Word of the Day

I love vocabulary. I used to read dictionaries so I could find new and interesting words. Now, however, I use "Word of the Day" services. Merriam Webster's is the one I like the best. Definition, origin, etymology and samples. Everything one would need to fill their head with bits of useless information. They also have a toolbar to add to your browser of choice. Instant access to their dictionary services. The bad part my Google toolbar prevents the pop-up and I have to remember to ctrl+click. Then I got to thinking. Maybe there are more WOTD sites out there. Maybe I'm missing something I shouldn't be. I googled "word of the day" and found a few worth mentioning. Wordsmith.org looks promising. I'm definitely going to be spending some time here. Dictionary.com is so-so. I get this one via email at work. The vocab level is low for me. Often, the mailing contains words I already use. OED is a favorite dictionary. My alma mater had an electronic version available that I loved using during a paper writing flurry. But the site contains frames. I hate frames. Superkids.com is geared to, well, kids. But I wish I had known about the SAT/ACT vocabulary section when I was dreading this testing. Or that I had kids that needed this. It is awesome. And they have stuff for younger kids too. I like the age-appropriate layout. Not too intimidating. VocabVitamins.com is cheesy. The color scheme is annoying. I couldn't get past the horrid aesthetics to get to the content. All sorts of statistics exist as far as vocabulary levels. Comparisons between men and women, children and their peers, people from yesterday to today. Whichever set is preferred, they all say the same thing - people need to learn new words. Another Google search reveals that dozes of sites exist for etymologies. I get so many ideas for names of people and places when I search through these. Required reading when writing fantasy. Reading is the best way to increase vocabulary. Read, read, read. And read some more. I'm a huge advocate of reading. My husband likes to say that I'll read anything if it's printed - even the ingredients list on the cereal box. And he is right. But, then, if you've checked out one of my Bookworm reports, you already know this.