The photo above is of a drawstring bag, made in Guatemala, that I bought many years ago at a local flea market.  Recently, while listening to the audio book, Jane and the Genius of the Place by Stephanie Barron, I discovered that Jane Austen would have called it a “reticule.” Another word used in this book that struck my fancy was hoyden, which Merriam Webster’s online dictionary tells me means “a girl or woman of saucy, boisterous, or carefree behavior.” Unlike reticule, this was a word I had heard before but not for many years.

I love learning new words from books, even words like these that have fallen out of favor.  I don’t own or want a kindle (see why here), but the one thing that really attracts me about ereaders is the ability to look up unfamiliar words immediately.  See a word you don’t understand, click on it, and up pops the definition. Instead, I have to do it the old fashioned way: make a note of a new word and google it.

I find new words in books, of course, but I also find them in just paying attention to what I hear on radio, podcasts and conversations around me. I rarely hear new words on television. Go figure.

In church yesterday, Pastor Betty told us that the Greeks had two words for time: chronos and kairos . According to Wikipedia, “The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time in between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens. . . . While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature.” I didn’t know that.

If I were serious about improving my vocabulary, I could get one of those Word-a-Day calendars or subscribe to a word-a-day email service. For me, it’s just a hobby because I love words. In fact, I’m probably a linguist in an alternate universe.

However, many researchers have found that vocabulary is an excellent indicator (if not predictor) of career success. Why? Because people judge you by the words you use and whether or not you use them correctly. We also use words when we think. “Language is the tool our minds use to think, plan, solve problems, and succeed,” according to improvingvocabulary.org. Yes, there is at least one organization devoted solely to helping people to improve their vocabularies. See their list of Six Very Best Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary.

The size of my vocabulary isn’t what interests me about words, but I am fascinated by where they came from. Just this morning, I learned why the British call their police “bobbies.” It comes from Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern policing who developed nine principles that police forces today still use.  That came from a criminal justice student paper I reviewed. And that is why I like my job: it gives me the daily opportunity to learn about a wide variety of topics.

Learning anything new keeps those brain cells growing.