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It's important to use the right words when you want to get your point across. Often, they're the only means of communication available to us.

But expressing nuanced thoughts and feelings through language can be difficult. So let's try to learn from the best!

There's a subreddit called r/OddlySpecific and as the name suggests, its 1.2 million members are dedicated to collecting distinct, precise phrases that strangely make perfect sense.

So continue scrolling to check the best ones they spotted and fire up our first publication on this awesome online community for more.

#1

Adult Books vs. Kids' Books

Adult Books vs. Kids' Books

sketchesbyboze Report

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Madison Feehan
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Kids books for the win!!!! Can I get some YA novel recommendations with decent plots and non-depressing endings???

Ohio Turkey
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Madeline L'Engle wrote some amazing books in the Wrinkle in Time series. She also wrote time travel mysteries which included an exploration of the history of Christian religion in a way that was not preachy, which I found very interesting when I was growing up. And I'm about as irreligious a person as there is, so that should tell you something.

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Gul Dukat
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

you can also read them in one sitting without falling asleep and then having to start all over again next time because you've already forgotten who is who and wtf was the plot again

NannyChachi
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Laura Ingalls Wilder. My most favorite books. Yeah, I said it. And I'm not ashamed.

Nightshade1972
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Years ago, I attended a private elementary school for G/T kids in the US. At one point, I wanted to check out a particular book, which I'd read many times before, from the school library. To my surprise, both my teacher and the school librarian refused to allow me to check out the book, "Because you're reading at a much higher level now! You need to challenge yourself!" I went home, told my mother, and she promptly called the school and talked to both the teacher and the librarian. "Look, we all know that she's a precocious reader who's capable of reading well above her grade level. What's the harm in letting her just read something for fun, like a normal kid, for once?" When I went to school the next day the librarian grudgingly let me check the book out.

Huddo's sister
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is so stupid! If it was for English class it mightn't be so bad, but this is a library where you are reading for fun, why should they object to any book you choose?

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Mistiekim
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I like YA series now, but when I was a young adult I was reading things from Nora Roberts and the grocery store romance novels! Come to think about it, those novels were my sex ed.

Huddo's sister
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was like that with Virginia Andrews books! My year 8 teacher left a comment on my book report for one of them that it was 'very mature topics'.

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Tess
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All the libraries in my area don't have late fees on anything classified as YA, or children, to encourage reading. You could literally forget for two years, and it won't cost you a cent.

-Mellohi-
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Me, a high schooler, reading an entire series about soap opera cats (warriors)

Draco's Dragonfly
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ooh yessss all too often I would wish my daughter not to fall asleep yet because I wanted to finish the bedtime story I was reading her! Or read one more!

Riley Quinn
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I admit that when the news gets to me, I zone out to a kid's movie. It's cheaper than alcohol/drugs. Highly recommend.

Jill Bussey
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I guess you read Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree? My favourite childhood book.

carolinaphlox
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

DC
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"To Kill A Mockingbird" is a great book. Because it is a children's book, and because it is's ot a typical one. Displaying a lot of issues and shortcomings of that time's society, it still is written lighthearted enough to enjoy. The view on said things from a child's perspective, without sparing too many atrocities, is still uncompromised by so called "societal standards" of that time, like it was considered ok to call black people "N****r", or addressing grown up men as "Boy" and generally looking down on them, no matter what, but not infantile, not unaware of said standards. I guess it's commonly read in the US in school? Would bet around 6th to 8th grade would be a matching age. The fallout of THAT time's idiotisms are still being harvested on a daily basis, so, despite all the things that got better since, the fight is not over yet. Equality has sustained a major damage during the time white and coloured people (with "coloured" representing anything that isn't white - the audacity of supremacists, that only the distinction of THEM towards ANY OTHER is of any relevance ... you've seen too much of this already by that age ...) were, in the writing of the law, considered "seperate but equal" - that don't work, sorry, already failed exactly every time it was tried. There are a lot of children's books that might be considered useful and enjoyable to adults, too.

Vera Diblikova
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How I envy you, those are books I want to read, but here are not (and was not) available in store or in libraries (Prague, Czech Rep.).

Ronnie Beaton
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was a news story I read a few years ago, about a "well known" male author (who I'd never heard of BTW). If he was in a bookshop and saw a grown up reading a Harry Potter book, he'd "accidentally" knock it out of their hands and "suggest" they read something more appropriate to their age.

Cat
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Anything by Erin Johnson. The Spells & Caramels series, Magical Market series and Tearoom mystery series. Mostly murder mystery books with a witch protagonist. And a talking flame!

Kady LaHaie
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's why I read Stephen King baby. That s**t is interesting af.

Francesa Miller
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"The Unhandsome Prince" by John Moore also his "Heroics for Beginners" "The Princess Bride" (yes - it's a book!) by S. Morgenstern

JuniorCJ82
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exactly!!! Little Black, A Pony will be my favourite book until the day I die.

Lorraine R
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or do so, if the cover is by a wonderful illustrator like Howard Pyle or N. C. Wyeth or Lynd Ward or Tomie de Paola or Trina Schart Hyman or . . . .

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ohjojo (you/your's)
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We all thought Harry Potter was a kid's book in the beginning. Little did we know the fan base would cover all ages and be much more than a boy who discover he was a wizard

Penny Kemper
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Horns by Joe Hill has a magic treehouse. they removed from the movie though. Adult books come in many varieties. I bet this person would like romance novels like my sister does.

Pamela B
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Book of Secrets by Ernest Burnett. You can download it on Amazon. If you are a fan of Harry Potter chances are this will get your broomstick going.

bookie
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

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Aita?

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If you want your speeches to have a stronger impact, American author, columnist, keynote speaker, and former journalist and news anchor Carmine Gallo suggests replacing long words with short ones. "In his groundbreaking book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Nobel economist Daniel Kahneman writes, 'If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do.' Effective leaders speak in simple language — and simple means short," Gallo explained.

He said this is especially true during a crisis, when attention spans are flagging and noise levels are high. "People are being bombarded by information, some of which is misleading or false. The clearer and more concise you are, the better your chances of getting your message across and persuading people to act on it."

#3

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#4

Yes

Yes

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#5

Quite A Lesson Indeed

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"As you think about how to share your next message, remember that language influenced by the Anglo-Saxon period has been used by many great leaders," Gallo highlighted.

Winston Churchill once said, "The shorter words of a language are usually the more ancient. Their meaning is more ingrained in the national character and they appeal to greater force."

In a memo titled Brevity, Churchill urged government administrators to replace long "woolly phrases" with single conversational words, pointing out that brevity equals clarity and that directness makes things easier to understand.

#6

Brad Bad

Brad Bad

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#7

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Oh Mom

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#8

Gay Rights!

Gay Rights!

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#9

Brain

Brain

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Next, Gallo thinks you should search for analogies. "Neuroscientists have found that our brains process the world by associating the new or unknown with something familiar. When presented with a novel idea, our brains don't ask, 'What is it?' They ask, 'What is it like?'"

"Analogies answer that question. They serve as mental shortcuts that help us understand complex events. Leaders who are great communicators in a crisis are skilled at finding analogies, because they have to persuade people to act quickly."

#10

This Reply

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#11

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#12

Even Average Sounds Extraordinary During Victorian Times

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#13

I Can Feel The Hatred In His Words

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The human brain is wired for storytelling. In his best-selling book Sapiens, historian Yuval Noah Harari argues that it was only through stories that our species was able to take over the world.

Our advanced language skills — specifically, our ability to connect with one another through narrative — allowed us to cooperate in ways other species simply could not.

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It Took Me Longer Than 66 Years

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#15

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#16

Uuh... Fox Title?

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#17

Humble Living As A Gnome

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health, is widely admired for his straight, persuasive talk. CNN has even called him “a public force” who translates complex medical information into everyday language.

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"You don’t want to impress people and razzle-dazzle them with your knowledge," Fauci said. "You just want them to understand what you’re talking about."

#18

The Jeans Discount Is The Cherry On Top

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#20

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#21

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Because of that, Fauci often limits himself to just three key points. For instance, in an April 5 appearance on Face the Nation, he said the country would be able to relax social-distancing guidelines only when three things were in place: "the ability to test, isolate, and do contact tracing."

Fauci also pointed out that Americans must continue to “physically separate” from one another by doing three things: staying six feet apart, limiting gatherings to 10 or fewer people, and avoiding mass interactions, such as in restaurants, bars, and theaters.

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Words are powerful, and the more mindful you are with them, the more they can offer you.

#22

Not A Squirrel!

Not A Squirrel!

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#23

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Pemmaphobia (Cake Phobia)

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20-20-20 Noted

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The Fact That This Is Not An Exaggeration Makes It Even Better. British Football Chants Are Fun

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#50

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#51

Proud Tesla Employee

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Factual?!

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Dk Why But It Makes Sense In My Head And I Hate It

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