Suggested by Nithin:
I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?
I think the only word I've ever come across that I was unfamiliar with, was this: Suppiluliumas I, King of the Hittites, who ruled about 1358 BC – 1323 BC. His name pops up in reference to Nefertiti sometimes, as she was rumoured to have sent letters, begging for his help after her husband died.
I have an on-and-off fascination with Ancient Egypt, which is how I ran into Suppiluliumas in the first place. Almost literally, as that word stops me every time I see it; and I can't help trying to pronounce it out loud. I've always been so good with vocabulary, that I can't quite believe there's a word out there that can get the better of me.
But I just cannot get my tongue around Suppiluliumas. No matter how many times I say it.
8 comments:
It stops me in my tracks too--complete with facial scrunching and head-tilting!
Hahaha!! Great example! That is definitely a word that you can't fake knowing how to pronounce. :-)
I'd think of him as Supp, but I've never come across him before - what a mouthful.
I first came across him in a book about the death of Tutenkhamen, then in a novel about Nefertiti. And I still can't say it!
Hehe I wish I could've seen everyone who read this trying to say it! Good thing you can still read words even if you have no clue how to say them.
Oh wow, that seems like a mouthful even if you know how to say it!
You never come across new words? Whoa Nelly! I didn't think that could be possible.
H'm ... never say never, right? Now that I think about it, there's a few I don't recognise when I'm playing Free Rice.
That'll teach me to make sweeping statements!
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