What is the average working vocabulary (and outliers) of various languages?
Is the working vocabulary of English English different from American English or Australian English? and how does this compare with other languages?
posted by adamvasco
on Apr 4, 2013 -
11 answers
What are your tips and techniques for learning advanced vocabulary and grammar in a foreign language?
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posted by kristi
on Feb 26, 2013 -
15 answers
I need help in acquiring a lot of a vocabulary for a lot of languages. How can I best proceed and what should be my expectations and timetables be?
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posted by SollosQ
on Dec 16, 2012 -
9 answers
Bilinguals and polyglots of AskMefi please hope me. I understand a lot of words and grammar in Japanese but don't seem able to use them. How do you make the leap from "knowing" a word or grammar pattern to actually being able to use it in conversation?
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posted by ultrabuff
on Jul 5, 2012 -
13 answers
Is there a single word for finding pleasure in well done formulaic stories not because they are doing something new or even being particularly clever, but because they hit the notes well, manage the tropes, and deliver what they promise?
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posted by The Whelk
on Jan 22, 2012 -
34 answers
What are some words whose definitions have changed significantly in the last few centuries?
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posted by Shelf
on Aug 7, 2011 -
58 answers
Once bitten, twice shy: Is there a single word which conveys the sentiment of this idiom? I have thought of "gun-shy," but no others. Or another phrase or idiom having roughly the same meaning?
posted by frobozz
on Oct 10, 2010 -
17 answers
Outside of Freudian slips, is there any scientific evidence that people's word choices unconsciously reveal states of mind that they are trying to conceal?
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posted by tel3path
on May 26, 2010 -
10 answers
Given that Federal bailout monies are being tossed around to banks like sacks of rice from an aid truck, are there any emergent slang terms for one billion dollars?
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posted by Burhanistan
on Jan 15, 2010 -
14 answers
Is there a word that describes a situation where you *technically* have free will, but don't REALLY have the option to choose otherwise?
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posted by jenfullmoon
on Nov 18, 2009 -
27 answers
vocab-filter:
Is there a vocabulary word or term to describe a service or an act of generosity that is ceased by its maintainers because a small, select group broke the rules ?
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posted by fizzix
on Jul 5, 2009 -
28 answers
Is there a word for: expecting to feel grief or ache of conscience and then not feeling it?
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posted by coizero
on Jan 23, 2008 -
22 answers
What's a good word for 'a spatially or geographically incongruous person/event/object', as an analogue to anachronism, which is 'temporally incongruous'? (New words okay)
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posted by onalark
on Oct 30, 2007 -
18 answers
Have you ever learned a new word, or heard a famous quote or something and for the next few weeks you see or hear this new thing again, sometimes repeatedly? Is there a name for that?
posted by OpinioNate
on May 21, 2007 -
19 answers
And I will hug him and squeeze him and call him George!
Somewhere I read that there was a specific word in some language to describe the feeling of restraining overwhelming affection because the urge to hug and squeeze with all one's might could actually harm the subject, e.g. puppies, infants, petite girlfriends. I've searched all over with no luck. Ring any bells?
posted by Tubes
on Apr 23, 2007 -
27 answers
What word am I thinking of? There's a word that means something like, "an object that compels you to want to eat or lick it, even though the object is in fact not edible or meant to be licked". If it helps at all, I believe I've seen this word used to describe the new Macbook and its resemblance to an oversized piece of Chiclet gum. And btw, "pica" is not the word.
posted by satori101
on Jul 25, 2006 -
38 answers
I'm embarking on an intense italian vocabulary learning routine, and I need some advice on how to maximize my effort using lexicons and flashcard software. [più dentro]
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posted by Oneirokritikos
on Dec 29, 2005 -
2 answers
What's the difference between efficiency and effectiveness ?
posted by vincentm
on Sep 6, 2005 -
17 answers
I'm pretty verbose, but I don't think my vocabulary has grown much in years. And I'd like to build it up.
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posted by grumblebee
on May 18, 2005 -
23 answers
I've been studying Japanese at a college level for three years now and I think I have an intermediate knowledge of the language, sentence pattern and grammar wise, and an OK vocabulary, considering I don't speak it everyday. Aside from actually living in Japan, which isn't an option right now due to college and work commitments, what is the best way to learn Japanese, especially reading and writing Kanji?
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posted by SweetJesus
on Dec 11, 2003 -
15 answers
