This is Really Big

Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER

 This is really big!

 Somu was upset. His mother had given him a big apple. A big boy with a big stick took it away. Then his best friend gave him a big hug and shared a big piece of chocolate with him. Somu gave him a big smile.

 Big is a small, three-letter word used in so many places that it boggles the mind. It may be used to mean older as in ‘big boy’. It may mean large.  Big is over-used and tired. Let’s give it a rest and explore some other words that work just as well.

 Large describes something more than average in size or amount. Mmmm! Give me a large slice of that rich chocolate cake!

 Huge, gigantic, and mammoth are good words for large. Something huge is larger than usual or ordinary size. I bought a huge packet of potato chips. Something is gigantic or mammoth if it is larger than other things like it. This plant has one gigantic tomato. We were stopped by a mammoth guard. He was over six feet tall!

 Bulky and massive mean large in size and often in weight. A bulky package may not be heavy, but it is awkward to carry. Something massive is not only bulky but surprising in size and appearance. The Bofors gun is massive, and so is a battleship.

 Extensive and vast describe something that fills or covers a large or wide area. It is not limited to one place. The earthquake in Kashmir caused extensive damage. Gopal’s spelling was so bad he had to make extensive corrections throughout his paper. There’s a vast difference between living in Patna and in Mumbai. His speech covered a vast range of issues.

 Immense describes something larger than normal in size or better than usual. Meena has an immense appetite for gol-gappas. Your performance in class shows an immense improvement over last month.

 Enormous and tremendous mean shockingly large. Something enormous is much larger than you would ever expect it to be. The hippo at the zoo was enormous!  The small girl wore an enormous hat. Tremendous describes something so big it fills you with awe and terror. The river broke the embankment with a tremendous roar. The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were tremendous!

email wordsmith.patna@gmail.com with your questions and your suggestions

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 Learn-a-word

Represent

 REPRESENT: to speak and do things for someone else because they have asked you to, for example in a meeting, competition, or a law court. Students will elect two people to represent them on the College Council. Our local MLA is supposed to represent us in the State Assembly, that’s why we elected him.

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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]

 EONDUTCAI    SIUVERNITY   CLEOLGE    SHOCOL

 [last week’s solution : Colours, Brilliant, Pastels, Vibrant]