Friday was Dictionary Day. Do you look up the meaning of words you don’t know when you read?
Julie:
One of the pros of reading on an electronic device, is you can highlight a word and look up its meaning. But I rarely do this, because time and all that. A good writer will let you know the meaning of a word within context of the sentence or paragraph. I don’t want to break from my reading groove by looking up a word. I like to get sucked into a story and stay there as long as I can (especially with my limited reading time) so why pull myself out of that just to look up a word? If it is important enough to the story I should be easy enough to guess at from context. If it isn’t easy to figure out? Well, I still say no big deal, move along, keep reading.
Lynn:
I agree with Julie on looking up words while reading. A good author should provide enough context for the reader to understand a passage.
But since we are celebrating the dictionary today, I am an avid user of the dictionary while I write blog posts. Or when I hear words being used incorrectly. Just the other day, I heard a newscaster saying that listeners were critical to the success of the station. But then, I looked up the actual meaning of critical. And ….
None of the definitions really expressed what the newscaster was trying to say – important. I always want to make sure I’m using the correct words.
I’m also a big proponent of the thesaurus. How else could I think of multiple ways to say I like a book without the thesaurus!
How about you? Do you use the dictionary while reading books? Or just keep reading right through without looking up the definitions of words you may be unsure of?
I almost never look up the meanings of words in books – I find that context is generally plenty to make me understand.
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction recently posted…October Wrap-Up Link-Up
I look up a words all of the time when I’m reading on my iPad. Just a quick little click and the meaning pops up. I do miss that feature when I’m reading a physical book. I don’t pick up a dictionary all that often when I’m reading a physical book.
Terri M., the Director recently posted…Tough One to Swallow | The Finish by Jade Eby
That is a perk of ebooks, you’re not really stopping your momentum too much by touching a word to get a quick definition.
I agree, Julie. It’s dreadful when you’ve got to reach for the dictionary every so often!
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once in a blue moon, not normally most of the time the meaning of the word is within the sentence
Lily B recently posted…Review: These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
I don’t often look up words because I can usually figure them out through context. What I do look up are places, events, and FOOD. I just posted a food one yesterday. The posting reminded me that one of the reasons I set up a blog was to record this kind of thing–but I’ve bee remiss, with only a couple of posts on my searches. Still Lovin’ the Net http://marista.blogspot.com/2014/10/still-lovin-net.html
is an example of the sort of things my reading leads to.
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Looking up food is a really great idea. It would also be fun to cook the food mentioned in the book and do a food and book review pairing. Great, now I’m hungry.