The 'Cheap and Easy' Blog Post

This should not be confused with the 'cheap and easy' blogger, which I am not (not yet anyway).  As a new entrant into the blogging world I am quickly beginning to learn the benefits of having some cheap and easy blog topics in my back pocket that I can whip-out when I need to get something posted.

 I could see how many of you out there might think the topic of 'Words I Don't Know' falls into that category.  And, while you are probably right, it is not intended to be so.   I really do think this topic is meaningful.

After years and years of just skimming past words that I didn't really know the meaning of, I have finally decided to write down every word I come across that I don't know the definition for.   Every so often I'd like to share those words and their definitions in this blog.  Now, I know that many of you smarty pants out there will already know the definitions to these words, and from you I would only ask one thing:  Please try to keep the hysterical laughter and mocking to a minimum.

I know we have been taught in school to try to divine the meaning of words that we don't know from the context of the use of the word in the sentence.  When did that bogus technique stop working...3rd grade?  Seriously, most writers put the difficult words in their sentences on purpose to try to show how smart they are (I know that is why I do it...is it working?).  They seldom leave enough clues in the rest of the sentence to help me figure out the word they used.

So, with all that being said, I hereby formally introduce my new blogging series Words I Don't Know.

 Words I don't know fall into three categories:

1.    Words I've never even heard before.

2.    Words I've heard many times before but I have no idea what they mean.

3.    Words I've heard before and I might have a vague sense of their meaning, but I am not sure.

Okay, without further adieu here are some Words I Don't Know:

iconoclast; (category 3)  from the American Heritage Online Dictionary; noun

1. One who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions.
2. One who destroys sacred religious images.

capricious; (category 2) from the American Heritage Online Dictionary;  adjective

Characterized by or subject to whim; impulsive and unpredictable

 Surely there will be many more to follow in subsequent posts as it seems that I cannot read for 10 minutes now without running into a word I don't know.  I never realized before now just how many words that I don't know.  Anyway, hopefully I'll be smarter for it!