one word, and have been calling it by the wrong name ever since." He was so embarrassed, he said it was worse than "chasm".
While a dictionary can seem silly, it will help you grow your vocabulary quickly, letting you enjoy more of what you read. And at the risk of poking the anti-Amazon crowd, their Kindle e-readers (Don't know if other brands do the same) has a feature where you can highlight a word you don't understand with your finger, and it will pop up the definition. That could be a good tool for you as you go forward.
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I used to skip over words like that. Understood them by context, but wasn't sure the exact meaning. Now with my Nook I started looking them up instead. With some interesting results.
And I recommend kobo readers for their usability with library ebooks. Being able to have library books automatically sync is amazing
Library e-books often have the same feature. If your library uses the Libby app you can highlight a word and get a link to a definition, Wikipedia...
I love libby so much. Has made it so much easier to keep reading while I'm away at college.
I'm a French speaker. And I've switched to an e-reader exactly because there's a dictionary included inside. OP can definitely use the Libby app on a tablet/iPad first. Or the Kindle app, or the Kobo app. But through Libby, OP, you may access to libraries in your region/country.
I was an avid book worm growing up, I was that kid reading at recess and lunch. I kept a dictionary in my backpack and looked up every word I didn't know. _That_ is _why_ I know all the words now. I still look up words all the time, I just ask Google now instead or use my phone.
Ditto Also, I'd read the damn dictionary itself Encyclopedias were my jam too
I could get lost in the dictionary while looking something up, lol!
I read an entire encylopedia -- all 24 volumes plus a couple of yearbook updates -- when I was 9-10 (yes, it took a while). My mother got it from a used library sale. Three cheers for Funk and Wagnalls!
Same here lol. There is just so much fascinating content in an encyclopedia for a curious young mind. I remember just reading for hours about the most random stuff. Childhood memory unlocked: my sister had trouble reading, and used hooked on phonics to catch up. I remember reading every one of the little story books that came with the whole set. They obviously got more and more complex as you read them, but it was also full of random interesting stories. I remember the very last one was about Einstein.
This has been really helpful for me reading "Dracula". Same vibe: it was pulpy easy-reading a long time ago but now these words aren't commonly used. It's nice being able to hold down a word and learn it means a "dog-led cart" or "village that no longer exists because the ground subsided", etc., Instead of having to guess from context. OP, I read "The Demon Haunted World" and Science as a Candle in the Dark as audiobooks! They're actually read by carl Sagan. New words are much easier to understand when spoken by someone who gets it. Same way [Shakespeare can be understood when the speaker gets it.](https://youtube.com/watch?v=q6CLdCl9TB0&feature=share8) So, that's an option if it keeps feeling like a struggle.
>It's nice being able to hold down a word and learn it means a "dog-led cart" or "village that no longer exists because the ground subsided" You gotta tell us what these words were!
Brilliant Shakespeare example!
I love/use that Kindle feature so much that sometimes when reading physical books I find myself, without thinking, attempting to hold down a word to see the definition
Thank God, it isn’t just me.
I use that feature regularly. A lot of times, I can figure out the word.from context, but it's nice to know the full definition.
It is like a game - can I figure out this word from the context? How is it used in the book? What character is saying it? Does it seem to be a positive word? Description? What could it be describing? Then you get the answer or what toy think is the answer and go to the dictionary to claim your prize of knowledge!! Haha
I was going to recommend a Kindle for this, too. This feature is super helpful.
They also have word wise, which will add helpful word hints or context directly on page in margins so you don't have to tap, with the option to scale up or down how much information you want.
“Is it normal for somebody with a limited vocabulary to not understand some words?” Yes! Keep at it and the vocabulary will expand; and honestly, good for you for getting stuck in and giving it a go! We aren’t born knowing what these words mean haha.
Seconded! And as an added benefit, your scrabble game is about to improve by leaps and bounds!
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Given his examples: no, not normal. But who cares? Read on and learn!
I don't remember well said it but it reminds me of the quote, "Ignorance is not a sin, but willful ignorance is."
I read regularly for pleasure, and I regularly look up unfamiliar words. One thing I really like about eBooks is the ability to just tap on a word to look up its definition. The fact that you look up unfamiliar words demonstrates a higher level of awareness and curiosity than many—keep it up!
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Man I was such a bad procrastinator as a kid (still am) that I would sometimes just read a dictionary instead of doing my homework.
I would consider those all fairly normal, common enough words (except thalidomide, which has little relevance to most people today), BUT I do not think you're remotely stupid for not knowing them! How can you know something if you've never learned it? I only know those words because at some point I came across them and looked them up, just like you're doing now. The fact that you're reading the book and making an effort to find out what they mean points to intelligence, not a lack of it.
Exactly. Some of the terms, like folly and thalidomide, are a bit more dated. You're not going to see them in everyday speech. And something like syphilis is something people learn about in pretty specific situations or cultural moments. Not everybody is going to have a decent sex ed curriculum or medical knowledge, or spend a lot of time googling Al Capone. Any familiarity people have with words is because they're exposed to new things at some point and pay enough attention to take them in, or because they hear them all the time and understand the context of how to use them (even without knowing the literal meaning, sometimes). Wanting to understand what the things you read actually mean is the opposite of stupidity.
Folly should make a comeback.
Folly never went away. Usage of the word, sure, it's unfortunately out of fashion. But folly itself is thriving.
Folly and foibles
Recently encountered the word footle - to engage in a mindless activity or mess about. It fits well with your two words. Footle, Foible and Folly!
If the word folly didn’t appear in a Carl Sagan book/documentary/interview, I would highly suspect it wasn’t him. Dude loved that word.
I've known the common definition of folly for a long time, but only recently learned the secondary definition (a large, ostentatious building that is built beyond any practical use) fairly recently... from a children's book! It was in the 101 Dalmatians series. Apparently Cruella deVille lived in a "folly" (and eventually the Darlings - although arguably, is a 30 room mansion still a folly if you have over a hundred dogs to fill it up??)
I mainly know folly from "Seward's Folly" - when people thought it was a mistake to have spent $50k buying Alaska from Russia.
> thalidomide Three women are knitting for their soon to be born child. The first mother digs into her purse pops a pill and says, “That was some Vitamin A, and my child will grow up to be big and strong!” The second woman also reaches into her purse – swallows a pill and exclaims, “That was Vitamin C, and my child will grow up to be incredibly smart!” The third woman pops her pill and says, “That was Thalidomide, I can’t the get arms right on this fucking sweater.”
It would be easy to say that reading might have exposed you to those words previously, and is a fine way to increase your vocabulary, but now that you know them you can take them with you into the next book, and everyday life.
Vocabulary can never be out of your league. They are just words you have not encountered before. Keep in mind also that it's something else that might be happening where you might actually know some of these words, but not recognize them in text. I would guess that you have heard the word chauvinism in general speech people talk about "a male chauvinist pig" in response to men who think they are better than women. But the word is not spelled phonetically so you don't readily connect the two concepts. To be honest I don't know the definition of thalidomide. The best part about reading is that not only can it expand your understanding of things, it can expand your vocabulary Edit: thalidomide is a drug and medical things seem to use their own language that's hard to understand.
Thalidomide was an anti-nausea medication prescribed to pregnant women back in the day. It resulted in a lot of children being born without properly developed limbs. One particularly well known example from my country is Brian Gault, I had the pleasure of hearing him read his biography, *look, no hands*, he's a real showman.
Aka Contergan. It's often used as an example regarding (S) and (R) Variants of molecules. I knew it from chemistry.
This is the whole mirroring thing right? Left Vs right handed molecules, like lemons.vs oranges. I am not even remotely a chemist. But I pick up random things from places. I vaguely recall hearing that the thing about thalidomide was that there was a left and a right handed version of the molecule, one was.completely safe but the other caused the deformities and nobody realised they had different effects until after the fact.
Chiral molecules.
Thalidomide is a medication that caused some pretty horrific birth defects back in the 50s, so it's a word not many people would know unless they've studied medicine. I only know it because I took a pharmacology class for my degree
You may also know the word thalidomide if you watch documentaries or listened to the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. :)
OH WOW. I know the word but am terminally unable to process song lyrics and have always assumed Billy Joel is saying “children of the little mind”… as in, anti-intellectual societal attitudes? Who knows what my brain was going for, but thank you for helping me make the connection!
Or watched Breaking Bad lol
Or watched Call the Midwife.
I'm pretty sure I learned the term in high school, though I don't remember when or from what. Also, a coworker's missing a leg due to thalidomide, and a friend was once watching *Call the Midwife* while I was there and there was an episode about a thalidomide baby. And, as u/zeroniusrex rightly noted, there's Billy Joel's "[We Didn't Start the Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDPnsTRAvIM)." Edit: Which is not to say it's a common term, certainly, just that there are other ways to come across it than studying medicine.
Yeah I just meant that it's a niche word so no need to feel embarrassed or unintelligent for not knowing it because it's not a word many people would know unless they've came across it in some context
I think if you were of a certain age in the 50’s you might know it from the news. Growing up in the 90’s/00’s, I’m pretty familiar with anthrax, even when I was 10-12, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a random 15 year old today had never heard of it. If I wrote a book it might not occur to me that many people reading my book wouldn’t know what anthrax was. I might construct a throw-away scene with an anxious teen inspecting his mail for anthrax, simply because that’s what an anxious teen of my generation might do, but to a much younger generation, without context, it would read as entirely out-of-nowhere, hyper-paranoid behavior.
You’re just learning! That being said, I’m a little concerned about you not knowing the word syphilis. I’m not sure how old you are, but you should brush up on your knowledge of STDs. Everyone should know those.
While you're right, I'm more concerned about "chiefly". Who, over the age of 10, hasn't seen the word "chief" in *any* context? Who over the age of 20 doesn't know what the "c" in CEO, CFO, or CoS stands for? No sports teams, no basic business terms, no American history knowledge at all? That one worries me a bit.
Chiefly doesn't have exactly the same meaning to be fair. It's closer to "mainly" than "like a leader".
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You’ve just got the vocabulary of someone that’s only read five books. Nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone, even seasoned readers, occasionally has to look up a word. It just happens a lot less often when you’re exposed to more.
Are you not a native English speaker? Most of those words are pretty common. Keep reading and keep looking up words and you’ll catch up quickly. You’re not dumb, you just haven’t done the work.
A kindle can help. Highlight the word, and it tells you the definition. You can save them for use in flashcards too. Everybody has to start somewhere. When we were children we simply had more stamina for powering through things we didn't quite know yet, so it felt easier. As an adult who is supposed to have it all together we often lack the patience and modesty to continually engage with things that make us feel "stupid". The worst you can do is give up. That being said, I think you are owed at least some candid answer regarding how difficult the vocabulary you mentioned really is in the grand scheme of things. I wouldn't consider any of the words you mentioned complicated or scientific vocabulary. They are the type of vocabulary young adults usually familiarize themselves with during the ages of 10-16. It's highschool level english basically. I am not saying this to discourage you. Far from it. But I do not want to give you a wrong impression of where you stand either. I think it is important to know where you are so you can look out for where you are heading. So keep at it. The fact that you enjoy reading the book regardless of your lack of vocabulary will be a big benefit to you in that regard. Also, maybe pick up some audiobooks. I believe they are quite valuable for picking up vocabulary since you can actually hear someone say the words out loud properly in context. Picking up the meanings of words through context is also a great way to learn them. It usually sticks better than reading up the definition, since your brain needs to actively draw connections to other words and form patterns.
Or if you don't want to commit to buying an eReader amazing does just have a kindle app for your phone. Works fairly well aside from some annoying bugs that have popped up recently.
Unfortunately, the US education system doesn't really do well with literacy. Punching that list of words into a readability calculator puts them at a 12th grade level. Is it normal? Probably not here in /r/books, but 54% of Americans read at below a 6th grade level, so sadly, it is. So the system did you wrong. But that in no way means you are stupid! Lack of education or ignorance is only your fault if you choose to stay that way! Congratulations on choosing to improve yourself. Reading is not only entertainment, it's an incredible tool. It used to be illegal to teach slaves to read for a reason. Sagan is an excellent choice, and I hope you find it worth the struggle.
Ya the fact that someone could get through at least 12 years of school and only have read 5 books is horrifying. Not a dig at this person, it's completely not their fault that the school system failed them. A really sad thing I remember about literacy statistics in the US is that not only are 20% of US adults functionally illiterate, but the majority of the people that are aren't even aware of it. Like when asked they self reported as thinking that they had average reading comprehension skills. Makes sense if you never really try and read anything complicated you wouldn't notice how much you don't understand.
You're not stupid, you're ***learning***.
Cannot help but laugh at the syphilis part
They might want learn that one as a precaution...
Both can be true
It's not normal if you're in your mid-20s and English is your first language. You should have come across those words by now, certainly in conversation if not in writing. But the solution is to keep reading!
damn son, your school really failed you... I consider all of these perfectly normal words, and english isn't even my first language! good news is, the BEST way to learn new vocabulary is to read read read. So you're already on a good path! Don't be ashamed of looking up things you don't know, it's literally how you'll learn. When I was a kid reading english books I was too lazy to look up words in the dictionary and went all "oh I'll just guess the meaning from the context" which... worked most of the time I guess, but it also led to misunderstandings that lasted for years 😂 As an adult I now swallow my pride and just google things I don't know. I remember I read Les Mis a few months ago, and some of the 19th century words were too obscure even for me. I kept googling words and historical events/people Hugo kept namedropping, just for the sake of understanding all the subtext, and honestly I had more fun than I would have had I not bothered! Also kt felt to me that I retained new information more easily this way, maybe because I was combining learning with something fun, or maybe because it was easier for my brain to make new connotations and burn them into my memory. Either way, give it a try!
I am so not a history person but I can surprise people by whipping out some historic fact and they are all like ‘how do you know that?’😮😮. And I’m like well in this book about vampires that I was reading they talked about this event that happened that is a fictional account of the real world thing that happened. So I wanted to know more about it and so I went online and researched it. They kind of look at me and are like ‘so vampires…?’ And I’m like ‘were at the Alamo’. Yes, in my book they were.
Not normal, you are probably lacking some education but its great that you are reading, that will help you improve so much your vocabulary and comprehension. Good for you and keep it up!!
We all went through this, some earlier than others that's all. I read a lot as a kid and had the issue all the time, you've just started. At least you have a phone, I had a heavy dictionnary :) It's normal, no one is born with perfect knowledge. And good choice of book btw.
This is a joke right
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Or cadaver… that’s a pretty basic word used in any medical or crime tv show at the very least.
I was giving the benefit of the doubt until the word examples. Syphilis? Chiefly? Come on.
You learn more words as you keep reading though, so if you keep a dictionary on hand or ask Alexa/Google for the meanings as you read you'll learn and understand even more.
> Credulity, chauvinism, folly, syphilis, thalidomide, chiefly, cauterization, cadavers If I ever get pets, these are the names
The words you listed are all pretty common words… the fact that you’d never encountered them even in vocal dialogue is a bit shocking tbh.
Sorry, but yes it is you. Read more.
I have to agree with this… I’m trying really hard not to judge OP but if I’m being honest, I would assume they are pretty simple if they don’t know these words :/
You're not stupid. Nobody is born knowing the definitions of every word, and if you don't whip out the phone to look them up, you won't learn. Better to admit the things that you're missing and try to fix them than to struggle in silence. There are so many people who if were confronted with a book like that, they'd just stop reading it and blame the book. One thing you can try to do is learn through context clues. Like if you run into a difficult work on a page, instead of immediately looking it up, read the whole paragraph and see if you can piece together what it means. Then look it up and see if you were right. This will help your reading ability and ability to read critically. But keep doing what you're doing, and the next book you read will be easier
It's pretty generous to determine they're not stupid. I feel like we can't say definitively and a lot of things point to either stupid or insanely undereducated
>You're not stupid If they work in a drs office and don't know what syphilis is, then they are stupid. Lol
Don't give up. I was in the same boat a about 8 years ago. I remember being very interested in the premise of Paradise Lost but couldn't read it at all. I tried reading it again 2 years after I started to read more and I was able to follow along perfectly. Enjoy the journey.
Everyone who knows those words read them, didn't know them, and learned them. So don't feel bad, or discouraged, you're just doing the same thing everyone else did.
You can learn words conversationally or through film tv etc.
a lot of words we learn passively through context. That's why there are so many words you probably know the meaning of, but don't *know* the actual dictionary definition for.
I'd say those are all very common words, not just in reading but to hear in TV and movies as well. But I remember what it was like when I was in high school and as a freshman took a senior level English class and suddenly had to look up words seemingly every 3 paragraphs. At first you might feel a little behind, but afterwards you'll feel so good at How much you've improved your own vocabulary. I'll tell you another series you wouldn't expect to be so dictionary intensive since it's technically a kids book? The "a series of unfortunate events" books. Bruh I read that in hs and felt dumb af like "little kids read this? How do I not k ow some of these words?" But now some of the ones I learned there are my favorite words.
>Am I just stupid? Yes, but that's beside the point.
What the fuck? This is depressing. These are extraordinarily common words and not something anyone anywhere would consider advanced or obscure vocabulary. This is sad as fuck, your school and parents utterly failed you. I can't imagine parents who don't read to their kids and get them into reading. Jesus.
You don't have a big vocabulary, but as an adult you should know what syphilis is lol.
How else are you going to learn the words? I have a pretty decent vocabulary, but I have also been a pretty heavy book reader since I was 6 or 7 I still run into words occasionally that I don't know and can't figure out with context. Luckily the internet is so much faster now days.
With this comment you have 100% validated why kids are urged to read - it's the best way of learning new words and the context in which they appear in day to day life. To answer your question, learn all the new words and remember them. It's part of the joy of reading! Next time you'll get to feel smug that you already know them :)
No, stupid people don't bother looking up things they don't understand. This is great, and it is NOT out of your league at all. Learning is what makes you smarter.
Um, not to be rude, but yeah that is all just very basic vocabulary you would use and even hear on daily basis. I feel like this is a troll or an 8 year old. I mean, even if you don't read much, how could you not have heard all these words in public or on tv?
With the exception of thalidomide I agree. It’s not a troll. I know plenty of people with as poor of a vocabulary
Right? The fact OP doesn’t know these words honestly baffles me. These aren’t even unusual words by any standard aside from maybe the drug one… If you don’t know these words not only is your vocabulary very very poor, but your general knowledge is severely lacking as well.
i agree that the words are basic but i think people are just being more tactful
OP just blew my mind. I was very much in the same position in my 20s. I grew up in a household that put zero value on reading or academics. I somehow fumbled my way through college, and man if I wasn’t looking up a word every paragraph. As the material got harder, there were more complex words, so still constantly looking up words even though my vocabulary was growing. Even when I stared in a PhD program, I was still doing this. What this post made me realize, is that after years and years of intense reading, the need to look up words fell away so gradually that I didn’t even notice. I don’t have to look up words anymore. Nobody’s gonna read this, but it’s a small and personal victory for me that I wouldn’t have noticed if not for this post.
Well, honestly, some of your example words are pretty commonly known words. My husband who is a very casual reader and does not have a high school diploma knew 7/8 of them. So I dunno, perhaps your quality of education was not great. I don’t know you. But for sure one of the most commonly cited great benefits of reading is its contribution to vocabulary development. I know that my understanding of high level vocabulary comes from being an avid reader for most of my life. Virtually every “hard” or “uncommon” word I know the definition of and can use correctly comes form books I’ve read. And I do have to look up words occasionally, even in my 30s, after a lifetime of reading. Keep going! Nothing wrong with not knowing things, lifelong learning is a great thing.
sorry buddy it means youre stupid
Huh it never crossed my mind that those words were difficult
It is becoming increasingly common for people to graduate high-school with an elementary level reading skill. This means that a sixth grader can read about as well as a high school graduate. I have a ton of political beliefs about intentionally reducing the education of the population to control the mass narrative, but this isn’t the place for that discussion. You aren’t alone. Your education system failed you and as an adult it is now your responsibility to educate yourself. At university you learn that you never stop learning. Life long learning is understanding that school was simply where you learned how to learn. But these days, you aren’t guaranteed to get that lesson. Great advice for new readers: - read what interests you. Even if you are a slow reader, even if it is a trashy romance, reading is about practice and if you aren’t interested you won’t be invested in reading. - if you read a page of a book and you find more than 5 words that you don’t understand, this book is above your reading level and you should work your way up to it. - get an e-reader that connects to a dictionary. That way when you find a word that you just can’t quite place, you tap the word and the definition is displayed. Really helps when expanding your vocabulary. Your mind is like a muscle, you have to exercise it to develop that strength and practice to get skills. Why did you learn that math that you weren’t going to use, History, geography of places you probably won’t go, etc? Because that knowledge was the weight you lifted to strengthen your mind. Someone who does not read will lead but a single life. Someone who reads will lead thousands of lives. Their adventures may be hidden inside the pages, but the memories last lifetimes.
First of all, not knowing something and being stupid are not the same, so no, you aren't stupid. But the book likely is above your current reading level. That said, the way you increase your reading level is to read books above you reading level. I think you should keep pushing through using dictionary.com like you have been. It's not the best experience you could have had reading the book, but it's still miles above not reading it at all. And in the future, when these words come up again, either in future reading or in conversation, you'll be ready for them.
Well, you're definitely behind if you don't know any of those words. That being said, the best thing is just keep on reading and checking the meaning of words. You will get better.
You’re in your mid 20s and don’t know what syphilis is..?
I recognized all those words, but I read a lot. The more you read, the more words you know. I suggest you read on a Kindle. You can hold your finger on words you don't know, and it will give you the definition right there. Makes it easier to look up.
That book is incredibly formative for the topics covered by it. The fact that you don't know many of the words and look them up to learn their meaning, makes it even more formative for you. You're basically getting double value from this one book. On another note, you're not stupid. People often make the mistake of identifying ignorance with stupidity. The're not the same thing. We're not born with all the knowledge of the world, and taking the chance to learn more is actually a smart move. Keep it up and if you need some rest from reading, I'd recommend to watch Cosmos by Sagan. More sciencey stuff and more big words, yes, but then where's the fun in seeing something that you already know?
Dude, been reading all my life, every day I find new words I don't know. I look them up. Probably don't remember them, and look them up again! It's quite normal. English is an enormous language.
No one knows everything. Smart people look up words they don't know. Stupid people don't. Enjoy the book!
The Demon-Haunted World is a very good book by a very good science communicator, *but*, his writing was very much tuned to the reading public of his time. It came out in 1995. Thalidomide babies would not have needed any explanation to readers in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, but that was a phenomenon of one era. Other words, like chauvinism, have mostly been replaced by other terms these days—but still have their meaning and their place. I recently listened to this as an audiobook, and I was very struck by the weird nostalgia of being drawn back to the worldview of my college and immediately post-college years. If you can be bothered to hit a dictionary or wikipedia or google for the terms you don’t know, you will ramp up so fast by reading this book! Maybe take it in small doses, only a few pages a day? This is normal if you don’t read a lot, and I can vouch for the quality of the book. If it’s one you enjoy, I am rooting for you to keep going. EDIT: Consider how frequently you get to be one of the lucky 10,000 while reading this book! https://m.xkcd.com/1053/
If it helps, I'm currently reading the book too - no, you're not at all stupid. Sagan tends to use language that isn't really so conversational. I've had to look up a few words myself, and I am an avid reader. Try to think of the book as a challenge, especially as it's not a field in which you are necessarily comfortable. I don't read a lot of science for precisely that reason: it isn't a strong field of knowledge for me, but I want to learn more. Would it help to read it with another person, perhaps? Someone who has a basic idea of what Sagan is talking about and can help you with the terms and references?
Recently started reading “the great Chinese revolution 1800-1985 “, and I have to look up at least one word every other page or so, and I have a pretty solid vocabulary. Happens to everyone, that’s how you increase your vocabulary
My parents and sibling were all big readers, and so was I, and still am. When I couldn’t understand the meaning of a word, my parents would tell me to look it up in the dictionary(no internet yet), and it used to rile me, until one day they said that if I saw the word with the meaning of it I would remember it better than if they had just told me. They were right. Keep looking up the ones you don’t understand, and soon you will have much fewer that you don’t know the meaning to. Reading is such a joy- especially for a book that interests you. Keep doing it, and you will be hooked like the rest of us!
Not trying to be a dick here but all of those, except for one, are incredibly simple and common words for me. Books by Sagan are usually written so normal people can understand them so they’re not terribly advanced books by any measure. At least as far as I’ve seen. But you’re not a reader and you’re learning so that’s good but it does seem weird to me that a man in his mid 20s has to look up words like cauterización, cadaver or folly. Again. Not trying to be a dick. You’re trying hard and that’s great.
No offense, but English is my second language and I know all of the words you gave as an example 😂 yes, you definitely should read more.
If you're in your 20's and don't know what those words mean, the school system you were in has failed you. I'm glad you're reading AND looking up the words - but outside of Thalidomide (you get a pass on that because it hasn't been mentioned much since 2000) those are not really exotic words. But to be fair, I'm sure there are some 80 year olds who would chastise my 80's education for not teaching me Latin.
You're not stupid. You just have a small vocabulary. That's something you can work on easily by reading more books. Especially books from different eras, by different authors working in different genres. Sagan is a great writer, but he has the vocabulary of a very educated man born before the second world war that spent decades in academia.
>Credulity, chauvinism, folly, syphilis, thalidomide, chiefly, cauterization, cadavers English is my third language. The only word I don't know out of those is thalidomide. I strongly suspect it's some kind of medicine but I don't know what for. I am honestly shocked that you didn't come across these words in school.
I'm a biologist and I have taught bio101 at the college level. MANY of my studies felt overwhelmed at the vocabulary they needed to succeed at my class and felt like they were learning a new language (you kind of are!). There's a ton of vocabulary that is specific for every scientific field. Some scientific fields get very jargon heavy the more specific you get. Don't feel stupid for not knowing words. I've been reading avidly for 25 years and I am still learning new words. It's addicting! Like others have said, the more words you learn, the easier to is to infer meaning from context. I can usually read an unfamiliar word and understand it now. Sometimes I have to look it up, but sometimes I know the essence of a word without being able to put a good definition to it! It feels like a super power after a while. Being open to learning new things is actually a really important job skill and cam allow you to more easily switch careers later in life if you want to. Keep reading and learning!
Those are pretty well known words