In your opinion, what are the ten most useful words to know? Please don't include things like "a" or "the", I'm talking words that can enhance your conversation. Also, try to avoid words that are only used in your job/field (but you can use job-related words that have migrated to common usage if you so desire).
As for me...
10. undoubtedly
9. luminescent
8. intuitive
7. serendipitous
6. superiority
5. optician
EDIT: After nancyk's post, I am changing this one to:
5. retrospect
4. blamelessness
3. sundry
2. intelligence
1. (forgive me) please
Feel free to disagree...and keep in mind, what comes in handy one day may not be so helpful the next.
Hmmm, what an intersting question. Let me think on it.
great question! ican only think of a few right now, I'll have to add more later.
thank you
yes
no
please
why not?
welcome
I've been thinking about this, on and off, since I first saw the post at about 10 pm BST last night.
eta's right, It IS an interesting question, and not one to be answered lightly.
My main problem with it is that, as gonoldothrond has rightly said, my list of words is very context-oriented. Some lists would be totally different from others - the pub list would include words from "Tahnk you, I'll have another pint" whereas my UNi list would be headed by "However" and "It's not my period" (the trusty standby for all historians!)
10. Reply:
9: These
8. words
7. I
6. need
5. now
4. to
3. acknowledge
2. your
1. question
I wouldn't know where to begin, but I have a question for you, gonoldothrond:
optician is one of the 10 *most useful words you know? Why, please?
yeah, I couldn't quite see that one, either, nancy...
bavardage, fecklessness, floccification, naff, quisquilious, recrementious, shmata, straminious, trumpery, vermiform..
oh, wait.. you said "useful"!
never mind.
In retrospect (there's a good one), optician may not be that useful after all. I think the reason I originally listed it was because I believe that knowing what to call something can greatly increase your (apparent) intelligence...that is, if you can say optician as opposed to eye doctor or "that doctor that gives you glasses or contacts". Then again, how often does that really come up? Thanks for pointing that out.
oh, and to tsuwn...they may not be useful, but those are great words!
Put all the money in the sack. Small unmarked bills.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Yep. Ten words.
>if you can say optician as opposed to eye doctor or "that doctor that gives you glasses or contacts".
Having a very close friend who is an optician, I can say with confidence that, at least in Zild, the UK and Oz, an optician is NOT a doctor, of any sort. In these countries, an optician is the eye equivalent of a pharmacist, the person who fills a prescription written by a optometrist or an opthalmologist. Of the three, only an opthalmologist is an M.D. Here in Zild there is an effort being made to change the law to allow opticians to write prescriptions as well as merely dispensing them.
Forgive ME, gonoldothrond, but I could cheerfully strangle you at the moment for making me choose so few among so many!
However, I shall at least begin. Conversation-enhancing, hmm? O-kay...
you
think
feel
delighted
happy
really (can have a question mark after it)
specific
understandable (-bly)
enjoy
significant
Aloha
Love
Together
Son (I have two boys)
Granddaughter
Etcetera
Wriggle room
SNAFU (situation normal - all fouled up)
Grateful
Beautiful
Reasonable
Summery
Wherewithall
Think
Swimmingly
Wonderful
Oh, you got me started ... now I'll be conscious of words I use all day! Like a song you can't get out of your head.
Welcome. Quite an auspicious start.
Talking of enhancing my conversation, I think it's good to remember that conversation requires at least two people, and therefore, "Yes", and silence, are by far the most useful contributions overall.
Put all the money in the sack. Small unmarked bills.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Yep. Ten words.