Covering Pauses when Speaking
When you are speaking, do you have a word that you say to fill space? "Umm", or "like", or "aahh"?
Try replacing that word with silence.
Go ahead, try.
It is much more pleasant. No one will notice that there is a pause or be annoyed by quiet. At the worst, your listers will wonder what you are thinking.
When you are speaking, do you have a word that you say to fill space? "Umm", or "like", or "aahh"?
Try replacing that word with silence.
Go ahead, try.
It is much more pleasant. No one will notice that there is a pause or be annoyed by quiet. At the worst, your listers will wonder what you are thinking.
Vet
Vet, as a noun, is short for veteran and veterinarian but it is also a verb. To vet means to carefully examine someone or something. In business jargon, you might say "shop it around.
Fey
Fey means to be near death or at least unusual or supernatural, but it is most often used in fictional writing to mean shy or withdrawn, not quite of this world. Interesting how a word alters its meaning over time.
Apoplexy or apoplectic
Have you ever heard someone say "he was just apoplectic!" Cool sounding word, eh? That adjective comes from the noun apoplexy (20 Scrabble points!) which is an out-of-date term for a cerebral hemorrhage or a stroke. A stroke victim often becomes immobile and speechless and that is the source of the current meaning of the words, to become so angry that a person becomes immobile or speechless.