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Grammar Girl's 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know
The SATs might be behind you but that doesn’t mean having an advanced vocabulary no longer matters.
You could spend months reading the dictionary, but why bother when Grammar Girl’s Mignon Fogarty has expertly compiled a list of 101 frequently-used words that seem to pop up everywhere from newspapers articles to popular novels to political speeches. Each word entry contains a clear, straightforward definition along with a sample sentence of the word being used correctly in context.
With Grammar Girl’s 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know you won’t just sound smarter, you’ll be smarter—one word at a time.
You could spend months reading the dictionary, but why bother when Grammar Girl’s Mignon Fogarty has expertly compiled a list of 101 frequently-used words that seem to pop up everywhere from newspapers articles to popular novels to political speeches. Each word entry contains a clear, straightforward definition along with a sample sentence of the word being used correctly in context.
With Grammar Girl’s 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know you won’t just sound smarter, you’ll be smarter—one word at a time.
129 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 5, 2011
11 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
About the author
Mignon Fogarty
21 books1,323 followersMignon Fogarty is better known as Grammar Girl — five-time winner of Best Education Podcast in the Podcast Awards, an inductee in the Podcasting Hall of Fame, the founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network, and the former chair of media entrepreneurship in the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada. She is the author of seven books about language, including the New York Times bestseller, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. She has also appeared as a guest expert on the Oprah Winfrey Show and the Today Show.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 7, 2011
When I first flipped through this book, a few entries caught my eye. (Glacier? Really?) I wondered why Fogarty had included them in a list of words of importance for high school grads. Then I read it. Now I get it. (Yes, glacier. Really.)
The words in this book aren't necessarily ones that high school grads will know if they did their homework. I've seen similar lists for high school grads, and they usually do include boring stuff like hypothesis that grads should know when they get a diploma.
This one's different. If incoming college students knows these words, they'll be a step ahead in cultural literacy and understanding the world around them. Including:
the news
politics and what the politicians are saying (or calling each other)
technology (important in today's world)
science (ditto)
and even pop culture
The book has a fun tone. It's a quick and easy read with lots of white space (easy on the eyes) and humorous drawings. The words are alphabetical, and every letter of the alphabet gets at least one.
A few of my favorites:
galaxy (New etymology for me.)
ironic (Please, please, people! Learn this one and use it correctly.)
epic (And not just as "epic fail.")
mandate (I love how its got a history that's the reverse of verbification of nouns.)
canard (New word for me.)
ad hominem (A must-know for election years.)
Romance languages (Before, I could have told you what they are, but I didn't know why until now.)
ubiquitous (I love a good word joke, and you'll find one here.)
The explanations are easy to understand, and each word gets a quotation to show how it's used. I really enjoyed these; they're totally entertaining. She quotes classics like Shakespeare and Jane Austen, contemporaries like Dave Berry and Obama, and even fictional characters like The Simpsons and House. (The 101st word quotes someone many of my friends will perk up at: Ezra Taft Benson.)
In the end, if you read the whole thing, you'll get more than 101 words, because several entries include opposites and related words.
This is one I'll be keeping on my shelf. And making my teens read.
The words in this book aren't necessarily ones that high school grads will know if they did their homework. I've seen similar lists for high school grads, and they usually do include boring stuff like hypothesis that grads should know when they get a diploma.
This one's different. If incoming college students knows these words, they'll be a step ahead in cultural literacy and understanding the world around them. Including:
the news
politics and what the politicians are saying (or calling each other)
technology (important in today's world)
science (ditto)
and even pop culture
The book has a fun tone. It's a quick and easy read with lots of white space (easy on the eyes) and humorous drawings. The words are alphabetical, and every letter of the alphabet gets at least one.
A few of my favorites:
galaxy (New etymology for me.)
ironic (Please, please, people! Learn this one and use it correctly.)
epic (And not just as "epic fail.")
mandate (I love how its got a history that's the reverse of verbification of nouns.)
canard (New word for me.)
ad hominem (A must-know for election years.)
Romance languages (Before, I could have told you what they are, but I didn't know why until now.)
ubiquitous (I love a good word joke, and you'll find one here.)
The explanations are easy to understand, and each word gets a quotation to show how it's used. I really enjoyed these; they're totally entertaining. She quotes classics like Shakespeare and Jane Austen, contemporaries like Dave Berry and Obama, and even fictional characters like The Simpsons and House. (The 101st word quotes someone many of my friends will perk up at: Ezra Taft Benson.)
In the end, if you read the whole thing, you'll get more than 101 words, because several entries include opposites and related words.
This is one I'll be keeping on my shelf. And making my teens read.
October 16, 2011
This review first appeared on my blog:
http://www.knittingandsundries.com/20...
In the intro, the author states:
Use them in your college entrance essays or during job interviews to show that you're well-read and well-spoken. Even if you're past those stages in life, you'll regularly see most of these words in the news.
Middle Bebe Girl Jasmine is a reader - BUT quite often, she interrupts her reading while I'm here to ask, "Mom, what does ____ mean?", and then I'm left to explain it to her, after asking her to give me the word in context.
THIS little book is so handy - I think we all could improve our vocabulary immensely by reading up on one word a day, and then using it a few times during the day to make it stick in our minds. This is NOT a thesaurus, but a great vocabulary builder, and I definitely recommend it!
EXAMPLE:
Laconic
From the Greek Lakon, the name of a region near ancient Sparta. Laconians were known for their terse speech. The most famous example is the Laconian reply to Philip of Maceon's threat "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground." Their ruler simply responded, "If."
In English, laconic is still used to describe someone of few words. It sometimes carries a negative connotation.
You can get far in North America with
laconic grunts. "Huh," "hun", and "hi!"
in their various modulations, together
with "sure," "guess so," "that so?" and
"nuts!" will meet almost any contingency.
-For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming,
Scottish writer
BOOK RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
http://www.knittingandsundries.com/20...
In the intro, the author states:
Use them in your college entrance essays or during job interviews to show that you're well-read and well-spoken. Even if you're past those stages in life, you'll regularly see most of these words in the news.
Middle Bebe Girl Jasmine is a reader - BUT quite often, she interrupts her reading while I'm here to ask, "Mom, what does ____ mean?", and then I'm left to explain it to her, after asking her to give me the word in context.
THIS little book is so handy - I think we all could improve our vocabulary immensely by reading up on one word a day, and then using it a few times during the day to make it stick in our minds. This is NOT a thesaurus, but a great vocabulary builder, and I definitely recommend it!
EXAMPLE:
Laconic
From the Greek Lakon, the name of a region near ancient Sparta. Laconians were known for their terse speech. The most famous example is the Laconian reply to Philip of Maceon's threat "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground." Their ruler simply responded, "If."
In English, laconic is still used to describe someone of few words. It sometimes carries a negative connotation.
You can get far in North America with
laconic grunts. "Huh," "hun", and "hi!"
in their various modulations, together
with "sure," "guess so," "that so?" and
"nuts!" will meet almost any contingency.
-For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming,
Scottish writer
BOOK RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
April 5, 2016
Having listened to a few of Grammar Girl's podcasts, I bought this book (and others in the series) to feed my zeal for the English language.
Each word is accompanied by an etymology, which made it a highly interesting read and gave useful tips for remembering certain words. While I finished high school a few years ago, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that there were quite a few words that I didn't know, and of those that I did, most I learned after I finished high school.
I do question whether some of these words *need* to be known by all high school graduates - e.g. furlough, kibosh and sartorial. That being said, this book was probably intended for American students, and perhaps these are some words that students need to learn for the SATs.
There was an emphasis on some specifically American-related words, for example, antebellum and kudzu. Nonetheless, most of the words fed my love for language and even provided me with interesting facts about words I did know, such as the Greek root of the word 'galaxy'.
Each word is accompanied by an etymology, which made it a highly interesting read and gave useful tips for remembering certain words. While I finished high school a few years ago, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that there were quite a few words that I didn't know, and of those that I did, most I learned after I finished high school.
I do question whether some of these words *need* to be known by all high school graduates - e.g. furlough, kibosh and sartorial. That being said, this book was probably intended for American students, and perhaps these are some words that students need to learn for the SATs.
There was an emphasis on some specifically American-related words, for example, antebellum and kudzu. Nonetheless, most of the words fed my love for language and even provided me with interesting facts about words I did know, such as the Greek root of the word 'galaxy'.
September 7, 2011
I managed to graduate from high school and live another 20 years without knowing many of these words. If asked to define canard, bellicose, fungible, kudzu, nadir, or schadenfreude I would have failed a test!
The author gives a great explanation and definition of each word and then follows up with a quote from a movie, TV show, famous person or famous quote that use the word in context.
It was a falsehood, a canard, a prevarication. Oh, why beat about the bush. It was a simple lie told by a little girl named Sandy. ~ From Puff the Magic Dragon in the Land of Living Lies.
You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers ~ Brad Pitt in Fight Club
If you are looking for a fun way to improve your vocabulary give Grammar Girl's book a try.
The author gives a great explanation and definition of each word and then follows up with a quote from a movie, TV show, famous person or famous quote that use the word in context.
It was a falsehood, a canard, a prevarication. Oh, why beat about the bush. It was a simple lie told by a little girl named Sandy. ~ From Puff the Magic Dragon in the Land of Living Lies.
You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers ~ Brad Pitt in Fight Club
If you are looking for a fun way to improve your vocabulary give Grammar Girl's book a try.
January 29, 2013
This was a fun, quick read that features words to know. I love Fogarty's style of writing and use of fun examples. My two little nitpicky points are (1) a few words needed the addition of how to pronounce them and (2) a few of the aardvark drawings did not seem to fit the word.
December 31, 2013
It's a book. With words. And it explains them. That's already better than most of the tripe that's out there. And besides, it's Grammar Girl, so what's not to love? Now get out of my way so I can go read every one of the rest of her books.
August 28, 2015
This is a very helpful book. I revised words I know and learnt new ones. The words are essential for high school students, while not being too difficult or easy.
March 23, 2019
Good for people who didn't pay attention in High School I guess.
December 18, 2014
I reviewed some of Mignon Fogarty’s books here. I liked the books I reviewed before much better than this one. The others were much funnier than this one.
review cross-posted on my blog: Spectacle Aglow
review cross-posted on my blog: Spectacle Aglow
September 5, 2011
While I'll agree that most of these words are ones that people should know, I didn't really learn much. However, it may just be that I'm past the vocabulary level this book is aimed at.
June 14, 2012
A concise list of words with contextual definitions.
March 17, 2014
An excellent mini (mini) dictionary with definitions to words we hear alot in the media. Quite enlightening! And fun to read (for a mini dictionary). ;)
December 31, 2012
This work is both Eclectic (#19) and Penultimate (#71). Be the envy of your less verbose friends, as they run for the dictionary in chagrin.
September 25, 2013
I'm a homeschooling mom and this has been a great addition in my daughter's Language Arts curriculum.
December 2, 2011
I only wish there was more than 101 words! these books are so helpful, creative, and quirky!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews