What do you do when you don't know a word

[Jarcin]

I won't lie, if I don't know it, I read it backwards to see if it's some trick <.<

What do you all do...and I mean BEFORE you check the dictionary.

 

[DanielBrown]

Read the sentence again and try to figure out what it might mean. Don't come across unknown words that often, but I believe that's what I do before I check a dictionary.

 

[darth.pixie]

Look for words that are similar in other languages. I don't come across them too often, but when I do I google them, check a dictionary or ask someone nearby.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

Re-read the sentence a few times to try to assume its meaning.

Though as an English major, this doesn't happen all that often.

 

[emeraldrafael]

If I dont know what a word means, I read the sentence for context. If there isnt any, or it doesnt make any sense then, I'll read the sentence without it and see if I understand it. If the sentence doesnt make sense, then I know what the word means because of whats missing.

If I dont know a word itself to use, I'll just think of similes or at worst, just put the definition in parenthesis.

 

[Jarcin]

You all make me feel very unintelligent in my course of action. However I can't help but be thrilled people are taking proper steps to understand words ^^

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

as others already stated they do, i read the context first. if i still don't get it, i'll try to break it down to its roots (Latin, Germanic, etc. (anyone who says Latin is a useless language to learn is full of shit)) and see if that does the trick. 99.9999% of the time one or the other of these will work for me. i only rarely have to look something up.

 

[ScipioAmericanus]

as others already stated they do, i read the context first. if i still don't get it, i'll try to break it down to its roots (Latin, Germanic, etc. (anyone who says Latin is a useless language to learn is full of shit)) and see if that does the trick. 99.9999% of the time one or the other of these will work for me. i only rarely have to look something up.

This... pretty much. Also, rifle through my head for any French/German/Italian words that sound similar and see if anything fits.

*shrug*

 

[Illesdan]

as others already stated they do, i read the context first. if i still don't get it, i'll try to break it down to its roots (Latin, Germanic, etc. (anyone who says Latin is a useless language to learn is full of shit)) and see if that does the trick. 99.9999% of the time one or the other of these will work for me. i only rarely have to look something up.

Pretty much this. I think people tend to forget that English is a rip-off language comprised of about forty-some OTHER languages. And its not a DIRECT rip-off, either. They change the pronunciation, mix/add/subtract a couple of letters, and, voila, they call it English.

Feh.

I also take into consideration that when I'm reading something, the writer made up a word or the spellchecker was asleep at the wheel. This happens from time to time at the newspaper I work for...

Damn you, autocorrect!