The English language is a peculiar invention. It’s principle rules are more like suggestions, with more exceptions than proofs. ‘American’ English is even more puzzling. A reflection of the people, American English freely borrows, steals and mimics words from other cultures.
The nuances native speakers take for granted can trip up those learning it as a second or even third language. A good friend of mine is a Chinese exchange student. Incredibly bright, she still struggled with spoken English and regional accents. She would often ask me what a word meant. At first I gave the most obvious, simple definitions that came to mind, but I was frequently mistaken (and only added to her confusion). Then I started asking her what was being talked about at the time BEFORE I tried to help (Also I gave her a copy of the American Heritage Dictionary). Anyone who has ever cracked open the dictionary is familiar with the numbered listing of definitions following a particular word. But with respect to dear Mr. Webster not all a word’s meanings, uses and abuses are found within his pages.
There is a the classic example of “MEDIUM”.
- Medium – size, between small and large
- Medium – material for making/constructing, such as an artist’s medium
- Medium – a psychic
I recently considered the term “SCALE”. And without consulting a dictionary (or Google) I tried to think up as many uses for the word. Feel free to critic…or add some definitions of your own.
relationship or proportion of size
a means of measure
process of making something bigger or smaller (scale up or down)
series of musical notes
mineral deposit often found on bath tile
skin of a fish or reptile
or as a verb – to ‘scale’ a fish
the device in the bathroom that makes me sad
the funny triangular shaped ruler architects/engineers use (or used to before AutoCAD)
climb a wall like Spiderman