Thoughts Brewing Blog

Book Brew 52: Word Treasures Part II

Written by Danielle Price Griffin | Aug 8, 2024 6:03:00 PM

Continuing on with the word treasure hunt from the last post.


One thing I will note here is that as much as I have liked all of his books, Cal Newport uses a lot of high-level words, which goes against recommendations to keep your writings simple and at a low-grade reading level (see Book Brew 47 for more on this).  Despite the “recommendations,” I appreciate his use of “big” words because it grows my vocabulary and stretches my mind.

Today’s Word Gems

  • Bloviate (verb) - talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way
    • Deep Work, pg 48 - “Indeed, many deploy the Serum project management methodology, which replaces a lot of this ad hoc messaging with regular, highly structured and ruthlessly efficient status meetings (often held standing up to minimize the urge to bloviate).”
  • Fungible (adjective) - of goods contracted for without an individual specimen being specified able to replace or be replaced by another identical item, mutually interchangeable.
    • Deep Work, pg 55 - “And even then the outcome is fungible…”
  • Simulacrum (noun) - an image or representation of someone or something; an unsatisfactory imitation or substitute.
    • Deep Work, pg 60 - “Instead of trying to manage their time and obligations themselves, they let the impending meeting each week force them to take some action on a given project and more generally provide a highly visible simulacrum of progress.”
  • Anachronistic (adjective) - belonging to a period other than that being portrayed.
    • Deep Work, pg 65 - “Viewed objectively, however, this concept is anachronistic.” 
  • Denigrate (verb) - criticize unfairly, disparage.
    • Deep Work, pg 186 - “To be clear, I’m not trying to denigrate the benefits identified previously - there’s nothing illusory or misguided about them.”
    • Thinking Fast & Slow, pg 4 - “However, the focus on erro does not denigrate human intelligence any more than the attention to diseases in medical texts drives good health.”

 

Ponder This

  1. How can enhancing your vocabulary impact your professional communication and networking skills?
  2. In what ways can a rich vocabulary improve your ability to understand and convey complex concepts in your business?

Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!

 

Books

  • Deep Work - Cal Newport