I’ve often been told that I know and use a lot of words. Most words were picked up from context rather than using a dictionary. As a child, I learned to be careful to validate the words that I learn from context.

The word that taught me this was ‘soon’. I learned the word from my mother. If we were going somewhere, I’d ask when we were leaving. My mother would say ‘soon’. Then she would go off and pick out an outfit to wear, put on her makeup and do whatever else my mother did when she went out.

This taught me that ‘soon’ meant anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes.

One day, my mother said that we were leaving ‘soon’ so I took off my coat, went into the living room and turned on the T.V.
However, this time my mother had already picked out her outfit, put her makeup on and done whatever else my mother would do when she went out and really was ready to go.
She shouted at me ‘What are you doing? I told you that we were leaving soon’.
I said ‘I know. That’s why I thought that we would be waiting for a while’.

Hilarity ensued as I got my vocabulary lesson.