[Nancy, March 6, 1962. Click for a larger view.]
This strip reminds me of a Bryan Garner story that explains his interest in guides to English usage:
When I was four, in 1962, my grandfather used Webster’s Second New International Dictionary as my booster seat. I started wondering what was in that big book.I like that half of Sluggo’s big words are food-related.
Then, in 1974, when I was 15, one of the most important events of my life took place. A pretty girl in my neighborhood, Eloise, said to me, with big eyes and a smile: “You know, you have a really big vocabulary.” I had used the word facetious, and that prompted her comment.
It was a life-changing moment. I would never be the same.
I decided, quite consciously (though misguidedly), that if a big vocabulary impressed girls, I could excel at it as nobody ever had.
Thanks, Brian.
Related reading
All OCA Nancy posts (Pinboard)
comments: 5
I was just remembering how my sixth grade teacher told my parents that he could tell I was from a big family (four older siblings) because I had a large vocabulary.
When my teacher was leading us to the concept of right angles, by having him tell us how to draw on the board, and it took a while, I suddenly came out with a word my brother had taught me just a week ago, "perpendicular."
Sean
Nice!
wordology
https://books.google.com/books/content?id=wN8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA452&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U3Lx0-ei1n31YxTE6kK5K9bYRE72Q&w=1280
https://books.google.com/books/content?id=ydgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U04jjvoEw7_ZGfWdxPQvNb4M0DyAg&w=1280
word power
Very nice. What those efforts always fail to understand (as Bryan Garner points out somewhere) is that a large vocabulary is most helpful for reading.
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