499 Words Every College Student Should Know: A Professor's Handbook on Words Essential to Great Writing and Better Grades

by Stephen Spignesi

Words equal credibility. The more articulate a person is, the more seriously they will be taken—by everyone. On any given day, you might read “abrogate” used in a USA Today article; or “demagogue” or “fiduciary” used on CNN. You might hear “ensorcelled” and “torpor” in a TV drama; you’ll hear a political candidate described as “truculent.” You may hear “pedantic” used in a movie. How many of these words are part of most college students’ “arsenal of words”? Hopefully all of them, but if not, 499 Words Every College Student Should Know will provide them with what they need to become more articulate in their speaking and writing. It will also enhance their comprehension in their reading, ultimately culminating in what every student aspires earning better grades!499 Words Every College Student Should Know teaches truly important vocabulary words and focuses on Professor Spignesi’s classroom-tested Trinity of Vocabulary Use. For each word, the vocabulary-enriched and educated student will be able Understand the word in their readingUse the word in their speakingMake good use of the word in their writing Using easy-to-understand, informative, and often humorous explanations of every word, 499 Words Every College Student Should Know also explores how to use the words in sentences, and in proper context. The majority of these words were individually chosen because they are fairly commonplace in media, books, online, and elsewhere, and students need to be able to understand them. Knowing them — in fact, using the words and making them part of their everyday language — will make any college student or those soon-to-be, more credible.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

582 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 29, 2017

Reviews

[Emerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, interesting. Might be handy for writing those college papers. Found a few words in the list which seemed questionable, unless you're a political science student as a major. Nothing wrong with having a good vocabulary; but, my experience has been professors seem to be sticklers on grammar and punctuation. Plus, making sure your references and quotes are top notch.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a valuable book that reminds us of the power of words--especially the most accurate word--to capture an idea and communicate an idea exactly.

Author Stephen Spignesi makes 499 words come alive for use in our talking and writing He tells us how to pronounce the word, provides a one-sentence meaning of the word and multiple synonyms.

The power of the book lies in variety of publications that Spignesi's use as his examples of the word's meaning. While many of the examples come from well-known writings and writers, there a plenty of examples from pop culture. For example, Spignesi uses an example from the Austin Powers movie to explain malaise: "Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy, and sort of general malaise that only the genius posses and the insane lament."

499 is a book that takes communication seriously by empowering us to use the best word that will inform others.

I encountered a few words that I did not know. More importantly, I was challenged to understand how words can empower the speaker or writer to use a word wisely.

[Pía López Copetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. One resource to carry around when writing research papers

[Karla]

Love this!
I'm ebullient to support recommendation of reading this cover to cover!
It's a pick up put down, pick back up again type of book.
Its a wonderful resource