When you read my writing you may believe I am using too many big words, and therefore are unjustly limiting my audience. If you believe this is the case, then I have a few (hopefully) insightful words for you. <br />    Language is a tool by which we communicate with others. The expression of complex ideas is made easier by extensions in vocabulary. This is illustrated easiest by the use of technical jargon in almost all occupational fields. <br />    If you meet an artist, he probably knows twenty different names for shades of yellow, because this helps him communicate with his fellow artists more efficiently. Likewise, automotive engineers have terms for certain tools, parts, and processes of a vehicle. <br />    If you extend this idea to all people, I hope you will see my point. The larger a vocabulary you have, the easier it will be to express and grasp complex, abstract ideas.<br />    Yet, you might be right that I use too many big words. Although I do my best not to needlessly use one big word where one small word would fit, it does happen. Usually, it is because of an attempt to better understand the word through its use. I can't memorize every word I learn, but if I use it in something I write, my memory can more easily retain it.<br />    Below is a list of words from the book Wicked, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which were either used in a way that I haven't seen before or had a definition that I wasn't exactly sure of. See if you can define any of these words!<br /><br />rick<br />cord<br />cordwood<br />tuft<br />hoist<br />tuft<br />urbane<br />arbor<br />colander<br />balladeer(ing)<br />flimflam<br />nub<br />vertiginous<br />manfully<br />staunch<br />sedentary<br />badinage<br />deign<br />hie<br />arch - mischievious<br />sally<br />inebriate<br />callow<br />ersatz<br />peristrephic<br />broadsheet<br />etiolate<br />nominal<br />quern<br />amanuensis<br />lozenge<br />mullions (112)<br />transoms(112)<br />pince-nez (112)<br />Terpsichorean (112)<br />aria 113<br />recitative 113<br />warble 114<br />tremolo 114<br />sostenuto 114<br />putative 114<br />font 114<br />febrile 114<br />terricolous 114<br />arrant 116<br />burnoose 116<br />fandango 116<br />besotted 117<br />hansome 117<br />margreave 118<br />verigrisian 119<br />reticule 120<br />frayed 120<br />fretwork 121<br />arabesquing 121<br />ama<br />evanescent<br />finfoot 124<br />vellum 124<br />prehensile 125<br />syncretism 125<br />exegesis 126<br />accoutrements 126<br />ontological 126<br />flounce 127<br />epaulets 129<br />rivet 131<br />coven 133<br />barmy 135<br />dulcet 137<br />impasse 140<br />frisson 140<br />tine 142<br />volubly 142<br />dyspepsia 144<br />apocrypha 148<br />histrionic 151<br />hoary 152<br />rimefrost 152<br />coterie 155<br />saffron 155<br />tamorna 155<br />salver 163<br />smarmy 164<br />chanteuse 165<br />oslter 169<br />splenetic 171<br />ziggurat 172<br />obeisant 172<br />dais 172<br />timpani 172<br />tabernacle 173<br />specious 174<br />apoplexy 175<br />sententious 175<br />verger 181<br />nave 182<br />arpeggio 182<br />maunt 182<br />fecund 185<br />epigram 197<br />