Tuesday, July 12, 2016

That English Vocabulary Size test is wrong

You've probably seen it shared on Facebook, with a graph that looks like this:
www.arealme.com

A 50-question test that purports to tell you how large your vocabulary is based on a smattering of words and your ability to identify synonyms and antonyms of said words.  As with all such tests, it's really just a chance for you to feel superior to other people by posting your scores and comparing them with your friends.

But is it even remotely accurate?

In short, no.  In long, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

To explain why, let's take a look at the words we're given:
Word Comparison type A B C D
Love Synonym Left Life Live Like
Much Synonym Less Many Rather Deal
Child Synonym Kid Chill Call Forget
Large Synonym Tiny Faded New Big
Deal Synonym Sale Recoup Claim Plea
Companion Synonym Fool Mirror Entrapment Partner
Trash Synonym Crack Squeeze Punch Junk
Above Synonym Pierce Slow Over Work
Specify Synonym Designate Capitulate Arcane Assail
Fall Synonym Spit Squeal Drop Succeed
Old Antonym Tell Small Age New
Yes Antonym Notice Yep No Nice
Come Antonym Try Most Go Live
Fly Synonym Hop Peer Drink Soar
Active Antonym Unable Passive Inability Disagree
Dangerous Antonym Silly Careless Safe Sadness
Distant Antonym Disease Flex Obey Near
Narrow Antonym Scold Punish Near Broad
Separate Antonym Weak Ordinary Unite Break
Normal Antonym Doubt Standard Protracted Extraordinary
Spade Synonym Shovel Needle Club Oak
Done Synonym Embellished Squeaked Finished Talk
Beg Synonym Implore Recant Fancy Answer
Lax Synonym Negligent Mindful Neurotic Delectable
Quash Synonym Evade Enumerate Assist Defeat
Minor Synonym Crude Trivial Presidential Flow
Drab Synonym Admissible Barbaric Spiffy Lackluster
Related Synonym Steadfast Pertinent Alien Intrinsic
Annoying Synonym Facile Clicker Counter Obnoxious
Incipient Synonym Galling Nascent Chromatic Capricious
Foul Antonym Repelling Nasty Fair Dirty
Compensate Antonym Underpay Coordinate Extortion Hooking
Acquiesce Antonym Inept Resist Gentle Irascible
Adamant Antonym Disdain Adjunct Vacillant Aerate
Alienate Antonym Reunite Away Sluggish Aggressive
Avulse Antonym Suture Aver Timid Dry
Catalyst Antonym Current Damp Nadir Prevention
Amorphous Antonym Allay Abridge Inimical Definite
Aggrieved Antonym Recalcitrant Buoyant Warped Exacerbate
Apologist Antonym Physicist Critic Fidelity Canon
Widow Synonym Sire Fiend Spank Dowager
Omen Synonym Opulence Harbinger Mystic Demand
Querulous Synonym Fugacious Vapid Fractious Extemporaneous
Hightail Synonym Abscond Report Perturb Surmise
Gargantuan Synonym Promiscuous Niggardly Equestrian Titanic
Avarice Antonym Deny Dependence Generosity Yoke
Alacrity Antonym Intimate Provoker Soother Sluggishness
Altruism Antonym Apocrypha Noisome Egoism Extraneous
Affinity Antonym Disperse Antipathy Needy Warped
Baneful Antonym Blighted Jejune Inveigled Salubrious

I've bolded, italicized, or underlined words as follows:
If I've bolded the word on the left if the word did not have an answer listed on thesaurus.com (that is, none of the words on the right matched the list of synonyms or antonyms for that word)
In that case, I've italicized a word on the right that most likely fits the definition.
If a word on the right IS listed as a synonym or antonym, I've bolded that word instead.
Finally, if there could be multiple answers, I've underlined possible alternatives (leaving words bolded if they are listed as a synonym or antonym).

As you can see, we already get into trouble with the sixth word, "Deal."  This word has a few basic meanings:
Noun:
  1. a usually large or indefinite quantity or degree ...
  2. the act or right of distributing cards to players in a card game ...
Transitive Verb:
  1. a. to give as one's portion :  apportion ...
    b. to distribute (playing cards) to players in a game ...
  2. administer, deliver ...
  3. a. sell
    b. trade
Intransitive Verb:
  1. to distribute the cards in a card game ...
  2. to concern oneself or itself ...
  3. a. to engage in bargaining :  trade ...
    b. to sell or distribute something as a business ...
  4. a. to take action with regard to someone or something ...
    b. to reach or try to reach a state of acceptance or reconcilement ...
(definitions from merriam-webster.com, heavily edited to remove characters that were screwing up my html)
So you could determine that the synonym for Deal is "Sale" under the belief that the action being described is the "sell" action described by both the transitive and intransitive verb definition 3, but you just as easily could decide it is a "Plea" as part of the act of bargaining (intransitive 3a).

"Related" similarly has two possible answers - "Pertinent" and "Intrinsic".  While "Pertinent" is listed as a synonym on thesaurus.com, "Intrinsic" could be as well.  "Related" has a definition as follows:
...belonging to the same group because of shared characteristics, qualities, etc... (Merriam-Webster.com, "Related" simple definitions).
Those shared characteristics and qualities could be "intrinsic" - that is, they are "belonging to the essential nature of a thing : occurring as a natural part of something" (Merriam-Webster.com, "Intrinsic" simple definitions).  Things are often related by their intrinsic qualities, as in the case of relationships between members of a species.

The worst offender, however, is the last one: Affinity.  It is defined as:
  1. relationship by marriage...
  2. a :  sympathy marked by community of interest :  kinship...
    b (1) :  an attraction to or liking for something...  (2) :  an attractive force between substances or particles that causes them to enter into and remain in chemical combination...
    c :  a person especially of the opposite sex having a particular attraction for one...
  3. a :  likeness based on relationship or causal connection...
    b :  a relation between biological groups involving resemblance in structural plan and indicating a common origin...  (Merriam-Webster.com, again heavily edited)
What we're looking for is the antonym of that.

If we were to negate each of those, we would find that 2b(2) becomes a repulsive "force between substances or particles" - causing them to disperse.  My guess is that it's looking for "Antipathy" - "a strong feeling of dislike" (Merriam-Webster.com, simple definition), as that runs better as an antonym to what we might consider the "colloquial" definition, but clearly both words are appropriate.

Regardless, the test is trying to guess your knowledge of a language based on a very tiny sample.  Worse still, the first 30 of those are relatively easy - that is, they're words that are very common in the language.  It's only the last 20 that really test your knowledge (beyond the silly "Deal" problem).  This is not remotely large enough, as different schools would teach different words to different people.  It might represent a significant sampling, but all it could do is tell you how well you place as a percentage of the population, and NOT how many words you know.