The Words You Should Know to Sound Smart: 1200 Essential Words Every Sophisticated Person Should Be Able to Use

by Robert W. Bly

This book is a tongue-in-cheek guide to words that any well-educated, witty person should be able to drop into cocktail conversation. The reader is encouraged to toss off words such as ?disestablishmentarianism, ? ?descant, ? and ?autodidactic? ?words that will make the user sound learned, intellectual, and wise. For those who want to improve the quality and sophistication of their speech and writing, this is the book to keep on the nightstan

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Writing, Reference, Communication, Education, Personal Development

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2009

About the author

Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter with 4 decades of experience in direct response and business-to-business marketing. He is the author of 100 published book on topics ranging from science, sex, satire, and science fiction -- to small business, writing, advertising, and online marketing. McGraw-Hill calls Bob Bly “America’s top copywriter.”

Reviews

[Mugren Ohaly · Rating 1 out of 5]

The words in the book will make you sound smart. But, they are so difficult to fit into a sentence that you are left sounding pretentious instead.

[Dreamcatcher (HIATUS)]

Obviously I haven't completely read through it, but I'll need it for writing. It's exactly what it says: 1200 English words to make you sound pretentious smart

Well I mean some of the words here are pretentious yes, but this is basically just a refined version of the dictionary I own, which is kind of what I needed, so bonus points for that! Most of the words written here aren't that obscure unlike what the reviews say...in my opinion. It could be like that because of my recent thesaurus addiction though. Who knows?

8.5/10 for delivering what it said on the blurb

[Tiemu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice idea, though nothing novel. What makes the book unbearably nauseating are the pretentious quotes Bly's mind splutters page after page. If you drip water on the same spot of a person's head long enough it becomes insufferably painful, and Bly takes this form of torture to its verbal incarnation.

Improving one's language ought to be a beautiful process. Instead we read the neurotic words of someone who seems to have an acute superiority complex. This makes the book rather vomitous.

Here are just some of sentences Bly writes down within a single page:

"The occasional nouveau riche WAIF may float into our circle, but she rarely lasts long."

"Once she finally received the Cartier watch from her father, Karen's interest in the timepiece quickly WANED."

"Jennifer managed to WANGLE an invitation to the Clarksons' party, even though she is the gauchest of the area's parvenus"

And on it goes...

"As long as someone comes from a family of high-standing, we wholeheartedly embrace PLURALISM".

"Our families have succeeded in amassing great wealth over many generations because we are all, at heart, practitioners of PRAGMATISM".

etc. etc.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary contains better and lettered quotes than these these obnoxious words that unfortunately drip from Bly's mind. Unfortunately it takes a long time to read through an entire dictionary, even when skiping the words you already know, so this book has some value. It's just a pity it had to be so poorly executed.

Another reason the dictionary takes so much longer to read is because you're given all the definitions for a word, which can vary markedly. This book only offers one, so don't assume that you understand a word just because it was here. It may carry other definitions. But this isn't meant to be a definitive work, and knowing one out of several definitions is still better than none.

[Sadia Mansoor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dictionary filled with numerous words to make you sound smart. Though they are quite tough to use; but its great to learn something new from them.

Here is the link to the book... http://www.e4thai.com/e4e/images/pdf2...

[Heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

INACCURATE DEFINITIONS!! Nuance and the existence of multiple meanings and senses is vital in vocabulary studies - and essential when studying for standardized tests. Had I prepared for the GREs using a book of this caliber, I would have bombed rather than scored as well as I did.

[Bret Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me not word good. This book help me word better.

A very fun and quick read. I loved his definitions and examples. One of the benefits for me was seeing words in a different context than I normally see them. I think specifically of "Transubstantiation" as a marketing term. Fascinating!

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book.

[Reeds]

Nothing will nauseate people more than listening to someone trying to sound smart.

[Blake Townes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid. I would say there are some many useful words that will increase you vocabulary, but there are definitely some impractical words (i.e. Syzygy...) . There are better options out there if you are looking for a single book to improve your vocabulary.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

You can read my review of this dreck here:

https://thebeerthrillers.com/2021/10/...

[Coco · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I own.

[alexis dominguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Needless to say, I am in fact not smarter. Perhaps that’s a problem that extends beyond the confines of these pages.

[Hunde · Rating 5 out of 5]

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