Basic Writing
vocabulary (from Successful Writing for the
Real World)
*to persuade: [vt] convince; cause somebody to do something by reasoning
{1}
to boil down: [vti] to give soup a stronger flavor by reducing the water
content while cooking; to make information clearer by leaving out
unnecessary things {1}
blasphemy: [u&c] disrespectful talk about sacred/holy things {1}
obscenity: [u&c] language that is sexually offensive {1}
writer: [c] person who writes; an author {1}
*editor: [c] person responsible for the contents of a publication {1}
*articles: [c] things written about a particular subject for a newspaper
or magazine; GRAMMAR: the words a, an, and the, used to mark
nouns, i.e., to show that a noun is to follow and to provide a little
information about that noun. “The” is called a definite article;
“a/an” are indefinite articles. {1}
review: [c] an informed opinion, written to influence the reader’s choice
or appreciation of something; (AmE [vti]) to look again at something you
have studied (British equivalent: revise) {1}
*topic sentence: [c] an interesting sentence that gets the reader’s
attention and introduces the topic of a paragraph {1}
*implication: [c] something you believe to be demonstrated by a particular
situation or set of facts: e.g., if your essay states that campus trees
act like soldiers (defending, protecting, giving…), then (by implication)
we should respect the trees like we respect soldiers, or (by implication)
students should feel safer because of the trees. {1}
*vague: (adj) unclear because of a lack of details or because a specific
description is not available {1}
*colloquial: (adj) language or words that are
informal, and that are usually only used in spoken communication (口语)
{1}
title: [c] a short name that identifies a book, article, essay, movie,
etc.; a word that (usually) comes before someone’s family name to show
position, profession or respect (e.g., Dr., Mrs., Prof.) {1}
*lean: (adj) without fat or waste; thin—usually in a healthy sense {1}
*double-space: [vti] to type or write on every other line, allowing room
above your text for hand-written corrections {1}
to hand in (or turn in): [vt] to give an assignment to a teacher (or
sometimes a boss, official, etc.) {1}
to turn in (see hand in)
*wordy/wordiness: using more words than necessary when a more concise
term, phrase or grammatical structure is possible {1}
Chinglish: an informal term (it’s not an official word) that refers to an
incorrect mixture of the Chinese and English languages; producing
Chinglish expressions is a natural part of the process of learning English
{1}
due date: [c] the time or date on which something is expected (especially
rent payments, homework assignments, or the birth of a baby); “What are
their due dates?” is the same as “When are they due?” {1}
*plagiarism (to plagiarize): [u] presenting someone else’s artistic or
literary work as if it were one’s own {2}
*quotation (direct quotation/quote): [c] writing that tells what someone
says in that person’s own words; quotations are placed inside quotation
marks
(“ ”), also called inverted commas
in British English {2}
documentation: [u] the practice of adding notes to a piece of writing
in order to reveal the source of your information (the verb form [vt]
would be to document; also see footnote) {2}
to document (see documentation)
automatic: (adj) done without thinking about an action; an automatic
machine works without a person’s help {2}
intellectual property (IP): [u&c] creative works that can be protected
by copyright or other legal means, and which can often be easily copied
illegally (such as software discs, published material, essays written by
other students, or music/movie discs) {2}
tarnished: [n, adj, vti] metal (like silver) that has lost its color
and brightness (or the process of becoming like this); a
reputation/record/etc., that has become worse in the eyes of others (the
opposite of a shining reputation) {2}
*to paraphrase: [vt] to express in a shorter or clearer way what someone
has said or written {2}
*footnote: [c] a note at the bottom of a page of writing that offers an
explanation or reference information (an endnote is a similar note
placed at the end of a chapter instead) {2}
endnote (see footnote)
*ellipsis: a punctuation mark (…) used to show that something is
missing from a sentence (especially a quotation) {2}
*to emphasize (-ise BrE): [vt] to give additional importance to
something (the noun form is “to give emphasis”) {2}
emphasis (see emphasize and emphatic) {2}
*idiom: [c] a fixed group of words with a different meaning from the
meanings of its words {2}
in which case: [also “in this case”, “in some cases”, etc.] (case is
[c], usually singular) “if this happens”; an idiomatic expression that
refers to a particular situation, example or circumstance {2}
*optional: (adj) indicating a choice; not required, but acceptable or
possible {2}
to attribute: [vt] to give credit to someone for writing or creating
something {2}
*thesis statement: [c] (sometimes abbreviated thesis, esp. AmE)
the topic sentence of an academic paper’s introduction (usually the final
sentence), which concisely previews the main argument or content of the
essay {4}
*thesis: [c, theses] (chapter 4) an idea or opinion about something you
are presenting in a formal way; short for “thesis statement,” referring to
the main idea of your paper; (chapter 14) long piece of writing about a
particular academic subject, written as part of a university degree
program {4}{14}
spew: [vti] to flow out in large quantities, generally in a negative
sense (spew must be followed by a preposition) {4}
*sound: (adj) sensible; based on valid reasoning or principles; healthy
{4}
*subtle: (adj) say something in an indirect (and sometimes clever) way;
to understand a subtle statement you must pay attention {4}
prone: (adj) likely (to do), especially something bad or harmful {4}
*intriguing: (adj) interesting because it is strange, mysterious or
unexpected {4}
*provocative: (adj) something that provokes a response, i.e., will make
people angry/excited or create a lot of discussion {4}
query: [c] a question asked in order to get information or check that
something is true {4}
rhetorical question: [c] a question asked for effect—no direct answer
is expected {4}
*parenthesis: [c, parentheses] (AmE) a form of punctuation, namely a
pair of moon-shaped signs put around words or symbols to show extra
information: ( ); called rounded brackets or brackets in BrE
{4}
brackets (see parenthesis)
rounded brackets (see parenthesis)
*bibliography: [c, bibliographies] a list of books and articles
(especially those you consulted) on a particular subject, appearing at the
end of a book or paper {4}
superscript: [u&c, adj] a letter or number written slightly above (and
often slightly smaller than) a normal line of type: e.g., a footnote
reference number {4}
*defaults (or default settings): the options automatically chosen by a
computer (e.g., font size and style), unless the user selects something
different {4}
*cut and paste: a common action on a computer, where the user deletes
text (ctrl+x) from one place and inserts it (ctrl+v) in another place {4}
block quote: [c] a direct quotation that is longer than one sentence,
and which is printed with wider margins than its surrounding text; block
quotes do not need quotation marks {4}
brackets: [c] (AmE) a form of punctuation, namely a pair of square
signs put around words or symbols to show extra information: [ ]; called
square brackets in BrE; in BrE, brackets are this symbol: (
) {4}
reputable: (adj) having a good reputation; known to be true,
believable, or reliable (e.g., as a source of information) {4}
