Merriam-Webster has a Top 10 List. I thought I would give you a new word every day to add to your already growing repertoire (look that up) of good strong words we have learned. I will give you 5 points extra credit for every new word you use in a sentence, so by the end of our 10 new words, you could have 50 points extra credit. The sentence must demonstrate an understanding of the word and be unique. In your sentence, you should use references unique to our school, so I know you didn’t copy the sentence from the internet.
Ex. The smell that emanates from the sixth grade boys’ bathroom makes my stomach sick.
With that sentence, I have used an example unique to our school since we all KNOW how horrible that bathroom smells. 🙂 Now you try it with the new words I give you over the next few days.
#1: Gumption
Definition:
common sense, horse sense; enterprise, initiative
Example:
“Plans for the relocation and expansion of Vacaville’s homeless shelter have hit a snag, but it looks like a little gumption and the city’s support could keep the project from derailing.” – Kimberly K. Fu, Contra Costa (California) Times, July 10, 2011
About the Word:
English speakers have had gumption (the word, that is) since the early 1700s. The term’s exact origins aren’t known, but its earliest known uses are found in British and especially Scottish dialects (which also include the forms rumblegumption and rumgumption).
In its earliest uses, gumption referred to intelligence or common sense, especially when those qualities were combined with high levels of energy. By the 1860s, American English speakers were also using gumption to imply ambition or tenacity, but it wasn’t until the early 1900s that gumption began to appear in English texts as a direct synonym of courage or get-up-and-go.
American showman P.T. Barnum also claimed that gumption named a particular kind of hard cider, but that sense is far from common today. |
Writing Outside of the Lines 