How To Use The Big Words In The Big Book Dictionary

How To Actually Use The Dictionary & Pronunciation Guide

Depending on what section of The Big Book you’re reading or discussing, simply open “The Big Words In The Big Book” to the same section. There you will have a custom dictionary covering that specific section, so finding any word, term or name takes just a few seconds. Definitions and pronunciations of all words are shown in context. So while a word like “moderate” has two different definitions and pronunciations, we always provide you with the definition and pronunciation that applies given the sentence within which it’s being used. We have also chosen to occasionally change the wording of identical definitions from chapter to chapter, giving you a fuller understanding of the concept of the word or term.

Items such as metaphors, sayings, proper names and Fellowship terms are generally listed in this book as “expressions,” and for each we have given as complete a description as space would allow. For many of the actual people mentioned in the Big Book, we’ve included who and what they were, as we felt this would help bring the Big Book to life for you. This will hopefully broaden your knowledge of the people behind A.A.’s development, as well as your knowledge of some of the more famous people mentioned within the personal stories. For additional information on the development of A.A., there are a great many good books out there.

A “short” a = “ah” Examples: cat is pronounced kaht, fraternity is pronounced frah-turn-ih-tee
A “long” a = “ay” Examples: late is pronounced layt, labor is pronounced lay-bur

A “short” e = “eh” Examples: met is pronounced meht, forget is pronounced for-geht
A “long” e = “ee” Examples: defeat is pronounced dee-feet, complete is pronounced kum-pleet

A “short” i = “ih” Examples: skip is pronounced skihp, solitude is pronounced sawl-ih-tood
A “long” I = “eye” Examples: idol is pronounced eye-dull, Iowa is pronounced eye-oh-wah

A “short” o = “aw” Examples: operate is pronounced aw-pur-ayt, option is pronounced awp-shun
A “long” o = “oh” Examples: loan is pronounced lohn, telephone is pronounced tell-ih-fohn

A “short” u = “uh” Examples: utter is pronounced uh-tur, Mustang is pronounced muh-stang
A “long” u = “yoo” Examples: used is pronounced yoozd, utility is pronounced yoo-till-ih-tee

After using our book for a few minutes, the pronunciation scheme will become second nature to you. Also, for words with multiple syllables, you will notice at least one syllable is shown in boldface type. This indicates the syllable that should be primarily emphasized when pronouncing the word. As an example, you would see the word “alcoholic” shown as alka-hawl-ik. The emphasis when saying the word is on the second syllable.

Our intention in providing this pronunciation scheme was to enable you to begin using any of the words as a part of your regular vocabulary should you so desire.