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/lit/ - Literature

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6559668 No.6559668 [Reply] [Original]

Hey /lit/, what do you do whenever you encounter a word that you are unfamiliar with while reading? Usually all I do is look up the word and read the definition a couple times and continue reading. However, I feel that this sometimes deters me from having an enjoyable reading experience. Any recommendations?

>> No.6559669

i just write the word down and look it up later

>> No.6559676

>>6559668
Yeah, I have this problem, too. I'll look up the word on Google, then I'll just keep looking up more words and then I just get too distracted. It also happens when I use a dictionary. Maybe you should set a timer, I don't know

>> No.6559681

I just replace it with the word "cuck" and laugh alone

>> No.6559686
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6559686

>>6559668
just assign a definition to it using context and assume it's correct until swayed otherwise

>> No.6559695

>>6559668
is english your first language?

this really shouldn't still be happening at your age

>> No.6559700

>he isn't familiar with every word

>> No.6559711

>>6559668
It really depends. I'm currently reading Moby Dick, a lot of the nautical terms, or the anatomy of ships are explained in an appendix in the back of the book, those I will regularly look up because it helps immensely with the imagery of the prose [i.e. the Pulpit in the chapel.]

In other books it's pretty easy to pick up meaning from context. I've read a good amount of books so most terms that are new to me are more historical, which I often will break to look up for the above reasons.

>> No.6559716

>>6559669
I do this too but now I have little pads of pages filled to the brim of words (and references) I don't know and I'm too lazy to look them all up because I won't be able to remember any of them.

>> No.6559770

>>6559695
Technically it is, but no. I'm turning 19 in a couple months. I've barely taken up reading as a hobby, not having done any substantial reading since required literature in high school. I can determine a definition from context but I still find myself looking it up.

>> No.6559799
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6559799

>>6559770

Don't feel bad bro, I've been reading for years and it still happens. I was reading an analysis of the Marquis De Sade by Simone De Beauvoir (technically a translation into english, but the point to follow stands) and she used a word i'd never seen before. Esthetic. Now, aesthetic, sure, every day of the week, but esthetic was out of left field. Turns out it was just a typographical error, but I was freaked and it certainly does happen.

Even if you do know all the words, sometimes authors just fucking make up words. Tintinabulation. A word created by Edgar Allen Poe to describe the ringing of bells, both great and small.

>> No.6559803

>>6559716
flashcards my man
i look them up in my spare time and read through them whenever i'm bored

>> No.6559856

>>6559799
Thanks anon, I definitely won't let it discourage me from reading. I think what I'll do is keep flashcards like >>6559803 suggested.

>> No.6559944

>>6559799
>not knowing esthetic / aesthetic
i've literally seen this like a dozen times, at least.
what do you even read

>> No.6559954

English isn't my first language so there are many words I don't understand but if it doesn't seem important I just skip the word. I really hope that some day I can read and understand nearly everything!