CLASSIFICATION AND

USES OF WORDS
 OBSOLETE WORDS

• The meaning of some words have gone out of

use altogether. Such words and meanings are
called obsolete. Example of obsolete meanings
are the use of coy in the sense of quite, curious
in careful, and nice in foolish.
 ARCHAIC WORDS
• Some words or meanings are no longer in
common use but still occur in any special
situations. The King James’s version of the bible
and the vocabulary of religious devotion
preserve many archaisms that were in common
use in seventeenth century England. Thou and
Thee for you and brethren for brothers are
familiar examples.
 Neologisms

• A writer should use new words with caution and

restraint. Newly coined words are called
neologisms. Occasionally a writer coins an apt
and useful word that finds general acceptance.
imeldific
 SLANG

• They are so vivid and colourful. However, slang

is usually out of place in formal writing. They go
out of date quickly and become tiresome if used
excessively in writing. They may communicate
clearly to some readers but not to others.
police officer/law
enforcer
• I was so beat Friday night that I decided to ditch
the birthday party.

• I was so exhausted Friday night that I decided

not to go to the birthday party.
PRETENTIOUS WORDS

• Use of fancy, elevated words rather than simpler,

more natural words. They use artificial and
stilted language that more often obscures their
meaning than communicate it clearly.
• The football combatants left the gridiron.

• The football players left the field.

 DIALECTAL WORDS
• I dialect is a form of native language spoken by
a particular group of person. These words are
also called localisms or provincialism. For
accuracy’s sake, words of these groups should
be avoided because they may cause confusion
in as much as their meanings are useful only as
fas as the area or locality which uses them are
concerned.
House
 SHOP TALK/ JARGON/
OCCUPATIONAL LANGUAGE
• The technical vocabulary of those in the same
work or the same way of life is known as
shoptalk, the language the people use in
discussing their particular line of activity. Avoid
introducing into writing words understood only
by members of a particular group. However,
they can be used for a non-technical audience
only if they are defined or otherwise explained.
 ILLITERACIES
• Words which are in bad taste or which break
grammatical principles belong to this level. The
use of these kinds of words shows poor
breeding and lack of formal schooling. They are
characterised by obvious grammatical errors.
Some examples are as follow: ain’t for I am not,
he don’t for he doesn’t, higher your hand for
raise your hand.
 WORDINESS

• Using more words than necessary to express a

meaning is often a sign of lazy or careless
writing. Make your writing direct and concise.
• Starting as of the month of June, I will be
working at the store full time.

• As of June, I will be working at the store full

time.
 DENOTATION AND
CONNOTATION

• The exact meaning of a word is called its

denotation. A dictionary contains the
denotations of words. The positive or negative
feeling associated with a word is called its
connotation. Words often have about the same
dictionary meaning, but the feelings they bring
out often differ in some way.
bitch