0
Mr. Tom Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary

Scintilla, iota and modicum

Hi

Would you say that all of these words are fairly common among native speakers?

There was not a scintilla/modicum/iota of truth in her story.

Thanks,

Tom
  

Top answer

Mr. Tom Would you say that all of these words are fairly common among native speakers? No.

— Mister Micawber

  • Mr.
  • Tom Would you say that all of these words are fairly common among native speakers?
  • No.
  • Only 'modicum' may be in general use.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

4 Answers
0
Mr. TomWould you say that all of these words are fairly common among native speakers?
No. Only 'modicum' may be in general use.
0
0
Mr. Tom,

It would be good if you checked here before posting this sort of question:

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph
0
0
Thanks, MM.

@AlpheccaStars

Thanks for the link. Yes, I generally do that. BUT, believe it or not, many a time the response from the moderators here is altogether different from what the site has to say about the use of a certain word. What I find very interesting is that there are times when one native speaker claims that a certain word is hardly used, while the other says that s
0
0
Mr. Tom What I find very interesting is that there are times when one native speaker claims that a certain word is hardly used, while the other says that s/he uses it often.
Everyone has a different working vocabulary, depending on their age, experience, reading lists, and career path.
Word usage can vary dramatically between different dialects and regions
0

Related Questions