Lecture 5: Fighting Words and Peaceful Words
ż Row: an upheaval, a free-
for-all, a rumble.z In addition to words that
describe more serious, possibly
violent physical disagreements,
English also has some
wonderful words to describe
lesser disagreements of a
possibly gentler nature, such as:
at loggerheads, scrap, VFXIÀH,
ÀDS, tussle, spat, and dustup.z You might want to organize
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vocabulary notebook into three
categories: words referring to
serious physical altercations,
such as melee and GRQQ\EURRN;
words referring to less
serious physical altercations, such as tussle and scrap; and words
implying commotions and confused situations, such as NHUIXIÀH
and imbroglio.z Earlier, we discussed a four-point scale of vocabulary knowledge;
you may rate some of these words, such as at loggerheads and
dustup, as 2s or 3s on that scale.
ż Such words are in the receptive vocabulary section of your
mental lexicon, meaning that you’ve heard them and know
what they mean, but they aren’t in the expressive section of
your lexicon—you don’t necessarily use them often in speaking
or writing.ż That’s a good reason to try out one of these words the next
time you describe some type of altercation. Use GRQQ\EURRN to
describe a bench-clearing brawl you hear about at a baseball
game, or try hullabaloo or NHUIXIÀH for the commotion$QLPEURJOLRLPSOLHVDFRQIXVHG
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