# 87 Learn to Use Long Words (and Drop Them into Conversation)

I consider myself to have a reasonable vocabulary. I'm not one of those people who likes to throw unnecessarily long words into conversation to flummox people, but I do like to convey myself intelligently when the occasion warrants it.

I sometimes teach other people new words. I used to work with a lovely lady from Germany. I taught her the meaning of the word 'gumption'. I'm not even sure that many English speakers know what gumption is, but she was pleased when she heard a new colleague use it and she knew what they were talking about. I taught Mr Smith what 'obsequious' means today. I defined it as 'being sucky-uppy', which explained it adequately it seems. I taught my boss the word 'obstreperous', to describe my own behaviour it has to be said.

I hate it when people talk about someone being 'disinterested' when they mean 'uninterested'. Disinterested means being impartial, uninterested means being apathetic. It also annoys me when people say 'superfluous' instead of 'superlative', or simply, 'super'. Superfluous actually means unecessary, so if you use it with the intention of giving praise, you are, in fact, doing the opposite. Please, get it right.

I signed up for 'A Word A Day' email recently to help me with this thing to do, and so far most of the words have been ones I already use, which made me feel quite smug, supercilious even, and definitely worthy of a grey star.