Jots and Iotas: How a Dictionary Became a Fountain of Learning

Preface: I'm honored to be a part of the continuation of Joyful Jubilant Learning. For me, to celebrate learning is to celebrate the journey of our lives. This project has already enabled me to pay tribute to Brother George and the Mid-Term that changed my learning life, and today I'm pleased to present a "sequel" of a sort, a story of an even more unexpected learning experience. Thanks, and happy reading (and learning)!

Once I "learned how to learn" through my experience with Brother George, I graduated from college in 1982 and entered the business world as a public accountant, with a sense of great expectations laced with trepidation.

Luckily, my first manager quickly allayed my fears and ultimately stoked my new learning capability in a way quite different than I expected. He was a person that instinctively knew that the subject matter we spent most of our day dealing with (accounting) could lead us to complacency and tedium, so he came up with a daily ritual for our team:  the "word of the day".

One morning I arrived at work to see a word displayed on our white board:  "insouciant".  It was an unfamiliar word to me, but I did know it probably had little to do with accounting. Later that day the definition appeared - "a lighthearted unconcern".  Before I knew it we were using the word in our conversations (as a half-fuller I found it fairly easy to find things to be insouciant about), and as this daily unveiling continued I was compelled to buy my first "real" hardcover dictionary.

I never spent as much time looking up words than my first year after graduation - there was a joy of discovery that reminded me of my earliest memories of reading encyclopedias at age 4. From that time forward the dictionary was always within arm's reach, and I used it almost every time I encountered a word I didn't know.

Having a dictionary came in very handy when I encountered another boss in the late 80's, who turned out to be one of my biggest mentors.  He was a self-taught wildly successful entrepreneur who took great pride in the expanse of his vocabulary and proper use of the English language. One of the very first things he said that got my attention was when he said "there's not a jot, not an iota, or a scintilla of evidence to suggest that they are correct".  That sent me scurrying to my now leather-bound reference book very quickly (let's just say that he didn't think "they" were correct in any way, shape or form!).   

I also found that if I was to use any "big" words when I was talking to him, I had better know what they mean, because about every time he would challenge me on the definition. I got to the point where I actually brought my pocket dictionary into meetings with him.

As much as he liked to use expansive words, he also knew when simpler words or phrases worked better. My most memorable example of this was when he once asked my about my views on a business decision we needed to make. I replied, "there seems to be a dichotomy of opinions on this", to which he asked his usual  "what do you mean?" After I said, "well, there are two different ways folks are looking at this" he retorted "so my boy, why didn't you just say so!"

I took two important lessons from these two bosses- one, a greater appreciation of the English language and all of its nuances, and two, a greater respect for the language as well, in that using "big" words for big words' sake drain their meaning and effect.  I still have my leather-bound dictionary in the top drawer of my desk, although these days I'm more likely to consult with Dictionary.com  when I see another word I don't know.

The great thing is, there are probably many, many more words I can still learn. So bring 'em on!

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Terry Starbucker is an operations executive for a service company who lives in Connecticut, loves business trips to the Rocky Mountain west,  and posts his musings and observations about "the optimistic side of the daily grind" in Ramblings from a Glass Half Full.

Comments

[Rosa Say]

Long live the dictionary! Terry, there are three books that take residence atop my desk: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus, and the Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary. They give me a tactile reading experience that the online dictionaries simply cannot duplicate; not only do my eyes dart all over the two-page spread of my inquiry, my habit is always to randomly open to just one more page where I can learn a new word I didn’t know before. Touching one’s computer screen is nowhere near the same as running your fingers down a hefty, hard-bound dictionary’s page. In my case, I thank my mom for the fascination, for she collected words like others collect stamps or rare coins.

Your story illustrates one more thing for me, in my ever-constant Managing with Aloha consciousness; great bosses are great teachers too.

Learned a new word today; insouciant - I like it!

[Greg Balanko-Dickson]

I had a negative view the dictionary when I was in school as it was used primarily as a spelling resource.

Now I spend time in the dictionary looking at everyday words to gain 'meaning and context' as I find it helpful when writing. I get a sense of clarity and often end up digging into my Thesaurus to get just the right expression.

Another good example of how we learn and how we continue to learn and use tools we once thought mundane.

[Blaine Collins]

Always a big dictionary user, I find that my use of the thesaurus is much increased in the computer era. While I can generally think of an okay word, a good Thesaurus program helps me identify the best word (or at least a better one.)

One of the most interesting software programs I have seen is Thinkmap's Visual Thesaurus. It provides synonym suggestions almost endlessly in a visual format, with each word branching off and creating its own node of synonyms. Hard to explain, but easy to try out at http://www.visualthesaurus.com

[Dave]

I get tormented by big words that are over used. I get a pinge, an itch however, by a smartly placed big word. And the only scratch for me is the ever so pleasing, tactile (cool word Rosa)experience of using a book dictionary. I highlight every word that I look up.

[Dave]

I am soooo embarassed. Strike the e in pinge.

[Terry Starbucker]

Thank you Rosa, Greg, Blaine and Dave! Rosa, I thought you'd like insousiant; and I agree with Dave -I love the word tactile. It doesn't surprise me you are a word lover too.

Greg, I was exactly where you were when I was in school - most of the time my pocket dictionary (which my mom bought for me) gathered dust. Now the mundane is a trusted tool. Thank goodness for mentors!

Blaine, thanks for the Thesaurus tip - I'm in a constant search for that "best" word, so I bet it will come in handy.

Dave, no worries, I thank God for spellchecker every day! And I too love it when a big word is used just right. My old boss was a master at it.

All the best to you all!

[Steve Sherlock]

Not to throw a damper on this excellent conversation but why can't comment boxes be spell check enabled? I think we are a ways away from creating a good working tool set. I too am a word lover, have the paperback version dictionary and thesaurus. The online versions sometimes don't help as much as they could. I find in those cases, it is easier to look in the book to find a word you are trying to spell.

Has anyone had a problem trying to find the correct spelling of a word and not been able to find the word? I think you get my drift.

On a lighter note, when the Blogger spellchecker pops up, I like how the suggestion for Technorati is "degenerate". I should capture more of those misses. They can be funny.

[tim]

What's another word for thesaurus?

I know...old joke. Terry, I have become a speedster at using dictionary dot com. I have my firefox browser set up to simply type in "d", space, then the word. It is my quick goto resource on an almost daily basis.

I also love to joke with people when they say a big word and I ask them what they meant and then they simplify it, which leads me to ask, "Well, why didn't you just say that?"

It's like the movie, Princess Bride, where Viscini keeps saying the word, "Inconceivable!" His hired henchman Inigo turns to him after about the 30th time of him saying that and says, "You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

[Terry Starbucker]

Thanks Steve and Tim for your comments. Steve, I'm all for getting spellcheck on comments, and I too get a kick out of Blogger's spellcheck.

Tim, the Princess Bride is indeed a classic (I had forgotten about the inconceivable bit), and it sounds like you use my old mentor's tactic with "big words" very well!

After reading all of the great comments so far, it doesn't surprise me we're all word lovers - and I bet there are a lot more of us out there. All the best.

[Steve Sherlock]

The Princess Bride! Another fan! I'll have to do a post just on that. It is a family favorite so much so that my daughters (currently a freshman and junior in college) can do the movie line by line from memory! And they have to the amazement of some friends when they have "shown off". The only thing that can prevent them from finishing is if they break down in laughter.

I can see it now, "Lessons from the Princess Bride"... stay tuned!

[Phil Gerbyshak]

Very interesting article Terry. You are quite a word lover friend. My high school English teacher used to say that 50 cent words aren't worth a dime (that is, big words aren't that important). I try to write as simply as possible, and am very glad others do too, though I do enjoy learning new words from time to time. God bless the little words that mean so much!

[Chris Owen]

Oh it's so wonderful to be among word lovers. But I'm feeling a bit guilty! While I would always prefer to use a "real" dictionary rather than an online one, I don't use it all that often Should I use it more? Maybe you've prodded me back to it.
I love your writing style Starbucker (I mean Terry) and I ADORE that surname!
BTW please can we have Comment spellcheck soon?? Though some of us in other parts of the world would prefer that spellcheckers would provide Australian or British English as a default - just for a nice pleasant surprise!

[Terry Starbucker]

Thanks Phil and Chris! Phil, you hit the nail on the head when it comes to word simplicity - sometimes, less truly is more. That is, unless you really need to zero in on a specific meaning (the word "insouciant" is a good example of this).

Chris, thanks for your kind words; actually, I'm really liking my pseudonym surname more than my real one these days! And thanks for another vote for comment spellcheck - looks like we have agreement there.

All the best to you both.