>> if you asked most of these people to use the 8, 9, or even 10-letter word they have just made in a sentence, their response would probably be, "Huh?". <<
I beg to differ... firstly, just because a word is 8 or 10 letters doesn't make it obscure. Look at the trips on the recent 1931 game -- COEXISTS, PREJUDGED, BIOHAZARD, and MYSTIQUES -- I'd guess that everyone here knows what those words mean.
Secondly, I myself have been compelled to look up certain words whose definition I didn't previously know. How can you not be curious what a FRAXINELLA is, after all? So I am generally able to use these words in sentences:
"The meadow contained many species of flowers, including JONQUILS, DEUTZIAS, and FRAXINELLAS." :-) |