Word Nerds

I am a walking dictionary, ask anyone. I can't do long division or name ANYTHING off the periodic table but need to spell "acquaintance" and I'm your girl. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.
So imagine the blow to my ego when I saw this online yesterday:

BOSTON, MA —

100 Words That All High School Graduates — And Their Parents — Should Know The editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries have compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every high school graduate should know."

The words we suggest," says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, "are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language."

It appears to be the Readers Digest Word Challenge gone horribly wrong. My friend K replied that she IS a COLLEGE graduate and the list was difficult. C'mon, high school graduates? They do realize that they're referring to the generation that has horrible spelling, nonexistent grammar, and the WORST penmenship ever, thanks to computers and cellphone texting.

I am not embarrassed to admit that I confidently don't know 24 of those words. Of the remainder of the 76, I am sure that there is some that I *think* I know what they mean but might be wrong. I consider myself a pretty smart human being but this list seems just a little too difficult! As I read through it, there were a few words that I had at least three punchlines for but no actual normal day-to-day USE for.

I would define "a superior command of the language" a bit excessive in the day of txting, IMHO. (for those technically challenged, I said "...texting, in my humble opinon."

And oh, it "isn't meant to be exhaustive." However, I must disagree, I'm very tired of thinking about it.

I like to think that this is simply the American Heritage Word Nerds issuing a press release to impress us with their verbiage acumen. Sorry word nerds, I'm onto you. (and notice how I can throw big, complicated words around willy-nilly too?)

So, for my own personal pleasure and ego I am going to write a sentence using each of these words reminiscent of sixth grade. ( used another big word, did you catch it?) Stay tuned in for future posts.

The following is the entire list of 100 words for your perusal: (see? another big word I slipped in there. You're not so cool, word nerds.)

abjure
abrogate
abstemious
acumen
antebellum
auspicious
belie
bellicose
bowdlerize
chicanery
chromosome
churlish
circumlocution
circumnavigate
deciduous
deleterious
diffident
enervate
enfranchise
epiphany
equinox
euro
evanescent
expurgate
facetious
fatuous
feckless
fiduciary
filibuster
gamete
gauche
gerrymander
hegemony
hemoglobin
homogeneous
hubris
hypotenuse
impeach
incognito
incontrovertible
inculcate
infrastructure
interpolate
irony
jejune
kinetic
kowtow
laissez faire
lexicon
loquacious
lugubrious
metamorphosis
mitosis
moiety
nanotechnology
nihilism
nomenclature
nonsectarian
notarize
obsequious
oligarchy
omnipotent
orthography
oxidize
parabola
paradigm
parameter
pecuniary
photosynthesis
plagiarize
plasma
polymer
precipitous
quasar
quotidian
recapitulate
reciprocal
reparation
respiration
sanguine
soliloquy
subjugate
suffragist
supercilious
tautology
taxonomy
tectonic
tempestuous
thermodynamics
totalitarian
unctuous
usurp
vacuous
vehement
vortex
winnow
wrought
xenophobe
yeoman
ziggurat