Grammar Girl's 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know

The SATs might be behind you but that doesn't mean having an advanced vocabulary no longer matters. You could spend months reading the dictionary, but why bother when Grammar Girl'sMignon Fogarty has expertly compiled a list of 101 frequently-used words that seem to pop up everywhere from newspapers articles to popular novels to political speeches. Each word entry contains a clear, straightforward definition along with a sample sentence of the word being used correctly in context. With Grammar Girl's 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Knowyou won't just sound smarter, you'll be smarterone word at a time.

Mignon Fogarty, the creator of Grammar Girl and the founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network, is also the author of the New York Times bestselling GRAMMAR GIRL'S QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS FOR BETTER WRITING and THE GRAMMAR DEVOTIONAL.  Her straightforward, bite-sized tips on grammar have led to features in the New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and an appearance on Oprah. She lives in Reno, Nevada.

Ad Hoc
 

Ad hoc is literally Latin meaning “for this.” We use ad hoc in English to describe something temporary, something that was created for a specific purpose or is a one-off. For example, an ad hoc decorations committee could be created for the sole purpose of organizing the prom decorations, and an ad hoc theme song meeting could be called to address the one specific issue of what theme song should be chosen. After their duties are fulfilled, the ad hoc committees disband and the ad hoc meetings adjourn.
It’s my belief that [the CIA’s] assassinations have always been ad hoc efforts, organized usually at the behest of policymakers above the agency—and usually unsuccessful.
—Aldrich Ames, CIA officer who spied for other countries, in William Safire’s book The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time

 
Copyright © 2011 by Mignon Fogarty, Inc.