Crystal Clear Proofing: Vocabulary

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Vocabulary

Increase your vocabulary with not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used words.

Today's word is: TRUCULENT, and its pronunciation is: truk-yuh-lunt

Truculent is an adjective meaning: feeling or displaying ferocity; deadly or destructive; scathingly harsh; aggressively self-assertive.

The small country is ruled by a truculent dictator who punishes anyone who publicly disagrees with his policies.

17 comments:

L. Diane WolfeFebruary 23, 2010 at 5:59:00 AM CST
This one I've heard of, although not used!
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JournoMichFebruary 23, 2010 at 6:18:00 AM CST
I probably would have given it two c's. Great word!

Michele
SouthernCityMysteries
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Alan OrloffFebruary 23, 2010 at 6:50:00 AM CST
A great word.

"Hey, Vern, what ever happened to that truculent to Horace? Did he wreck it?"
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Mason CanyonFebruary 23, 2010 at 8:27:00 AM CST
Always find such unique words here on Tuesday. Thanks.
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Elizabeth Spann CraigFebruary 23, 2010 at 8:43:00 AM CST
I love this word because I get a mental image when I hear it. I do use this one pretty frequently, when I have a character acting childish.

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
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UnknownFebruary 23, 2010 at 8:51:00 AM CST
Alan you have this wonderful ability to always make me laugh! Ever think of writing a comedy? Then there's always the stand-up routine idea that's been tossed around . . .LOL!
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Carol KilgoreFebruary 23, 2010 at 9:36:00 AM CST
I've seen this word and been able to determine what it meant by what was going on in the story. But I didn't know its exact meaning so I've never used it. Now that I do know it, maybe it will make its way into my writing. Thanks.
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Alex J. CavanaughFebruary 23, 2010 at 9:55:00 AM CST
Damn, should've used that term in my book to describe the alien race!
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UnknownFebruary 23, 2010 at 10:34:00 AM CST
I'm pleased that many of you either have used this word or, now being aware of it, may be able to use it in the future! See how wonderful comments are? They're very valuable as feedback!
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Creative ChroniclerFebruary 23, 2010 at 11:01:00 AM CST
faniliar with this one but haven't found a use for it yet. I love the way it sounds!!
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Elspeth FutcherFebruary 23, 2010 at 1:35:00 PM CST
I love this work. It just sounds nasty.
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Elspeth FutcherFebruary 23, 2010 at 1:35:00 PM CST
WorD. I meant worD. Geesh.
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UnknownFebruary 23, 2010 at 2:54:00 PM CST
Elspeth: When I read your first comment I thought, "What work?" LOL! You're too funny! Love your second comment!
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Truculent MarvFebruary 23, 2010 at 4:10:00 PM CST
I LOVE that word! (wink)

The Old Silly
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SouthpawFebruary 23, 2010 at 5:11:00 PM CST
I've heard the word before, but not used in the way Alan used it. LOL
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Kathy McIntoshFebruary 23, 2010 at 6:30:00 PM CST
I like this word because it sounds as harsh as the person it describes. And I adore the way Alan used it.
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AnonymousFebruary 24, 2010 at 7:33:00 AM CST
Ooooh, good word! Thanks for aiding in the expansion of my vocabulary! :D
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Reader Comments

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Crystal Clear Proofing posts the greatest writing/editing tutorials. As an editor myself, I go there often to learn subtle nuances in the craft of good writing, as she has this marvelous ability to make those fuzzy, sometimes hard to determine, gray areas of correct writing, well…Crystal Clear!

I do love your posts, they have such great information.

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I have learned much from your blog.

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I.E AND E.G.
Thank you! I've never know what those meant or how to properly use them!

JOINT AND SEPARATE POSSESSION
Thank you so much! I had a hard time finding what joint and seperate possession means! Once again, thank you!

WAIT AND AWAIT
Oh, I love this site! Do you have a past post about lay, lie and all that good stuff?

This is a very clear and succinct explanation of the distinction between the two words."

LAY AND LIE
OMG! This is GREAT!!! I might actually understand it now! Thanks so much, Crystal. This is an awesome site!

You have a great way of explaining words. Your blog is a wonderful source for writers. I'll have to search your post to see if you have "affect" "effect", I know I use those improperly often.

AFFECT AND EFFECT
Thank you for this great post! I have printed it to keep it handy. Hopefully, it will positively affect my future writing.

Thanks for this post Crystal. I was going to actually email you and request that you explain the difference between these two, because these are usually a problem for me. Thanks again!

Another classic, Crystal Clear explanation...this tutorial contains some subtle nuances well worth being reminded of. Thanks!

THAT AND WHICH
Another excellent grammar lesson!

You are really rockin' this grammar instruction! I am currently working on a short story for class, which must be submitted this week, and this was very helpful. Did I get it right? (Note from CCP: she did get it right!)

WHO AND WHOM
Perfect! Got it...I keep all these tutorials in a bookmarked file now.

Great tutorial!! I'm saving this one.

Another great tutorial.

QUOTATION MARKS
Great post. Good tips about punctuation.

AWHILE AND A WHILE
Another fine tutorial. Got it added to my Clear as a Crystal file.

What a wonderful tip!

Oh!!! Those examples are perfect and it really makes sense now. Thanks!

APOSTROPHE USE WITH POSSESSIVE NOUNS
Excellent and very thorough. Got this one copied and stored along with ALL your tutorials in my Crystal Clear Writing folder. :)

Another excellent post. I always have trouble with these.

Now that my eyes have re-focused after glazing over, I can say that this is why writers need to hire editors--So they don't have to think too much about grammar. I can't keep all the darn rules straight in my head. Thanks for doing what you do. I am cutting and pasting this into a new word file for grammar tips.

Good one! I'm tweeting this.

Clear and concise. Thanks.

That possessive S has at some points been the bane of my existence...so thanks for this.

Great article! Thanks for the examples too.

Confusing topic, excellent post. Many people really do not know at all how to handle these pesky little things, so thanks for 'splaining it so nicely.

Excellent post! I enjoyed this a lot...Great blog. :)

LEVELS OF EDITING
Crystal, great explanation and post today - I copied it as a word doc and stored it in my "Crystal Clear" file.

You've written a wonderful post that throws light on a rather mysterious (to me) subject.

ONE WORD VS. TWO WORDS
Another great post.

Thanks for sharing this list and clarifying these points.

WRITING DATES AND TIMES
Writing dates and times is always confusing for me, so I really appreciate this, Crystal! Thanks.

Great tips. This is very helpful. Thanks.

Awesome tips. I make some of those mistakes.

I will copy and paste into a writing tips folder I've started to gather all these handy dandy things in one place. Thank you.

Great post!

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Good stuff Crystal!

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You have some good reference article(s) here, Crystal. :-)

PREPOSITIONS
Excellent tutorial, got it saved as usual.

Thanks for this! Bookmarking it for easy reference.

SEMICOLONS
Another great and much needed post for people like me. This is why you are the Grammar Goddess!

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You make it look so easy!

Good one!

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COLONS
As always, awesome advice and clarification.

Thanks, Crystal. Helpful, as always.

Great advice, Crystal! I'm tweeting.

Helpful as always. Thanks.

DASHES
You should really turn your blog into a book. Now THAT is a grammar book I would buy!

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I like your distinction between the use of dash and colon. It makes sense to me.

Most helpful. I just had to change a host of en dashes to em dashes in my ms.

HYPHENS
Thank you very much for this post!

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Great post. Thanks.

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These are wonderful guidelines, Crystal, thank you!

Another fine tutorial.

I'm pretty sure I don't use hyphens correctly. It was good to read through this advice and think about how I do use them. Thanks.

Good post, great blog!

OVER THE TOP AWARD
Congratulations, you and your blog are "Over the Top."

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FIFTEEN PUNCTUATION FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Great summary.

Love this post!! I needed this one. I think I might have to frame it and stick it beside my desk as a reminder when I'm writing! You rock!!

Great tips! I'm tweeting.

Crystal this is excellent. I've got it stored in my Crystal Clear file folder.

Yeah, I've created a Crystal folder as well and cut and paste all your gems.

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Great tips as always :)

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EFFECTIVE WRITING
I think this is one of my favorite rules post yet. So helpful!! May have to post this one on my desk too, I know I'll get one of those flip book easels so I can have all your post handy and in my face to remind me. I need that, you are an editor extraodinaire!!!

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And another of your posts goes into the 'keep' file. Bless you, my dear, for making it all so Crystal Clear!

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CLAUSES
Thanks! I love these tutorials.

Very helpful and easy to understand as always!

CHALLENGES
Great idea for a proofreader post!

Your posts are fun, creative, and challenge our brains.

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I just love your challenges - they make me realize how much I still have to learn!

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As always, you're the Grammar Goddess. Thanks for keeping us on our toes.

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***************************************************************************************** "Editors and proof readers are the unrecognized support structure of books. Without them, books would take authors twice as long to complete." Comment left by Leigh Russell (CRIME FICTION)