Err.. what's that again?

These big words are driving me nuts. No, scratch that, not the big words themselves. It's the way people use them. I've never been a big fan of bombastic words because I am oh-so-afraid that I might use them in a completely inappropriate context, which will only lead to very unnecessary mortification (oh, is that a big word?). Sure, sometimes I look up a word that I think might be a little "big" and "deep" but can be used in my writing, but I very rarely dare to throw in a flowery word without knowing very well how to use it.

Ever since we discovered that we would now have to eat, live and breathe the SAT (reminds me of footie fever), we've been gobbling and digesting words like there's no tomorrow (hehe.. I'm just exaggerating la, okay?). But I seriously do not use them in my writing - yet, maybe. Maybe over time when I'm more familiar with the words and usage, I will. But for now, how can I incorporate words like sagacity, munificence, harangue, morass, - and the list goes on and on - in my daily writing? I think I'd go nuts.

But what really makes me feel like banging my head on the wall is seeing the unnecessary use of these words when they're completely out of context - in just about every other sentence at that!

I know that I am not in a position to pass judgment. I'm not a walking dictionary and I rely on a very funny method to check my work when it comes to the language aspect of it. What I do is read out the sentences in my mind and try to pick up on anything that 'sounds' or just feels wrong. I know it is not an error-free technique. I know that it is not 100% reliable because.. well, it's just my instinct! But how can I explain that to someone who asks me how to use past participles or perfect present tense properly? I don't even know what are past participles, present perfect tense and all that jazz!

Sometimes I feel so inadequate when someone asks me about all these things because when they do, all I can do is scrunch my forehead, wait for them to finish their so very urgent question and then I'd deliver my anticlimatic line: "Can you just read the sentence itself? I'm clueless about [insert cheem word here - participles and all that]" But that's just me. Is it wrong for me not to know all those things? Maybe, because I've been told that to master the language, you need to know them. But sometimes I feel frustrated because I do know how to use them, but I don't know exactly what they are.

So there, my two cents on the super cheem, the super bombastic, and the random things in language that I am ignorant of.

On a totally unrelated note, I am still sick. I am sitting in front of my laptop with my face tilted up so that the cold towel on my forehead will not slip off. I woke up this morning feeling cold. I felt a little better after my hot shower, and I took Nurofen and Woods' but things didn't seem so good while I was walking to class. I think what made me feel so terrible was the mucus that was all jammed up in my nasal cavity. My first lesson today was TOEFL. I forgot to bring my jacket and spent the last 30 minutes jamming my hands into my pockets to stop myself from freezing. Plus, I just had to have a leaking tap! It all started last night during my Psychology group meeting in the Newton block's common room. There were so many people there and it wasn't even a cold night, but somehow I felt so cold there and started sniffling after the first hour there. And as always, with the leaking tap came a dull ache in my temples. *sigh*

After my TOEFL class, I headed down to the AUP office to confirm the holiday period. Seems like I'm looking at a very late night flight on 18 August back to Kuching or an early flight on the next day. I swung by the dining hall to buy my daily pack of chicken porridge, got back to the room, got cleaned up, turned on my laptop, poured the porridge into my microwavable Tupperware, and proceeded to eat my lunch (yes, before 10.30 am) while watching Episode 4 of Grey's Anatomy Season 4. *happy sigh* Hehe.. After that I took a power nap and then did my Calculus assignment on the bed. My Calculus class began at 2 pm, and my condition was only slightly better at the beginning. My throat is healing now but my voice is still hoarse and tends to go really off-pitch after a while. Malu eh. :P But now I've got to handle my sometimes-leaking, sometimes-blocked tap and my fluctuating body temperature.

*sigh*

It's times like these that I wish I'm back home where I can mope around in the living room all day and have hot chicken soup for lunch and dinner instead of chicken porridge for every meal for 3 consecutive days. But it's okay. I'm dealing with it all the same. I got through that horrible shingles period before, I'll get through this bout of illness now, chicken porridge or not. I can feel the weight melting away already! :P But it isn't fun at all having to go through this just to lose a kilo or two. :(

Time to read some more BIG WORDS and do some revision, and then I'll turn in for the night. Ah, my precious sleep.. I can sleep in up to 8 am tomorrow because my Calculus class starts at 10 am! :D I'm hoping to sleep after my Econs class which ends at 2 pm too. I managed to snooze soundly for about 2 hours just now and it helped refresh me a bit, so I guess sleeping really does help. :)

G'night, everyone. :)