One Simple Habit To Make Your Word Power Skyrocket

The daily ritual that can turn you into a logophile (word lover)

You might know that Belvedere is a luxury vodka brand, but did you know that a ‘belvedere’ is a type of architectural structure? Or that the word ‘quixotic’ signifies the idealistic traits of Cervantes’ starry-eyed protagonist in his masterwork Don Quixote? Or that rubies and sapphires are the exact same alumina-based mineral ‘corundum’, except with ever so slightly different chemical impurities? Or that using the word ‘robot’ to describe automata was brought to us by a Czech sci-fi play?

I don’t know about you, but I find the discovery of such word-related facts to quite simply be thrilling. For the past few years, I have staunchly committed to a daily habit — even whilst others have fallen by the wayside — that has propelled my vocabulary and appreciation for language to a level I’m exceedingly proud of.

Broadening my verbal horizons has given me an — in my view— enhanced sensibility for the beauty of language, the intriguing linguistic connections present in the world, and the history of humanity’s accumulation of knowledge. Steadily adding new words to my mental repository has (hopefully) imparted the natural effect of improving the clarity and strength of my verbal and written communication. It’s also furnished me with a good eye and ear to seamlessly enjoy a diverse range of media without having to wonder what certain words, slang terms or subject-specific references mean.

So, besides reading, what can you do to improve your vocabulary?

To that end, I present to you, the power of the daily crossword.

Here is the morning ritual I employ:

1. After waking up and preparing breakfast and a coffee, I load up a relatively small (or ‘quick’) standard — i.e. vocabulary and general knowledge-based, not cryptic, which requires a different set of skills — crossword. I prefer online crosswords published by respectable news outlets, but you can purchase a physical crossword book too!
2. I then spend about 5–10 minutes completing as much of the crossword as possible, without looking anything up. It’s important to give yourself some initial time with each clue to get your creative instincts going. Quite often the answer will almost mystically ‘pop’ into your head via your subconscious, or failing that, the surrounding clues might illuminate the desired word.
3. When I’m sure I can’t make any more immediate progress, I use the inbuilt ‘Reveal answer’ feature to fill in the remainder of the grid. If that doesn’t exist (which is unlikely), then it’s a matter of quickly googling each clue. In this way, I’m placing the words I didn’t know or have readily available into my short-term memory. This is the very first step towards learning. Furthermore, if I find a particularly interesting or unusual word, I like to take a brief detour into its meaning and roots.
4. I get on with the rest of my day!
5. The following day, I return to the previous day’s crossword and mentally work through all of the clues (without filling the crossword in again), to make sure I remember what the answers were. If I can’t remember anything, I check it. This step is important in gradually moving the newly assimilated information into your long-term memory, where it can actually be of use to you! After this recall process where I usually say the answers aloud to myself, I get on with the current day’s crossword, repeating Step 2.
6. Repeat this entire cycle. If you enjoy this process, you can try extending your crossword ‘chain’ such that you check the last 2–3 days worth of crosswords in your head before starting today’s puzzle! This will allow you to further solidify your learnings as you’ll be going over each word multiple times over the course of a few days (the best way to learn, neuroscientifically speaking). You’ll find that it really doesn’t take long to mentally work through a crossword you’ve already completed (perhaps 30–60 seconds for each quick crossword).

That’s all there is to it. I hope this story encourages you to give this new word-based habit a go if you don’t do something similar already! I know this activity doesn’t have flattering stereotypes, but I assure you crosswords aren’t just meant for older generations! You can truly garner a great deal of enjoyment and many tangible benefits out of completing them. Why not give it a try?