August 04 2011
You Too Want Vocab Abs?
Care to work on your definition? Want to flex your williwaw at Tamarama this spring? Aiming to dazzle the next dinner party with a sound knowledge of fuliginous? Then here’s your opportunity – with the online Vocab Tester, as tested on erudite hamsters and my gallant self.
Lucked upon this quick quiz yesterday, which could be quicker if you got to tick just the words you didn’t know… But the hoops are worth the jumping through, as the test’s finale estimates the words you carry in your head. Or cranium. Or capitulum.
Based on a corpus of 45,000 words – with a random sampling of 120 for you to confront – this data-catcher is an initiative of an American-Brazilian research project, a surefire way to figure out your parlays from your pabulums. (PS – I’ll show you my vocab total, if you show me yours….)
Any other word-quiz – or vocab sites – we should know about? Share the mania here.
Comments
Anthony Douglas — 04 August at 12:41AM
36600 for me. Interestingly, at least one of those more obscure words was only recently acquired...from a children's book! (funambulist)
Boniface — 04 August at 12:48AM
Hmm. 38,900 for me. Interesting stuff.
RM — 04 August at 05:53AM
35,500 - tantamount to illiterate on this blog!
DA — 04 August at 06:45AM
The gremlins determined I know 41500 words, maybe due to being au fait with williwaw. Mind you, I waved the white flag at sparge, cenacle and vibrissae. (Three prime candidates for Words of the Week, perhaps?)
RM — 04 August at 08:00AM
Sparge I knew, being a home brewer. I didn't check vibrissae because I would have had to guess the definition (as it turns out, I would have guessed right). I had no idea on cenacle, though it turns out I've been in several.
RobT — 04 August at 08:46AM
Ssdly, a dowdy 34,900 for me. Cleary, the system sucks.
Nib — 04 August at 11:43AM
What the hell is a nib?
33,400
PRS — 04 August at 02:12PM
37,700 - not in DA's class, but, thankfully, not in the dunce's corner.
PRS — 04 August at 02:16PM
@Nib - probably a mirrored racket
One Wheel — 04 August at 04:48PM
29,700 words for me. But that's pretty good for a 14-year old!
DA — 04 August at 09:07PM
Mighty precocious, One Wheel. At 14, I presume you've heard THAT word before. Well done.
One Wheel — 05 August at 08:35AM
Haha, I certainly have DA.
On my second try (30,800) I found 'nib' in my bunch of words.
Nib — 05 August at 08:30PM
34,100 on second attempt... seems luck of the draw does play a part. Though I thought it was 'leitmotif' not 'leitmotiv'.
I have yet to find 'Boniface' in my bunch of words.
Anthony Douglas — 06 August at 12:51AM
Your honour, I'd like to introduce exhibit 27 (across)!
DC — 06 August at 09:18AM
I got about 33K.
The other site I know is freerice.com. Each correct answer donates rice to the World Food Program, and builds up in difficulty -- although you can just set your level to start with.
Criseyde — 06 August at 09:38AM
35.2K and only one word a day from now on they tell me. .. but they didn't count on this site. Trouble is, will I remember it tomorrow?
Anthony, I'll testify to 27A .. belatedly!
One Wheel — 06 August at 10:43AM
You beat me to it, DC. Freerice.com is a great place to expand your vocabulary for a good cause.
JPR — 06 August at 08:24PM
I got a reasonably honest 38,400
in the middle of the class.. eating Boniface's dust
but some of those I knew were really long words