Thursday, 9 October 2014

Be Not Pusillanimous, Cachinnate at the Coruscating Apparel of the Bloviator

It doesn't matter if English is your first, second or third language, we could all do with extending our vocabulary. With this in mind I thought this week we could have a look at some “fancy” ways of saying everyday things.

In this way I hope all our conversations will become more coruscating. To coruscate is to sparkle and glitter, to shimmer and dazzle, like the sun shining on a gleaming pond. When the adjective coruscating is used it means brilliant or striking in content or style.

I hope that didn't make you cachinnate! To cachinnate is to laugh extremely loudly, possibly making such a noise as to embarrass others in your company. It is to cackle or guffaw. I suppose it could be compared to the modern expression” lol” (laugh out loud).

Maybe you are having guests for dinner soon. If so you could welcome them to your abode (your house or home) and compliment them on their apparel (the clothes they are wearing). You may also use the term to describe a “type of clothing” such as sports apparel, or you could say something like the apparel I wear Monday to Friday (smart working suits) is very different to the apparel I wear on the weekends (sports/leisure suits).

When trying out new words it is important to be bold and not pusillanimous. To be pusillanimous is to be cowardly and lack courage; to be very timid and afraid of danger. However, do not go to the other extreme and bloviate, no-one likes a bloviator! Those who bloviate have developed the art of talking for a long time and saying absolutely nothing. They can be seen as self indulgent, empty pompous and often a little boastful. Not at all like any of our readers.

Indeed, if I was accused of such a thing I would consider myself a target of calumny. That is to say the victim of an untrue statement that was said with the intention of damaging my reputation. I would cry slander and be vitriolic (bitter and caustic) in my response!  

Talking of insults, I can think of nothing worse than being labelled as vapid. Apart from the fact that it sounds horrible it means to be boring, bland and lifeless. A sad tired out person with little personality!

That’s enough of the insults; let’s finish this blog in a nice way and look at a rather peculiar sounding word: indubitably. This word, pronounced in-doo-bit-a-blee, means beyond doubt, an absolute certainty. Indubitably this blog should help you to improve your English vocabulary!

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