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1The Great Courses
2TTC
3Building a Better vocabulary 
4
5Course Guidebook
6
7Professor Kevin Flanigan
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9ii
10
11Table of Contents
12
13INTRODUCTION
14Professor Biography...............................i
15Course Scope........................................1
16Lecture GUIDES
17Lecture 1
18Five Principles for Learning vocabulary...................3
19Lecture 2
20The Spelling-Meaning Connection.........................10
21Lecture 3
22Words for Lying, Swindling, and Conniving...................17
23Lecture 4
24Words That Express Annoyance and Disgust....................24
25Lecture 5
26Fighting Words and Peaceful Words......................31
27Lecture 6
28Going beyond Dictionary Meanings........................38
29Lecture 7
30Wicked Words.....................................46
31Lecture 8
32Words for Beginnings and Endings........................52
33Lecture 9
34Words Expressing Fear, Love, and Hatred....................58
35Lecture 10
36Words for the Everyday and the Elite.....................63
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38iii
39
40Table of Contents
41
42Lecture 11
43Words from Gods and Heroes................................69
44Lecture 12
45Humble Words and Prideful Words........................76
46Lecture 13
47High-Frequency Greek and Latin Roots........................83
48Lecture 14
49Words Relating to Belief and Trust.........................90
50Lecture 15
51Words for the Way We Talk....................................97
52Lecture 16
53Words for Praise, Criticism, and Nonsense....................104
54Lecture 17
55Eponyms from Literature and History................... 111
56Lecture 18
57Thinking, Teaching, and Learning Words.................... 119
58Lecture 19
59Words for the Diligent and the Lazy.....................126
60Lecture 20
61Words That Break and Words That Join......................132
62Lecture 21
63Some High-utility Greek and Latin Affixes...................139
64Lecture 22
65Cranky Words and Cool Words............................145
66Lecture 23
67Words for Courage and Cowardice......................151
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69iv
70
71Table of Contents
72
73Lecture 24
74Reviewing vocabulary through Literature....................158
75Lecture 25
76Words for Killing and Cutting................................165
77Lecture 26
78A vocabulary Grab Bag.....................171
79Lecture 27
80Words for Words................................176
81Lecture 28
82Specialty Words for Language.............................182
83Lecture 29
84Nasty Words and Nice Words..............................192
85Lecture 30
86Words for the Really Big and the Very Small.......................198
87Lecture 31
88Spelling as a vocabulary Tool..............................205
89Lecture 32
90A Medley of New Words....................212
91Lecture 33
92Building vocabulary through Games....................217
93Lecture 34
94Words English Borrowed and Never Returned......................224
95Lecture 35
96More Foreign Loan Words....................................232
97Lecture 36
98Forgotten Words and Neologisms.......................237
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100v
101
102Table of Contents
103
104SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
105Answers to Review Questions..............................245
106Glossary of Target Words.....................................263 
107Bibliography.......................................279
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109vi
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111Building a Better vocabulary 
112
113Scope:
114
115In one of the most insightful statements on vocabulary ever penned, Mark Twain said,"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—'tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." As Mark Twain knew, a powerful vocabulary consists of more than simply knowing a lot of words; it's the ability to grasp the "just right" word to communicate precisely what you want to say or write.
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117Acquiring the type of deep and nuanced vocabulary knowledge that Twain was talking about doesn't come from simply studying lists of vocabulary words alongside dictionary definitions. This traditional "one-word-at-a- time" approach that many of us experienced in school often leads to surfacelevel vocabulary knowledge that lasts only until the Friday quiz.
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119In this course, you'll learn how to move beyond definitional vocabulary knowledge toward a rich vocabulary that's broad, deep, and flexible and lasts a lifetime. To do this, we'll cover five core principles of vocabulary learning in the first lecture. These principles will serve as tools in your vocabulary toolbox that you can apply as we explore new target words throughout the course. You will use these tools to learn word meanings deeply so that you'll remember and be able to use the words years from now.
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121As we move through the lectures, we'll meet and explore a host of vocabulary words that are, by turns, snappy, lively, powerful, and beautiful, such as gadfly, Promethean, gemütlichkeit, and hornswoggle. The lectures are organized thematically; for example, in a lecture on liars and swindlers, we'll examine a set of words for conniving flimflammers, such as mountebanks and sophists, honoring the way our minds organize vocabulary by meaning.
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123We'll also take the time to examine words in rich context to get a better feel for how to actually use them in speaking and writing. In addition, you'll learn to make personal connections to word meanings so that these words "stick" in your lexicon—the mental library of word meanings we all possess.
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125Along the way, we'll see that there's no such thing as an exact synonym 1
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127and explore the finer distinctions in meaning among closely related words; in the end, you'll know the difference between such words as specious and spurious and when to use each.
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129Importantly, we will also delve into the etymology and morphology of words—that is, their history and structure. This will enable you to harness the power of the "meaning system" that is deeply embedded in the akA of the English language, applying your growing knowledge of high-utility Latin and Greek Affixes and roots to learn, store, and make connections among words. To guide your learning, you will also create a vocabulary notebook that will serve as a place to collect your growing vocabulary.
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131Scope
132
133By the end of this course, you'll know many new, powerful, and beautiful vocabulary words. Just as importantly, you'll know how to learn vocabulary for yourself. You'll have your own toolbox of strategies and resources that will equip you for a lifetime of vocabulary learning. •
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1352
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137Five Principles for Learning vocabulary 
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139Lecture 1
140
141One reason to spend time and effort improving your vocabulary is that words have the power to change how you see the world. Further, our ability to use vocabulary effectively is one of the primary means by which we communicate and connect with important people in our lives.
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143Choosing just the right word adds precision and clarity to our speech and writing. Words are the tools we use to inform, advise, persuade, and reason.
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145But to start expanding your vocabulary, you need a structured approach—and that's what we'll learn in this lecture: five principles for building and using a rich vocabulary. Together, these principles provide an efficient method for harnessing the power of the English language.
146
147The Dimmer-Switch Phenomenon
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149• Learning words is not an all-or-nothing affair, as though one moment, you've never heard of a word and then, immediately after looking it up in the dictionary, you become an expert user of that word. That would be like flipping a light switch from off to on.
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151• A better metaphor that vocabulary researchers use is the dimmer switch, which gradually increases the amount of light in a room.
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153vocabulary learning works in the same way—gradually and incrementally. We first learn the dictionary definition of a word, then gradually become comfortable with how it's used in various contexts as we try it out ourselves.
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155• Most of us can rate our knowledge of a particular word on a scale of 1 to 4, using the levels proposed by the educational researcher Edgar Dale:
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1571. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before.
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1592. I've heard of the word before, but I'm not sure what it means.
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1633. I know the word and can recognize and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech.
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1654. I know the word well and can use it in writing and speaking.
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167As you learn new words throughout this course, remember the dimmer-switch metaphor. Don't feel that you have to master new words immediately, as if your brain were an on/off switch. It may take some time and practice before you feel comfortable with a new word.
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169• In fact, we know from vocabulary research that it takes multiple exposures across many contexts before we really start to "know" a word.
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171Lecture 1: Five Principles for Learning vocabulary 
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173• For example, one study conducted by literacy researchers Beck, Perfetti, and Mcheown found that we need 12 exposures to a word before there's a difference in our comprehension of a passage containing that word.
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175Factotum (noun)
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177Someone hired to do a variety of jobs; a jack-of-all-trades.
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1794
180
181• Let's explore the word factotum as an example of best practices in vocabulary learning. First, we start with a clear definition: A factotum is someone hired to do a variety of jobs, someone who has many responsibilities, a jack-of-all-trades.
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183• Second, place the word in context, using it in a sentence. For example: "Tessa, the office factotum, does the billing, answers the phones, helps out in the mo department, and even knows how to cook a mean blueberry scone—she's indispensable!? 
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185• Third, make connections to the word. Think of some examples of a factotum in your life, such as a general handyman or even your mother. To make the connection personal, picture the word itself next to an image of this person in your mind.
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187• Fourth, take the time to explore the word in a little more depth.
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189• In this case, you might learn that the root of factotum, fac, is from the Latin verb facio, meaning "to make or do." Another English word that starts with fac is factory, a place where things are made. The key word factory can help you remember the meaning of the root fac.
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191• In addition, the Latin word totum—the second part of factotum—means "all." Thus, a factotum is someone who "does it all." If you remember factotum in this way, you'll never forget it.
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193To make factotum memorable, we used four principles of vocabulary learning; we'll use these same principles throughout the course:
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195• Definitions. For each target word, we'll learn a clear definition that distills the critical aspects of what the word means—and what it doesn't mean.
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197• Context. We will then place each target word in the context of a sentence to get a feel for how it's actually used. Remember, if you want to really know a shark, you study it in the ocean—its natural habitat. If you want to really know a word, you study how it behaves in its natural habitat—sentences, paragraphs, and books.
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199• Connections. We'll make connections to each word. Think of a vocabulary word as a label for an underlying concept. With factotum, you already knew the basic concept—everyone knows someone who does a little bit of everything—but you may not have had the label for it—the word factotum. We connected the new word/label to your known concept.
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2015
202
203• Morphology. Next, we'll explore each word's morphological structure. Morphology is the study of the structure of words, including meaningful word parts, such as roots, and patterns and processes of word formation. The morphological system in English can be an incredibly powerful system for learning vocabulary if you know how to tap into it. To remember the word factotum, we broke it down by its meaningful parts: the Latin root fac and the word totum.
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205Procrustean (adjective) 
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207Lecture 1: Five Principles for Learning vocabulary 
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209Tending to produce conformity by arbitrary, ruthless, or violent means.
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213• Before we move on to the fifth principle, let's practice the first four with the word procrustean. This word means "tending to produce conformity by arbitrary, ruthless, or violent means." 
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215• Here's procrustean in context: "Even though the student's poem unanimously won the all-county writing contest, the procrustean English teacher gave her an F for failing to dot the i in her name." 
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217• Now make a personal connection. Have you ever met someone who's completely inflexible, a stickler for rules and regulations? Try to associate that person in your mind with the word procrustean.
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219• Procrustean comes from Greek mythology. Procrustes was a mythical bandit of Attica who would waylay hapless travelers and attempt to fit them to his iron bed. If travelers were too long for the bed, he'd cut off their feet. If they were too short, he'd stretch them out. A procrustean bed has come to mean an arbitrary standard to which something is forced to conform.
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221• You now know an etymological narrative about procrustean.
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223The etymology of a word is its history, including its origin, evolution, spread to other languages, and shifts in meaning and form over time. A narrative, of course, is a story. Thus, an etymological narrative is a story about the history of a word.
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225A significant part of a word's etymology is its morphology, often including the Latin or Greek roots from which it sprang.
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227• As cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham notes, our minds are hardwired to remember stories. This is why we generally find it easier to remember stories people tell us than information presented in a non-story format, such as facts in a science textbook. Etymological narratives can serve as powerful vocabulary -learning tools.
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229Semantic Chunking
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231• Once we've used these four principles to learn new words, how do we organize the words in a way that makes sense? In other words, how do we store these words in our lexicon—our mental library of word meanings—so that when we need to retrieve them for use, we know where to find them? 
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233• This question brings us to our fifth vocabulary-learning principle: Word learning should be structured. And indeed, the best structure for learning new words is one that reflects the way that our brains naturally organize and store information—in chunks.
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2357 
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237Lecture 1: Five Principles for Learning vocabulary 8
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239• The idea of chunking vocabulary items is related to a well-known concept in cognitive science: schema theory. According to this theory, we organize and categorize knowledge by abstract mental frameworks or structures called schema. Think of schema as mental file folders in which we organize information. Schemas help us keep track of information in our brains and avoid the pitfalls of the "mental junk drawer."
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241• 
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243Compare the chunking technique of vocabulary learning—grouping related words into categories by meaning—with the traditional approach to vocabulary instruction that many of us experienced in school.
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245• Often, we were given lists of vocabulary words to memorize that were organized alphabetically, such as baleful, ballyhoo, bastion, bedlam, and so on. Many of us learned these words for the test on Friday and promptly forgot them by the following Monday. We simply stuffed these words into our mental junk drawers, not making connections among them or organizing them into chunks by common meaning.
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247• A better approach to learning vocabulary would be to give students a list of related words, such as kerfuffle, imbroglio, melee, hullabaloo, tussle, donnybrook, and spat. If this was our list for the week, we'd not only study the common meaning they all share-a type of disagreement or fight-but we would also examine the finer shades of distinction and nuances of meaning among the words.
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249• If we organize our vocabulary learning by meaning, honoring the way our brains work, we will dramatically improve our chances of remembering and using new words. This method of organizing words by meaning is known as semantic chunking.
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251Together with definition, context, connection, and morphology, this principle will give us a solid foundation for building a better vocabulary.
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253Review Questions
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2551. List the five principles of vocabulary learning.
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2572. How does the idea of semantic chunking relate to schema theory in cognitive science? 
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2593. A person who is completely inflexible might be described as __________.
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2614. Chris, who could fix a leaky faucet, replace a broken lock, and correctly hook up a aso, was valued as the neighborhood __________.
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2639
264
265The Spelling-Meaning Connection
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267Lecture 2
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269In our first lecture, we discussed five core principles of effective vocabulary learning: starting with clear definitions, putting words into context, making connections between known concepts and new words, exploring the morphology and etymology of words, and chunking words by meaning in our mental lexicons. This last principle takes advantage of the fact that our minds organize information, including words, according to schema, or mental file folders. In this lecture, we'll delve a bit deeper into the morphological system of English to explore one of the big "secrets" of vocabulary learning: Just as our minds organize language, so, too, language has a system for organizing words.
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271Lecture 2: The Spelling-Meaning Connection
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273Building a Large vocabulary 
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275• The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is generally considered to be the most authoritative dictionary of the English language. The second edition of the OED includes more than 600,000 definitions.
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27710
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279• Most of us "know" only a portion of these words, meaning that we understand them if we encounter them in reading. And most of us feel comfortable using an even smaller portion in expressive language—speech or writing. For example, a common estimate for the average vocabulary of a high school graduate is approximately 40,000 words, and for an average college graduate, approximately 60,000 to 75,000 words.
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281• Of course, there is no way that anyone can obtain a 75,000-word vocabulary through direct instruction, one word at a time. That's why traditional word-by-word approaches to learning vocabulary aren't the most effective. Instead, most people who possess large vocabularies acquire them through reading. As adults, we pick up the vast majority of new vocabulary incidentally through meaningful reading in connected text.
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283© decisiveimages/iStock/Thinkstock.
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285Most people who have a deep, broad, flexible vocabulary are also avid readers.
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287• This doesn't mean that we should give up on studying vocabulary directly. But if we're serious about improving vocabulary, in addition to wide reading, we need to be strategic and thoughtful about how we study words-in particular, using the five principles we've already discussed. Our language itself helps us in this study by organizing words by meaning—if we know how to look for this system.
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289• English has a built-in system of meaning, or morphology, that is largely based on the classic Greek and Latin origins of our language. In fact, approximately 70 percent of English vocabulary is derived from Greek and Latin roots and affixes. Those who know how to harness this morphological system are at a great advantage, not only when it comes to learning more words but also when it comes to storing them in their mental lexicons.
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291The Spelling-Meaning Connection
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293• One of the keys to unlocking this morphological system is a concept known as the spelling-meaning connection, a term coined by vocabulary researcher Shane Templeton.
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29511 
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297Lecture 2: The Spelling-Meaning Connection
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299Think of morphology as the umbrella term here, and the spelling-meaning connection as an important tool we can use to decode that system. The spelling-meaning connection also shows us that our spelling system makes more sense than you may think.
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301• Consider, for example, the word health, which is spelled with a silent a. Notice that if we remove the last two letters of health— th—we get heal. That silent a gives us a visual clue to the fact that health is directly related in meaning to heal, healer, and so on. Thus, the spelling-meaning connection states: "Words that are related in spelling are often related in meaning, despite changes in sound." 
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303• There are many other word pairs that illustrate the spelling-meaning connection in English, such as column/columnist, hymn/hymnal, and crumb/crumble. The spelling-meaning connection biases us to retain the silent letters in our written representations of the first words in these pairs, pointing us to the related second words.
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305• Another example of a similar word pair is resign/resignation. A number of other words are related in spelling and meaning to resign, including sign, insignia, design, signal, significant, and others. All these words are derived from the Latin root signum, which means "a symbol or mark." They all share a common core meaning related to a common spelling.
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307• When we use the morphological approach to learning words, we can begin to see why the great linguist Noam Chomsky said that the conventional English spelling system is "a near optimal system for the lexical representation of English words." Many critics of our spelling system don't understand that the system evolved to represent both sound and meaning. For this reason, knowing a little about spelling can actually improve your vocabulary knowledge.
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309Analyzing fac Words
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311• To further illustrate the spelling-meaning connection, let's return to the word factotum. As you recall, we divided factotum into two
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31312
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315morphemes, fac and totum. Fac is from the Latin word facio, which means "to do or make," and totum is a Latin word meaning "all." A factotum, then, is someone who does everything.
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317• Many other English words that contain the root fac share the core meaning of "do or make." For example:
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319• A fact is something that's true. This word is derived from the Latin factum, meaning "thing done." If something was done, it actually happened; therefore, it's true—a fact.
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321• The manu in manufacture is the Latin word for "hand," as in the phrase "manual labor." Thus, something that is manufactured is literally "made by hand," not something found in nature.
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323• Facile means easily "done" or accomplished.
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325Let's apply four of the five principles we learned in the last lecture to another fac word, factitious.
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327Factitious (adjective)
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3291. Made or manufactured; not natural.
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3312. Made up in the sense of contrived; a sham, fake, or phony.
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333• Factitious is an adjective that has two definitions, again, both related to the meaning of "make." 
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335• To put the word in context, we might say: (1) "The CIA agent hid his message inside the hollow factitious rock by the bridge; his handler would pick up the message a few hours later"; or (2) "My dad's factitious smile didn't fool anyone; he was definitely not happy to see our cousins show up once again unannounced." 
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337• Next, connect the word factitious to something in your own personal experience that is artificial. Perhaps you own a factitious
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33913
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341diamond or you've been in a situation where you've felt obliged to put on a factitious smile or laugh.
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343• The etymology of factitious can be a little tricky because it has the word fact in it, which might lead you to think it means "true."
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345However, the root in factitious is fac, which means "make," and we associated this root with the key word factory. Of course, a factory brings to mind things that are made by humans and are not natural.
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347Thus, when you run across factitious, think of a factory, making artificial things.
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349Lecture 2: The Spelling-Meaning Connection
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351Organizing Your Learning
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353• In these first two lectures, we've focused on how to learn vocabulary, but for the remainder of the course, we'll learn approximately 10 new target words per lecture. To keep this cornucopia of vocabulary organized, you may want to keep a vocabulary notebook or create a vocabulary file on your computer or tablet. Organize your notebook along the same lines as these lectures, by general concept and topic.
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355• For each word, use the vocabulary -learning principles we've discussed. Include a clear definition, write the word in a rich contextual sentence, make a personal connection to the word, and include notes on the morphology and etymology of the word.
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357• As you continue to learn and collect words on your own after you finish this course, you can also include these in the notebook and add new topical sections. Think of your vocabulary notebook as your own repository of powerful words that you can draw on when needed.
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359Morphology 101
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361• To conclude this introduction to learning principles and concepts, let's define some important morphological terms that we'll use throughout the course.
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36314
364
365• A base word is a word that can stand on its own. In the word unprofitable, for example, the base word is profit, which means "monetary gain." 
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367• A prefix is a morpheme, or unit of meaning, that can be attached to the beginning of a base word or root. The prefix in unprofitable is un-, meaning "not." 
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369• A suffix is a morpheme that can be attached to the end of a base word or root. The suffix in unprofitable is -able, meaning "capable of." 
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371• Affix is the umbrella term for prefixes and suffixes.
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373• Roots are morphemes that cannot stand alone but to which prefixes and suffixes can attach. We've already worked extensively with one root: fac. Another example is the Latin root spect, meaning "look or see." Spect isn't a standalone English word, but it's an incredibly fertile root, giving us spectacles, inspector, spectator, speculate, retrospect, and many other words.
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375Circumspect (adjective)
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377Cautious, prudent.
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379• Circumspect is a combination of circum ("around") and spect ("look"). To remember this word, think of a cautious person "looking around" before he or she acts.
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381Review Questions
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3831. What is the spelling-meaning connection?
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3852. What types of information and reminders should you include for the entries in your vocabulary notebook? 
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38715
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3893. A friend who is __________ can be a good person with whom to share secrets.
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3914. Chip's __________ laugh revealed to close friends that he didn't find the joke funny at all.
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393Lecture 2: The Spelling-Meaning Connection
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39516
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397Words for Lying, Swindling, and Conniving
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399Lecture 3
400
401Benjamin Disraeli, the well-known British prime minister of the 19th century, has been credited with saying,"There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics." Unfortunately, lying has been a part of the human condition since the beginning of time. We've all been lied to, deceived, and perhaps even conned at one time or another in our lives.
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403Fortunately, even if Disraeli is correct about there being only three types of lies, we have more than three words in English to describe liars and the lies they tell. In this lecture, we'll explore a number of powerful words to describe cheats, swindlers, charlatans, scam artists, barracudas, sharks, and sharpies and their swindles, hustles, flimflams, and double dealings.
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405Mountebank (noun) 
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407• You may have encountered a mountebank when you're up late, channel surfing, and come upon an infomercial for a "nutrition supplement" derived from an exotic plant root that can supposedly cure everything from migraines to stomach aches. Needless to say, you're skeptical of the TV spokesperson's extravagant claims. The word for this type of fasttalking salesperson pushing quack remedies is a mountebank.
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409Mountebank comes from an Italian phrase meaning to "mount a bench"
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411© Studio-Annika/iStock/Thinkstock.
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413A flamboyant swindler; a flimflammer; someone who claims to be an expert but isn't.
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415Mountebanks often claim to be doctors, but they can also claim to be other types of experts; underneath their authentic appearance, they're frauds.
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41717
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419and refers to a quack doctor or swindler, who would enter a town, mount a bench in the public square to draw a crowd, and try to sell fake potions to a susceptible public. To remember this word, picture a similar situation in your mind or draw a quick sketch of it in your vocabulary notebook.
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421Keep mount in mind as your key word for mountebank.
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423• You might also jot down a personal experience you've had with someone who made extravagant claims about a product that didn't live up to its billing. Remember, making personal connections to word meanings will help you to store these words in your lexicon for later use in conversation and writing.
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425• Synonyms for mountebank include charlatan, con artist, flimflammer, conniver, and shyster.
426
427Sophist (noun)
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429Lecture 3: Words for Lying, Swindling, and Conniving
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431One skilled in elaborate and devious argumentation.
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43318
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435• Sophist refers to a different type of trickster—not one who tries to sell you a counterfeit product, such as a mountebank, but one who tries to sell you a counterfeit argument. Sophistry is a related word that refers to the act of intentionally attempting to deceive someone with a tricky, intellectually dishonest argument.
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437• Think back to a time when you have watched a political debate. You may have been swayed by one politician's argument until a second politician begins to rebut it, poking holes in the first candidate's reasoning and demonstrating how he or she played fast and loose with the facts. At this point, you may have realized that the first politician was intentionally trying to deceive you with verbal gymnastics. The name for a politician who tries to pull the wool over your eyes in this way is a sophist.
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439• Sophist comes from the Greek root sophos, meaning "wise," as well as "skilled or clever." For sophists, the emphasis is more on "skilled and clever" than "wise." 
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441• The sophists were itinerant teachers in ancient Greece who taught, among other things, rhetoric, or the art of persuasive speaking and writing. Sophists were known for their clever but not necessarily logical arguments.
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443• Their detractors claimed that sophists weren't on a journey to find the truth; instead, they were trying to persuade others by any argumentative trick or intellectual sleight of hand that would enable them to win. In this light, you can see how sophist became a term of contempt.
444
445You can remember sophist by thinking of a related word that you already know that begins with the same Greek root: sophomore.
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447Again, sophos means "wise," and moros means "foolish"; thus, a sophomore is a "wise fool." Because sophomores have been in school just long enough to think they know it all, some consider "wise fools" an apt description.
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449Specious (adjective)
450
451Having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious.
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453• As we've just seen, sophists can be described as clever debaters who attempt to deceive their listeners with plausible but unfounded arguments. Specious is an adjective that describes the type of argument a sophist might deliver: one that seems plausible on the surface but is fallacious underneath.
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455• Specious comes from the Latin speciosus, meaning "good looking,"
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457which came from species, meaning "appearance." Thus, a specious argument is one that "looks good" on the surface but isn't sound.
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459Specious is also related to the Latin root spec, meaning "look."
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461To remember this word, highlight the spec in specious in your vocabulary notebook and connect it to the root spec.
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463• As you recall, chunking words that are semantically related is one of the key principles of vocabulary learning. Thus, it's useful to 
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46519
466
467think of the target words sophist and specious together, as in: "That sophist is spewing forth specious arguments! I won't trust another word he says."
468
469Spurious (adjective)
470
471Lecture 3: Words for Lying, Swindling, and Conniving
472
473Not genuine, authentic, or true; false.
474
475• Spurious is often used as a synonym for specious, but it actually has a slightly different connotation. Like specious, spurious refers to something that is false or counterfeit, including an argument or claim. However, as we saw, a specious argument seems plausible on the surface; in contrast, a spurious argument is immediately recognized as false.
476
477• Collocates are words that commonly occur together. Both specious and spurious commonly occur with argument, reasoning, and charges, as in such phrases as specious argument and spurious charges.
478
479Apocryphal (adjective)
480
481Of doubtful or dubious authenticity; false.
482
48320
484
485• Use the word apocryphal if you want to emphasize that a story or claim is not only probably false but also difficult to verify or find evidence for.
486
487• Originally, the Apocrypha were texts that were not included in the Bible because their authenticity could not be firmly established. Today, urban legends are often described as apocryphal because they are passed on by a "friend of a friend." When you hear the word apocryphal, think of the tales of Bigfoot or the stories you've heard about alligators living in the New York City sewer system.
488
489Ersatz (adjective)
490
491Describes an inferior substitute.
492
493• The story of how ersatz entered English is a wonderful example of our language's capacity to borrow and absorb words from other languages. During World War II, British Plts were served ersatzbrot, or "substitute bread," made from low-quality potato starch, flour, and even sawdust. When they returned home after the war, the former Plts began using the term ersatz to describe anything that was an inferior substitute.
494
495• Make a personal connection to this word by recalling a time when you bought a low-grade, generic substitute for a common product, such as ketchup, that may have caused a revolt among your family.
496
497Skulduggery (noun)
498
499Devious, deceitful behavior; underhanded dealings.
500
501• Skulduggery is a somewhat archaic word of Scottish origin, but it's on Wayne State University's excellent Word Warriors' list. Each year, the Word Warriors announce their list of "great, underused words to bring back." You can nominate your own word for next year or look over the lively, underused words they've selected from previous years at http://wordwarriors.wayne.edu/.
502
503Machinations (noun)
504
505Intrigues, plots, crafty schemes, or the act of plotting.
506
507• One way to remember machinations is to link the first five letters- machi—to Machiavelli, the 15th-century Italian statesman and writer who famously depicted unscrupulous politicians—those given to machinations and intrigue—in his classic work The Prince.
508
509You might even encounter the phrase Machiavellian machinations.
510
51121
512
513• In fact, the word political is by far the most common collocate with machinations, as in political machinations. Devious, corrupt, and evil are other adjectives commonly found before the word machinations.
514
515Hornswoggle (verb)
516
517Lecture 3: Words for Lying, Swindling, and Conniving
518
519To swindle, cheat, or dupe.
520
521• Most sources report that hornswoggle has no known origin, beyond being an Americanism that entered American English in the early 1800s. However, according to one (probably apocryphal)
522
523etymological narrative, the word describes a cow woggling (wiggling or shaking) its head back and forth in an attempt to free its horns from a lasso and, thus, hornswoggle, or "cheat," both the lasso and the cowboy. Even if this story can't be verified, it makes a wonderful visual to help you remember the meaning of the word hornswoggle.
524
525• Two fun synonyms for hornswoggle are bamboozle and hoodwink.
526
527Review Questions
528
5291. The classic urban legend that Mr. Rogers served as a Navy SEAL and always appeared on television in a sweater to cover his tattoos can best be described as __________.
530
5312. What word brings to mind the patent medicine salesman of the Old West? 
532
5333. And what did the patent medicine salesman attempt to do to the crowds he addressed? 
534
5354. This word can be traced back to a group of itinerant teachers in ancient Greece who specialized in providing instruction in the art of rhetoric.
536
5375. This word for a substitute carries the connotation of inferior.
538
53922
540
5416. How would you describe an argument that is deceptively plausible?
542
5437. How would you describe an argument that is immediately recognizable as implausible? 
544
5458. Political __________ might include such acts as wiretapping, bribery, or other forms of intrigue and __________.
546
54723
548
549Words That Express Annoyance and Disgust
550
551Lecture 4
552
553All parents, as much as they love their children, know that there are times when family members get annoyed with one another. Parents of teenagers, in particular, can relate to this quote from Mark Twain:
554
555"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." Amazingly, the same qualities in a person that annoy us at one time don't seem so bad later. In this lecture, we'll explore words related to three personality types that we've all encountered: the annoying, the offensive, and the sickly sweet.
556
557Lecture 4: Words That Express Annoyance and Disgust
558
559Gadfly noun 
560
5611. A persistently annoying person who questions, critiques, and pesters.
562
5632. An insect that annoys livestock by biting and sucking their blood.
564
56524
566
567• Gadfly is a wonderfully useful word for all of the irritating critics in our lives—the people who constantly pester, provoke, and annoy the rest of us with their criticisms, demands, requests, ideas, and schemes.
568
569• It's easy to remember gadfly if you know that it also refers to an actual insect that annoys livestock animals by biting and sucking their blood.
570
571• The prefix gad- comes from an Old Norse word that means "spike or nail"—something like a stinger. To remember gadfly, picture an annoying person buzzing around and trying to sting you with needling critiques and bothersome questions. If it helps, sketch a quick picture of an insect with a large stinger in your vocabulary notebook.
572
573You may also see gadfly used alongside its collocate, political, as in the phrase a political gadfly. The Greek philosopher Socrates was a self-described gadfly, questioning the political state of Athens. Political gadflies, although bothersome to those in power, serve the purpose of keeping politicians on their toes.
574
575• Informal synonyms for gadfly include nag, pest, and thorn in the side. Another wonderful synonym for gadfly is a word borrowed from Yiddish, nudnik, meaning "a dull, boring pest."
576
577© thegreekphotoholic/iStock/Thinkstock.
578
579• According to Plato's Apology, Socrates saw Athens as a lazy horse that needed to be roused by his gadfly sting.
580
581Querulous (adjective)
582
583Full of complaints; complaining in an annoyed way.
584
585• Querulous can be used to describe a person or his or her manner or actions. For example: "Her normally positive teenage daughter became querulous when she stayed up too late, complaining about her teachers, her social life, and her siblings." 
586
587• English has a number of other excellent words to describe people who show impatience or anger for no good reason, including peevish, petulant, testy, and carping.
588
589• Use peevish to describe people who complain about petty or trivial things.
590
591• Use petulant to describe behavior like that of a spoiled child.
592
593• Use the verb carp to emphasize particularly mean-spirited, nasty criticizing or nitpicking.
594
59525
596
597• At first glance, querulous might seem to be related to query, which can be used as a noun to mean "a question." However, querulous and query actually come from different roots.
598
599• Query comes from the Latin root spelled quer, quir, or ques and meaning "ask or seen." We find this root in such words as inquire, inquiry, question, quest, and request.
600
601• Querulous comes from the Latin word queror, meaning "to complain." The related words quarrel and quarrelsome are derived from this same Latin word.
602
603To remember querulous, make a connection to someone you know who whines constantly. If you can't think of someone in your personal life, picture the most famous querulous, complaining figure in TV history: Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.
604
605Lecture 4: Words That Express Annoyance and Disgust
606
607Maudlin (adjective)
608
609Foolishly, tearfully, and weakly sentimental; overly emotional.
610
611• Maudlin is derived from an alteration of the name Mary Magdalene, one of the most prominent women described in the New Testament. According to the Bible, she had seven demons cast out of her by Jesus, was present at his crucifixion, and was the first person to whom Jesus appeared after rising from the dead. In the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene was often depicted in paintings as a weeping, repentant sinner. This tearful image led to the current figurative meaning of maudlin—overly sentimental.
612
613• Synonyms and related words for maudlin and sentimental include schmaltzy, gushing, drippy, and hokey.
614
615Mawkish (adjective)
616
617Excessively and objectionably sentimental.
618
61926
620
621• Mawkish is another synonym for maudlin, but there is an important distinction in meaning between these two words. As described in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms, mawkish is an adjective that emphasizes the sickening nature of the sentiment. In other words, mawkish sentiment is often disgusting and sickening because it's so incredibly insincere or over the top.
622
623• We can remember the sickening, disgusting connotation of mawkish from its etymology. Mawkish comes from the Middle English word mawke, which means "maggot."
624
625Treacle (noun)
626
627Cloying, sickly-sweet speech or sentiment.
628
629• Treacle refers to excessively sweet sentiment, as seen in overly romantic movies or grocery-store greeting cards. Treacle can also refer to molasses or golden syrup, which is a thick, sweet mixture of molasses, corn syrup, and sugar used in cooking.
630
631• The adjective form of treacle is treacly. Synonyms and related words include cloying and saccharine.
632
633Scabrous (adjective)
634
6351. Scabby, blotchy, and scaly.
636
6372. Rough to the touch.
638
6393. Indecent, shocking, scandalous.
640
641• Although scabrous carries all three meanings listed above, it's often used to describe indecent, risqué, and obscene language and behavior. For example: "The intimate details of the late celebrity's scabrous diary shocked his family and ignited a scandal." Synonyms and related words for this sense of scabrous include salacious, libidinous, and lascivious.
642
64327
644
645• Scabrous originally came from the Latin adjective scaber, meaning "rough, scaly"; this word, in turn, was related to the Latin verb scabo, meaning "to scratch or scrape." Not surprisingly, scabrous is also related to scab and scabies.
646
647Noisome (adjective)
648
649Lecture 4: Words That Express Annoyance and Disgust
650
651Offensive to the point of arousing disgust; foul, particularly in reference to an odor.
652
653• Noisome describes odors that are disgusting and distasteful; it also carries a second meaning of noxious, harmful, or unwholesome.
654
655Synonyms and related words for noisome include loathsome, offensive, disgusting, and to emphasize the decaying and rotting aspects of disgusting smells, fetid and putrid.
656
657• It seems as if noisome must be related in some way to noise, but it's actually related to annoy.
658
659• According to the Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com)
660
661and The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories, the word noise comes from an Old French word spelled the same way that meant "din, disturbance, uproar, or brawl."
662
663• Interestingly, this French word came from the Latin nausea, literally meaning "seasickness," and the Latin word came from the Greek nausia, literally meaning "ship-sickness." The Greek root naus means "ship" and gives us such words as astronaut ("star sailor") and navy.
664
665Fulsome (adjective)
666
6671. Excessively or insincerely lavish.
668
6692. Abundant.
670
67128
672
673• Fulsome is what the author, editor, and usage expert Bryan A. Garner calls a skunked term, that is, a word or term that is undergoing a change in meaning or usage or is currently disputed. This word also gives us a delightful example of how word meanings can shift over time.
674
675• According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, originally, fulsome was a Middle English compound of the prefix ful-, meaning "full," and the suffix -some, meaning "tending to; to a considerable degree." These two parts combined to form the original mid-1Pth century meaning of fulsome: "abundant, full" or, literally,"full to a considerable degree."
676
677• About 100 years later, the meaning of fulsome shifted to "plump, well-fed," and by the 1640s, it had taken on a negative connotation of "overgrown, overfed." By 1660, the literal meaning of fulsome as "overfed" was extended to a figurative meaning to describe language that was so overdone as to be "offensive to taste and good manners." 
678
679• Most dictionaries currently define fulsome as an adjective meaning "excessively or insincerely lavish; offensive to good taste, especially as being grossly excessive."
680
681• But most modern dictionaries also include a usage note because the meaning of fulsome is currently changing once more.
682
683In fact, fulsome seems to be returning to its original positive meaning of "abundant."
684
685According to Garner's Modern American Usage, fulsome is at stage 4 of the Language Change Index. At this stage,"The form becomes virtually universal but is opposed on cogent grounds by a few linguistic stalwarts." Once a word reaches stage 4, the battle for linguistic purity is usually lost. At least for now, it seems as if the meaning "abundant" for fulsome is here to stay.
686
68729
688
689Review Questions
690
6911. Left in your desk over the weekend, your pastrami sandwich might become ________.
692
6932. Your coworker Bill constantly buzzes around the office, questioning your comments at last week's meeting and nitpicking the wording in your weekly sales report. What's a good word for this type of office pest? 
694
6953. A synonym for maudlin, this word carries a connotation of sickening or disgusting.
696
6974. Your neighbor constantly complains about the inefficiency of the 
698
699Lecture 4: Words That Express Annoyance and Disgust
700
701homeowner's association, late trash pick-ups, and delays in getting the roads plowed after a snowstorm. How might you describe this inveterate grouch? 
702
7035. This word is often used to describe sickly sweet sentiment resulting from drunkenness.
704
7056. Chris and Sue recently began dating and call each other Cupcake and Popsy Bear. What's a good word for these overly sweet nicknames? 
706
7077. How might the phrase fulsome praise have both negative and positive connotations? 
708
7098. What word can be used to describe both a scandalous movie and a skin condition? 
710
71130
712
713Fighting Words and Peaceful Words
714
715Lecture 5
716
717Think back to a time when you had a disagreement with someone. Was it just a tiff or an outright feud? How about a time when you were in a serious, possibly physical altercation-a fight that escalated into a fracas, a melee, or a donnybrook? English is replete with lively, hard-hitting words to describe different types of disagreements and disturbances, and in this lecture, we'll focus on such words. As a bonus, we'll also learn a few words that take us in the opposite direction—toward peaceful situations.
718
719As usual, we'll delve into the morphology and etymology of many of the words we encounter, including two high-utility Latin roots that relate to war and peace.
720
721Donnybrook (noun)
722
723A free-for-all; a brawl; a scene of disorder and uproar.
724
725• Donnybrook's etymological narrative is a gem: Donnybrook is a suburb of Dublin that was known for an annual fair that incited a number of no-holds-barred, drunken, riotous brawls. The situation became so bad that the fair was banned in 1855.
726
727• Donnybrook also brings to mind a quote about the Irish people's fondness for fighting by the great English writer G... Chesterton: "The great Gaels of Ireland / Are the men that God made mad, / For all their wars are merry, / And all their songs are sad." 
728
729• Synonyms for donnybrook that usually imply more serious, possibly violent physical disagreements include the following:
730
731• Melee: a confused, rowdy fight.
732• Fracas: a noisy disturbance, a quarrel, an uproar, perhaps even a physical confrontation.
733
73431 
735
736Lecture 5: Fighting Words and Peaceful Words
737
738• In addition to words that describe more serious, possibly violent physical disagreements, English also has some wonderful words to describe lesser disagreements of a possibly gentler nature, such as:
739
740at loggerheads, scrap, scuffle, flap, tussle, spat, and dustup.
741
742• You might want to organize these "fightin' words" in your vocabulary notebook into three categories: words referring to serious physical altercations, such as melee and donnybrook; 
743
744words referring to less serious physical altercations, such as tussle and scrap; and words implying commotions and confused situations, such as kerfuffle and imbroglio.
745
746• Earlier, we discussed a four-point scale of vocabulary knowledge; you may rate some of these words, such as at loggerheads and dustup, as 2s or 3s on that scale.
747
748• Such words are in the receptive vocabulary section of your mental lexicon, meaning that you've heard them and know what they mean, but they aren't in the expressive section of your lexicon—you don't necessarily use them often in speaking or writing.
749
750• 32
751
752Row: an upheaval, a freefor-all, a rumble.
753
754That's a good reason to try out one of these words the next time you describe some type of altercation. Use donnybrook to describe a bench-clearing brawl you hear about at a baseball game, or try hullabaloo or kerfuffle for the commotion
755
756© Purestock/Thinkstock.
757
758• that ensues when your annoying cousin makes yet another controversial comment at the next family reunion.
759
760Imbroglio (noun)
761
7621. A state of great confusion and entanglement; a complicated, difficult, or embarrassing situation.
763
7642. A complex misunderstanding, disagreement, or dispute—sometimes of a bitter nature.
765
766• Imbroglio comes from an Italian word that means "to confuse" and is related to the English word embroiled, which means "thrown into a state of confusion." 
767
768• Interestingly, imbroglio is also related to broil, broth, and brew. The spelling-meaning connection in English again provides us with a wonderful visual image to help us remember this word. When you see imbroglio, focus on the middle of the word and think of broil and broth. Visualizing a broiling broth with all the ingredients jumbled together will help you remember the distinguishing features of imbroglio—a confused, entangled mess.
769
770• Kerfuffle is a synonym for imbroglio of Scot-Gaelic origin; it also refers to a commotion, controversy, or fuss. Other synonyms include brouhaha, hullabaloo, hubbub, and hurly-burly.
771
772Bellicose (adjective)
773
774Warlike, pugnacious, aggressively hostile.
775
776• Bellicose shares the root bell with a number of other words, such as belligerence, antebellum, and rebellion. This root is from the Latin noun bellum, meaning "war." 
777
778• A good key word for the root bell is rebellion. The Latin prefix re- means "back or again," as in redo. Thus, a rebellion involves
779
78033
781
782rebels—people who have lost a war but want to "make war again" to overcome their conquerors.
783
784• Belligerent is a close synonym for bellicose that shares the root bell and also means "warlike and aggressively hostile." 
785
786• Antebellum and postbellum are two other words derived from bell.
787
788The Latin prefix ante- means "before"; thus, antebellum means "before the war." The Latin prefix post- means "after"; thus, postbellum means "after the war."
789
790Truculent (adjective)
791
792Cruel, savage, brutal, and fierce; disposed to fighting; scathing and brutally harsh, often referring to verbal criticism.
793
794Contumacious (adjective) 
795
796Lecture 5: Fighting Words and Peaceful Words
797
798Stubbornly disobedient and rebellious to authority; willfully obstinate.
799
800Rapacious (adjective)
801
802Aggressively and excessively greedy or grasping; predatory.
803
804• Rapacious doesn't just mean aggressive; it has the added connotation of greedy and grasping behavior. Here's a sentence that puts the word in context: "The rapacious company bought up all its smaller competitors until it had the monopoly on lollipops in North America." 
805
806• Synonyms for rapacious include ravenous, voracious, and avaricious. Use rapacious when you want to emphasize the greedy, devouring nature of aggression.
807
808Halcyon (adjective)
809
810Tranquil, calm, and peaceful; may refer to happy, joyful, and prosperous times.
811
81234
813
814• We often hear halcyon used along with such words as days and times, as in "The elders of the village spoke wistfully of the halcyon days of their youth," or "The halcyon times of peace and prosperity were a mere memory for the old woman who had to flee her homeland before the war." Words that frequently occur together in phrases, such as halcyon days and halcyon times, are called collocates.
815
816• Because words are born and live in context—not in isolated vocabulary lists—we need to examine how they actually behave in their natural environment—in the context of phrases and sentences.
817
818• When we study a word with its collocates, we get a deeper understanding of the word and are better equipped to actually use the word when we speak or write.
819
820In Greek mythology, Alcyone was the daughter of Aeolus, the god of the winds. She was turned into a bird, the halcyon or kingfisher, which some believed brooded its eggs on a floating nest. Remember the second syllable "see" in the word halcyon, and think of a peaceful sea with a bird tranquilly floating on it. This is a wonderful visual to help you remember the word halcyon.
821
822Quiescent (adjective)
823
824Tranquilly at rest, inactive, still, quiet, or motionless.
825
826Propitiate (verb)
827
828To appease; to make favorably inclined; to regain the favor of someone.
829
830• Propitiate is often used in religious contexts, as in: "The priest propitiated the gods by sacrificing a fatted calf." 
831
832• Synonyms for propitiate include mollify, dulcify, conciliate, and placate.
833
83435
835
836A Peaceful Root
837
838• Earlier in the lecture, we identified the Latin root bell (meaning "war") in such words as belligerent and bellicose.
839
840• In contrast, pac is a Latin root meaning "peace" and can be found in such words as pacify, pacifier, pacifist, and pacific.
841
842Mollycoddle (verb) 
843
844Lecture 5: Fighting Words and Peaceful Words
845
846To overindulge; to treat with excessive attention to the point of spoiling someone.
847
848• One of our themes in this lecture was aggression and cruelty. The opposite of being aggressive is to nurture or to pamper, but if pampering goes too far, it becomes mollycoddling.
849
850• You can remember this word easily from its two parts: molly and coddle. Coddle means to indulge and treat tenderly. Molly was originally a term of contempt for a man who pampered himself too much.
851
852Review Questions
853
8541. How would you describe a bully, someone who is always spoiling for a fight? 
855
8562. This aggressive word carries the connotation of greedy, voracious, or predatory.
857
8583. As we grow older, we often look back with fondness to the ___________ days of our youth.
859
8604. What word could you use for a complicated, confusing love triangle, such as a situation you might see on a soap opera? 
861
8625. A husband who forgets his wedding anniversary might have to engage in this act to make amends to his wife.
863
86436
865
8666. This word sometimes refers to scathing or harsh criticism.
867
8687. Parents who __________ their children may end up with __________ teenagers.
869
8708. In ice hockey, a minor scrap between two players can quickly give way to a __________, clearing the benches of both teams.
871
8729. This word is sometimes used to describe a state of dormancy in a medical condition.
873
87437
875
876Going beyond Dictionary Meanings
877
878Lecture 6
879
880Lecture 6: Going beyond Dictionary Meanings
881
882At this point in the course, we've learned a number of interesting target words, such as factitious, insidious, and donnybrook. We've also discovered some principles for effective vocabulary learning:
883
884starting with clear definitions, placing the words in rich context, making connections, exploring morphology, and making use of semantic chunking.
885
886In this lecture, we'll look at some additional strategies for maintaining and deepening your knowledge of the vocabulary words you've already learned to ensure that you don't forget them in a week or a month. We'll also explore some engaging, effective ways to reinforce your vocabulary knowledge in just a few minutes each day.
887
888Mnemonics: The Word-Part Connection Strategy
889
890• Mnemonic strategies and devices are useful for remembering all sorts of information, including the definitions of new vocabulary words. Mnemonic is an adjective meaning "intended to assist the memory."
891
892• All mnemonics are based on the same learning principle:
893
894associating something you already know or something that's easy to remember, such as an acronym, phrase, or rhyme, with something new that you're learning.
895
896• 38
897
898You may not realize it, but you have probably used mnemonics throughout your life. For example, many people remember the order of operations in mathematics—powers, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction—with the phrase Please My Dear Aunt Sally. The acronym ROY G. BIV is useful for recalling the sequence of colors in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
899
900• The "go-to" mnemonic device for learning vocabulary definitions is the word-part connection strategy, which works as follows:
901
902• First, read the target word out loud.
903
904• Second, analyze the word to see if any part of it reminds you of something else you already know.
905
906• Third, associate that "something else" with the target word's meaning.
907
908Castigate (verb)
909
910To punish, rebuke, or criticize severely.
911
912• Let's try the word-part connection strategy with the word castigate.
913
914• A smaller word inside castigate is cast, meaning "to throw or hurl."
915
916This definition might lead us to a memorable image of one person throwing criticisms on another.
917
918• To make this word-part connection in your vocabulary notebook, circle or highlight the cast in castigate and jot down the connection.
919
920If you like visual images, you could draw a simple stick figure of a person, casting the words rebuke and criticism at another stick figure. If you prefer words to visual images, you could simply write down the connection in your own words, as in,"When you castigate someone, you are casting punishments and criticisms."
921
922Toothsome (adjective)
923
924Delicious; sexually attractive.
925
926• Toothsome is another word that lends itself to the word-part connection strategy. Obviously, a smaller word that pops out from toothsome is tooth. Making a connection between tooth and the
927
92839 
929
930Lecture 6: Going beyond Dictionary Meanings
931
932"delicious" meaning of toothsome seems relatively simple: We can simply visualize teeth chewing a delicious meal. For the "sexually attractive" meaning, we might visualize an attractive model or celebrity with a perfect toothy smile.
933
934• Interestingly, this connection is related to the etymology of toothsome, which came into English in the 1560s from a combination of the word tooth and the suffix -some. In this word, tooth was used in a figurative sense of "appetite, taste, or liking," as in sweet tooth. When combined with -some, an adjective-forming suffix that means "tending to, causing, to a considerable degree," toothsome meant "considerably tasty and appetizing." The word was later extended to describe a person who looks delicious.
935
936• When looking for a familiar word part to serve as a trigger for a mnemonic device, it's often the case that you will be digging into the etymology of the word without even knowing it. Further, you'll find that the etymology and morphology of words-their history and structure—are often the best built-in mnemonic devices for learning new vocabulary.
937
938Captious (adjective)
939
940Faultfinding; hypercritical; difficult to please.
941
942• 40
943
944The word-part connection strategy is helpful for learning definitions, but definitions alone don't lead to deep vocabulary knowledge. One way to move beyond the dictionary definition is to use a graphic organizer, such as the four-square concept map developed by educational researchers to visually record information about a new word. Below is a four-square concept map for the word captious.
945
946captious Part of Speech, Definition:
947
948Synonyms:
949
950adjective
951
952finicky, hypercritical, crabby, cross, testy
953
954faultfinding, hypercritical, difficult to please
955
956carping, acrimonious, cantankerous
957
958Examples:
959
960Non-Examples, Antonyms:
961
962Hypercritical aunt or uncle
963
964Mom
965
966Busybody at work
967
968complimentary, encouraging
969
970English professor
971
972• The top-left quadrant is used to record the definition and part of speech, along with any connections you might make with the target word. In our example, captious is an adjective that means "faultfinding, hypercritical, difficult to please." The capt part of captious might lead you to think of capture, and it might be helpful to remember that you would never want to be captured by a captious person.
973
974• The top-right quadrant is used to record synonyms, including both words you know well—to anchor your knowledge of the new word-and, perhaps, some new synonyms that you find by looking in a thesaurus.
975
976• In the bottom-left quadrant, record personal examples of the word.
977
978In this case, you might identify people you know who are captious, such as a relative or your boss.
979
980• Finally, in the bottom-right quadrant, record non-examples and antonyms of the word. Often, when you're trying to learn what a concept is, it's helpful to know what it's not.
981
98241
983
984Circumlocution (noun)
985
986Evasive, long-winded rambling or indirect speech.
987
988• You can also add more information to a concept map, such as boxes for morphology and a picture, as shown in the following example for circumlocution.
989
990circumlocution
991
992Part of Speech, Definition:
993
994Synonyms:
995
996circum ("around") +
997
998noun
999
1000loc ("speak") = circumlocution ("speak around")
1001
1002evasive, long-winded rambling or indirect speaking 
1003
1004Lecture 6: Going beyond Dictionary Meanings
1005
1006Examples:
1007
1008Morphology:
1009
1010Non-Examples, Antonyms:
1011
1012Picture:
1013
1014circumlocution
1015
1016Flash Cards
1017
1018• Flash cards are a standby of vocabulary learning that can be used in a number of ways. Of course, the traditional approach is to write a word on one side of an index card and the definition on the other side. You can then review vocabulary by looking at the word, reading it out loud, articulating the definition in your own words, and checking yourself by turning the card over. You can also reverse this process; try to identify the target words by their definitions.
1019
1020• 42
1021
1022Flash cards can be even more effective if you include additional information beyond the definition. For example, you might draw a four-square concept map on the back of your vocabulary cards. You will then have each word's definition, its synonyms and antonyms, and examples and non-examples all in one place. When reviewing each word, see if you can recite all the information on the back of the card before checking yourself. You might also draw memorable pictures on the backs of your cards or include phonetic spellings.
1023
1024• A fun game to play with flash cards is "Connect 2," an activity developed by vocabulary researchers and educators Blachowicz and Fisher. Simply pick two cards out of the deck and see if you can connect them in a sentence.
1025
1026• For example, let's say you picked mountebank and imbroglio.
1027
1028If you remember, a mountebank is a flamboyant charlatan, a swindler who arrives in the town marketplace,"mounts a bench," and tries to sell quack medicines and cures to an unsuspecting crowd. An imbroglio is a complicated, confused situation or a bitter misunderstanding.
1029
1030• You might connect these two words in the following sentence:
1031
1032"The mountebank swindled half the town out of their hardearned savings, creating quite an imbroglio in the community that lasted for weeks."
1033
1034• "Connect 2" encourages you to apply your word knowledge in speaking or writing while making deep connections among words.
1035
1036If you don't like flash cards or don't have time to make them, you can organize your vocabulary notebook into the traditional Cornell two-column note system, as shown below. To review with this system, simply cover up the right column with a piece of paper and quiz yourself in the same way that you would with flash cards.
1037
1038Target word
1039
1040Definitions, personal connections, pictures, morphology, four-square concept map, and so on
1041
104243
1043
1044Putting Words to Work
1045
1046• As we've said, words exist in context, not in vocabulary books or lists. Thus, you need to actually use the words you learn, or you'll lose them.
1047
1048• One easy activity for using words in context is to simply write each target word in a sentence in your vocabulary notebook. Use sample sentences from a dictionary as models, and try to make your sentences rich enough in context so that when you read back over them, they help you remember the target words.
1049
1050• Another activity for using words in context is to choose one or two target words to use in conversation each day.
1051
1052Lecture 6: Going beyond Dictionary Meanings
1053
1054Cramming on the Farm
1055
1056• Almost all of us have had the experience of staying up all night to "cram" for a major test. You may have managed to pass the test, but how much of that information that you frantically studied did you remember by the following week? 
1057
105844
1059
1060• Imagine that you're a farmer. Could you cram on the farm in the same way that you crammed for that exam? In other words, could you do nothing all spring and summer; wait until the day before the fall harvest; then quickly plant and water the seeds, hope for sunlight, and harvest the crop the next day? Of course, the answer is no. If farmers tried to cram all their work in at once, they'd never survive.
1061
1062• The point here is this: Real long-term learning, like farming, is a natural process that takes time. Cramming won't help you achieve it. What will help, however, is to do a little bit of learning every day. Choose one target vocabulary word and use one of the activities in this lecture to dig a little deeper into that word. Just a few minutes a day can make a big difference over a lifetime of vocabulary learning.
1063
1064Review Questions
1065
10661. Try the word-part connection strategy with the word reparable.
1067
10682. Draw a four-square concept map for the word abysmal.
1069
10703. This word has an interesting etymology; it was originally used figuratively to mean "appetite? or "taste," but its meaning was later extended to describe a person who looks delicious.
1071
10724. The teacher __________ her students sharply for not doing their homework.
1073
10745. This word meaning "long-winded speech" shares a connection with circumference, the measurement of a circle.
1075
10766. The older he got, the more __________ the already cantankerous Uncle Frank became.
1077
107845
1079
1080Wicked Words
1081
1082Lecture 7
1083
1084According to the Irish political theorist and philosopher Edmund Burke,"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Just as there are many types and degrees of evil, there are also many words in English to describe various aspects of wickedness. In this lecture, we'll learn some of them. We'll also answer some intriguing questions about wicked words: Would you want to be called a snollygoster? Which do you have to confess, a venal sin or a venial one? Finally, would a secret plot to overthrow a benevolent queen, a plot that evolved over a number of years, best be described as invidious or insidious?
1085
1086Malediction (noun)
1087
108846
1089
1090• The first three letters of malediction make up a prefix, mal-, that comes from the Latin word malus, meaning "bad, badly, or evil." The second part of the word is diction, which can refer to the distinctiveness of pronunciation in speech. In fact, the Latin root dic or dict means "speak."
1091
1092Thus, if we attach the Latin prefix mal- to the root dict, we get "evil speech"—a curse.
1093
1094• The counterpoint to mal- is another Latin root, bene, which means "good" or "well." A benediction is, literally,"good speech," an expression of good wishes. Benediction and malediction are antonyms.
1095
1096© Hill Street Studios/Blend Images/Thinkstock.
1097
1098Lecture 7: Wicked Words
1099
1100A curse; evil talk about someone; slander.
1101
1102Benediction often refers to a short blessing given by an officiating minister at the end of a religious service.
1103
1104• Our key word for mal- is malfunction, meaning "to function badly or to stop functioning." As we've learned in past lectures, key words are known words that are useful for unlocking the meaning of and remembering many unknown words that are derived from the same root.
1105
1106• A large number of English words contain the prefix mal-. Below are a few examples:
1107
1108• Malign (verb): to speak evil of; to say harmful things that are untrue; to slander. The silent g in malign represents another good example of the spelling-meaning connection we discussed in Lecture 2. That g serves as a visual clue that malign is related to malignant. Word pairs that contain such visual clues are common in English and are known as silent/sounded consonant pairs.
1109
1110• Malignant (adjective): dangerous or harmful.
1111
1112• Malevolent (adjective): evil, harmful; wishing evil or harm.
1113
1114• Malice (noun): a desire to injure or harm another.
1115
1116• Malware (noun): software intended to do harm to a computer, such as a computer virus.
1117
1118Malcontent (noun)
1119
1120A person who is chronically dissatisfied.
1121
1122• If you weren't familiar with malcontent, you could use the related words strategy to help you determine its meaning. Look for a word or word part that you already know within the unknown word. In this case, you could identify content, and your knowledge of mal- would help you arrive at the definition: "badly content," or a person who is never contented.
1123
112447
1125
1126• To remember malcontent, make a connection to a person you know who is always complaining, and write that person's name down in your vocabulary notebook next to the word malcontent.
1127
1128• A great synonym for a complainer or whiner is a kvetcher. Kvetch is an Americanism from Yiddish that literally means "to squeeze, pinch, or press." Visualize yourself being squeezed or pinched by the constant complaints of a malcontent.
1129
1130Malaise (noun)
1131
1132A vague or indefinite feeling of unease or discomfort.
1133
1134• An easy way to remember malaise is by morphological analysis, that is, breaking the word down by meaning part. We already know that mal- means "bad." The second part of the word, aise, is related to the English word ease. Thus, malaise is the condition of being "ill at ease." 
1135
1136• In the newspaper, you may see the phrase "economic malaise," referring to an economy that is stagnant or in recession. Such an economy probably reflects the fact that consumers, businesses, and investors may be vaguely ill at ease about the future.
1137
1138Maladroit (adjective) 
1139
1140Lecture 7: Wicked Words
1141
1142Awkward, clumsy, tactless, or bungling.
1143
1144• 48
1145
1146Thousands of words have been and continue to be created in our language by the combination of prefixes, suffixes, roots, and base words. Maladroit is a perfect example.
1147
1148• Someone who is adroit is skilled, agile and clever, or resourceful. People can be adroit physically, such as dancers, or adroit in other areas, such as politicians, who might be clever and resourceful in working the system to further their own agendas.
1149
1150• If we add the prefix mal- to adroit, we get maladroit, an adjective meaning badly skilled or badly agile—in other words, awkward or bungling.
1151
1152To remember this word, take a moment to make your own connection. Think of someone you know who is maladroit in some way or perhaps an instance in your own life when you may not have been as adroit as you would have liked. Be sure to write this connection in your vocabulary notebook.
1153
1154Malefactor (noun)
1155
1156A criminal; a person who violates the law.
1157
1158• Dividing the word malefactor into three parts helps us remember it:
1159
1160mal- ("evil") + fac ("make or do") + -or suffix indicating agency. Combining these three parts gives us malefactor—literally,"someone who does evil." 
1161
1162• Another strategy for remembering words is to contrast them with their opposites. If you know that the prefix bene- means "good," you know that a benefactor is someone who does good, such as a patron or supporter. Benefactor is the opposite of malefactor.
1163
1164• Lively synonyms for malefactor include criminal, scoundrel, scalawag, knave, cad, desperado, scofflaw, reprobate, and snollygoster. This last word, snollygoster, meaning "a shrewd, unprincipled person," was recently removed from The Merriam Webster Dictionary because it is now considered archaic.
1165
1166Malfeasance (noun)
1167
1168An illegal or harmful act, usually committed by a public official, that violates the public trust.
1169
117049
1171
1172Malinger (verb)
1173
1174To fake or exaggerate illness, usually to avoid work.
1175
1176Venal (adjective)
1177
1178Open to corruption; capable of being bought through bribery.
1179
1180• Venal is derived from the Latin venum, meaning "something for sale." Related English words include vendor and vending, either of which can be used as a key word for venal. Just as these words relate to selling, venal describes describe corrupt people who are willing to sell their influence for money.
1181
1182• Venal is often confused with venial, which means "forgivable, pardonable, minor," as in a "venial sin" as opposed to a mortal sin.
1183
1184Insidious (adjective) 
1185
1186Lecture 7: Wicked Words
1187
1188Intended to entrap, ensnare, or beguile; stealthily treacherous or deceitful.
1189
1190• Here again, etymology helps with remembering the word insidious.
1191
1192This word is derived from the Latin insidere, meaning "to sit in or on." Thus, insidious is used to describe a type of evil that works on the inside—an inside job that is secret, stealthy, and harmful.
1193
1194• Pulling out the first five letters of insidious yields insid, which looks almost like inside and serves as a built-in mnemonic for recalling this word.
1195
1196Invidious (adjective)
1197
1198Creating ill will, envy; causing resentment; unfairly or offensively discriminating.
1199
1200• 50
1201
1202Just as we did with insidious, we can use the spelling-meaning connection to help remember invidious. This word comes from the Latin invidia, meaning "envy." When you see invidious, focus on the nv in both invidious and envy to serve as a reminder that invidious comments ignite envy and ill will in others.
1203
1204Turpitude (noun)
1205
1206Baseness, depravity, or debauchery.
1207
1208Review Questions
1209
12101. In the news these days, we often read about politicians who have committed __________.
1211
12122. How would you describe a police officer who decides not to give a speeding ticket to a driver after he has been offered a bribe? 
1213
12143. An utterance pronounced to bring harm to someone is a __________.
1215
12164. This word is often used in the military to characterize the behavior of soldiers who try to avoid work by pretending to be sick.
1217
12185. One of the few acts that can result in dismissal for a tenured professor is moral __________.
1219
12206. What might you call a vague feeling of unease, a sense that something's wrong but you can't quite put your finger on it? 
1221
12227. This word describes someone who is clumsy and inept, the exact opposite of skilled and clever.
1223
12248. This person is the opposite of a benefactor.
1225
12269. This word describes a law that discriminates against a particular group of individuals.
1227
122810. A chronic complainer or whiner is a __________.
1229
123011. How might you characterize a disease that slowly and secretly causes harm?
1231
123251
1233
1234Words for Beginnings and Endings
1235
1236Lecture 8
1237
1238In his famous "To be, or not to be" soliloquy, Hamlet, contemplating death and suicide, utters the following words, which have lived on in Western literature: "To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / just give us pause." "Shuffle off this mortal coil" has since become one of the most well-known, poetic phrases for death. This lecture focuses on words relating to death, dying, and endings, as well as birth, growing, and beginnings. The lecture also looks at absorbed prefixes, which help explain some of the seeming idiosyncrasies in English spelling.
1239
1240Nascent (adjective) 
1241
1242Lecture 8: Words for Beginnings and Endings
1243
1244Emerging, developing, coming into existence, forming.
1245
124652
1247
1248• Nascent can be used to describe the birth of anything, including an idea, a newly formed group, or a movement. For example: "Her nascent idea for a new software application wasn't completely thought out yet, but it had such incredible potential that investors were already lining up." 
1249
1250• Synonyms for nascent include incipient, burgeoning, embryonic, fledgling, and evolving.
1251
1252• Nascent comes from the Latin root nasc, which in turn comes from the Latin word nascor, meaning "to be born." Another root from this Latin verb is nat. Related words that share this root and have something to do with birth include nativity, natal, prenatal, innate, native, and neonatal.
1253
1254Inchoate (adjective)
1255
12561. Not completely formed or developed; only partly in existence.
1257
12582. Not organized; lacking order.
1259
1260• Both nascent and inchoate refer to the beginning stages of something, but inchoate, depending on how it's used, sometimes emphasizes what is not present in the beginning stages, focusing on the more "lacking" aspects of a beginning. This is in contrast to nascent, which could stress the more developing, growing, positive aspects of the beginning stages.
1261
1262• To see how inchoate might be used differently than nascent, compare the earlier context sentence for nascent and an adaptation that uses inchoate:
1263
1264"Her nascent idea for a new software application wasn't completely thought out yet, but it had such potential that investors were already lining up."
1265
1266"Her inchoate idea for a new software application wasn't completely thought out yet, which meant that she had a lot of work to do before investors lined up."
1267
1268Callow (adjective)
1269
1270Immature or inexperienced; lacking adult sophistication.
1271
1272• Callow is used to describe people who don't have much life experience or don't know how to behave like adults, as in the phrase callow youth.
1273
1274• Synonyms for callow include immature, untried, green, raw, unfledged, and unripened.
1275
1276• Callow comes from the Old English word calu, meaning "bare, bald," which was sometimes applied to young birds with no 
1277
127853
1279
1280feathers. This meaning has been extended to encompass the idea of inexperience.
1281
1282Dilettante (noun) 
1283
1284Lecture 8: Words for Beginnings and Endings
1285
1286A dabbler in the arts or some field of knowledge; often used in a pejorative sense.
1287
1288• The word dilettante generally refers to an amateur who has only a superficial knowledge of something but tries to come across as knowing more than he or she actually does.
1289
1290• Synonyms and related words for dilettante include amateur, dabbler, layperson, do-it-yourselfer, nonprofessional, rookie, and if you want to emphasize the "imposter" aspect of a dilettante, poser and pretender.
1291
1292• When English borrowed dilettante from Italian in the early 1700s, it originally meant "lover of music or painting." However, the word took on its current negative connotation by the late 1700s.
1293
1294Tyro (noun)
1295
1296A beginner or novice.
1297
129854
1299
1300• Tyro seems to be an unfamiliar word for many people. Putting it in a context sentence may help you to remember it: "Under the legendary fly-fishing guide's expert mentoring, even a fly-fishing tyro like me would be able to land a trout in this stream." 
1301
1302• Tyro can also be used as an adjective, as in: "The tyro teacher knew her subject but lacked classroom management skills; her students were completely unruly when the principal walked in for her first observation."
1303
1304• Synonyms and related words for tyro include beginner, rookie, neophyte, abecedarian, tenderfoot, and greenhorn.
1305
1306• Tenderfoot was coined in the 1800s to refer to new immigrants to the United States who weren't used to the hardships of ranching and mining. The word can be used for any beginner, but in particular, it refers to one unused to the hardships of the outdoors.
1307
1308• Greenhorn refers to an inexperienced person, particularly one who is gullible.
1309
1310© shironosov/iStock/Thinkstock.
1311
1312• The word abecedarian comes from letters of the alphabet; to remember it, think of children learning their abc's.
1313
1314It's not uncommon to confuse tyro and the first dilettante, but the two are not exact synonyms. Remember, a dilettante 
1315
1316is a dabbler in different subjects, and the word can carry the pejorative connotation of someone who is a pretender or a poser. Tyro does not carry this same "pretender" connotation.
1317
1318Ingénue (noun)
1319
13201. An innocent, naïve girl or young woman.
1321
13222. A stock innocent character in a movie or play or the actress playing such a character.
1323
1324Puerile (adjective)
1325
1326Juvenile, childishly silly, foolish.
1327
1328• Puerile is often used in a negative, pejorative sense to describe juvenile humor, antics, or silliness, as in: "After sitting on a whoopee cushion and hearing inappropriate noises made by his students, the teacher called for an end to the puerile humor, warning of severe consequences."
1329
133055
1331
1332• The etymology for this word is straightforward and helpful: Puerile comes from the Latin puer, meaning "boy or male child," and as we all know, boys can certainly be silly.
1333
1334Moribund (adjective)
1335
13361. Approaching death; coming to an end.
1337
1338Lecture 8: Words for Beginnings and Endings
1339
13402. No longer effective or active; stagnant; not progressing or advancing.
1341
134256
1343
1344• Moribund comes from the Latin word morior, which means "to die." This same Latin verb also gives us the fertile root mort. The following words are derived from this powerful root:
1345
1346mortal, immortal, mortality, mortuary, postmortem, mortify, and rigor mortis.
1347
1348• Immortal is an interesting example to illustrate the concept of absorbed prefixes.
1349
1350• As mentioned in an earlier lecture, English has created and continues to create thousands of new words by combining Latin and Greek affixes, roots, and base words. For example, the word preview was created by adding the prefix pre-, meaning "before," to the word view. Of course, to preview something is to look at it beforehand.
1351
1352• In the same way, immortal was created by adding the prefix in-, meaning "not," to mortal. However, it's almost impossible to pronounce "inmortal." Thus, over time, the n in the prefix in- was absorbed, or assimilated, into the initial m of the base word, mortal, yielding "immortal." The same process took place with immature, immaterial, immodest, immoral, and immovable.
1353
1354• We keep the first m in the spelling of these words to remind ourselves that im- is an alternative form of the in- prefix, meaning "not." If we eliminated the first m, we'd lose an important visual clue to the meaning of these words. In this way, the spelling helps us to remember meaning.
1355
1356• The absorbed prefix phenomenon is also seen in such words as iooational (rather than inrational), irreconcilable, irregular, irrelevant, irresistible, and irresponsible, as well as illogical (rather than inlogical), illegal, illiterate, illegible, and illegitimate.
1357
1358Review Questions
1359
13601. Middle school students, particularly boys, are known for their __________ behavior.
1361
13622. Explain the difference in meaning between inchoate and nascent.
1363
13643. With the advent of the Internet, the newspaper industry has become ________.
1365
13664. Although Rich bragged about his photography skills, his work showed that he was a __________ behind the lens.
1367
13685. The young actress Pam was thrilled to get the role of the __________ in the community center's spring production.
1369
13706. A __________ by nature, Catherine had dabbled in pottery, painting, sculpture, and dance.
1371
13727. Mark's __________ disregard for Jennifer's feelings revealed his immaturity.
1373
137457
1375
1376Words Expressing Fear, Love, and Hatred
1377
1378Lecture 9
1379
1380In this lecture, we'll look at three powerful emotions: love, hate, and fear.
1381
1382Of these, fear may be the most interesting, partly because it comes in so many varieties. There's the stupefying panic you feel when you've committed a misdeed in the eyes of your parents. There's the delicious spinetingling terror of watching the main character in a horror movie head up to the attic to track down a mysterious noise. And there's fear that's a kind of reverence for something that is awe-inspiring, powerful, or overwhelming, reflected in the phrase the fear of God. In this lecture, we'll explore a variety of fears and words for fears, along with some interesting terms related to love and hate.
1383
1384Lecture 9: Words Expressing Fear, Love, and Hatred
1385
1386Xenophobia (noun)
1387
1388An unreasonable hatred or fear of foreigners or strangers; a fear of that which is foreign or strange.
1389
1390• Xeno is a Greek root that means "strange, foreign." A xenophobe is usually a person in the "in-group" who may be afraid of losing his or her power or identity to others who are perceived as different or foreigners.
1391
1392• We often encounter xenophobia in news articles dealing with immigration and nationalism. For example: "Although the new policy is more welcoming to newly arrived immigrants, we need to remain vigilant against the stirrings of xenophobia."
1393
1394Agoraphobia (noun)
1395
1396Abnormal fear of open or public spaces.
1397
1398• 58
1399
1400In ancient Greek cities, the agora was an open area or central marketplace in a city, where citizens could assemble for various social, commercial, and religious activities. From this word, we get agoraphobia, meaning a fear of open or public spaces.
1401
1402Glossophobia (noun) 
1403
1404• Gloss or glot are two roots derived from the Greek word glossa, meaning "tongue." This root is also seen in polyglot, a person who can speak many languages, as well as glottis, epiglottis, and glottal.
1405
1406© Fuse/Thinkstock.
1407
1408Unreasonable fear of speaking in public.
1409
1410Glossophobia, or fear of public speaking, is a common fear, but experts recommend that preparation and relaxation exercises may help sufferers overcome it.
1411
1412Acrophobia (noun)
1413
1414Abnormal fear of heights.
1415
1416• Acrophobia comes from the Greek akros, meaning "at the end, the top, height, summit, or tip." Related words include acrobatics and acropolis, a high, fortified area of a city.
1417
1418Other Phobias
1419
1420• We might think of phobias and the roots from which they acquire their names as similar to gateway drugs. Studying just one phobia can lead to a multitude of other Affixes and roots.
1421
1422• Claustrophobia, as most of us know, is the morbid fear of being shut up in a confined space. This word was coined in 1879 by Dr. Benjamin Ball and comes from the Latin claustrum, which means,"a bolt, a means of closing; a place shut in, confined place, frontier fortress." Claustrophobia is related to the word cloister, a monastery that is "closed off" to the laity.
1423
142459
1425
1426• Other phobias that you may or may not have heard of include arachnophobia,"fear of spiders"; technophobia,"fear of technology"; logophobia,"fear of words" (Greek logos: "word, reason, speech, thought"); panophobia,"fear of everything" (Greek pan: "all"); bibliophobia,"fear of books"; triskaidekaphobia,"fear of the number 13"; and coulrophobia,"fear of clowns."
1427
1428Phil and Amor: Two Roots for "Love"
1429
1430• The Greek root spelled phil or phile means "love or friendship."
1431
1432Words derived from this root include Philadelphia,"the city of brotherly love"; Anglophile,"lover of England"; Francophile,"lover of France"; bibliophile,"lover of books"; philharmonic,"loving music"; and philosophy,"love of wisdom."
1433
1434• The Latin root for "love," am or amor, can also be found in many English words, such as amorous, enamored, and paramour.
1435
1436Lecture 9: Words Expressing Fear, Love, and Hatred
1437
1438Oenophile (noun)
1439
1440A connoisseur or lover of wine.
1441
1442Philatelist (noun)
1443
1444A person or studies or collects stamps.
1445
1446Canoodle (verb)
1447
14481. To kiss and cuddle; pet, caress; fondle.
1449
14502. To coax; persuade or cajole; wheedle.
1451
1452• 60
1453
1454The first meaning of canoodle is the one we encounter most frequently, as in: "It seems as if the main purpose of some of today's reality TV is to show various couples canoodling." The second meaning might appear in this context: "His success as a lobbyist could be attributed to his ability to canoodle politicians." 
1455
1456• The origin of canoodle is uncertain; however, we know that it was an American slang word in usage as far back as the 1850s.
1457
1458One apocryphal story behind canoodle is that it started as Oxford University slang during Victorian or Edwardian times, used to refer to a situation in which an amorous young couple would use a canoe and a paddle to get away from a chaperone. It seems unlikely, though, that much in the way of amorous behavior would be possible in a canoe.
1459
1460Misanthrope (noun)
1461
1462Someone who hates and distrusts all people.
1463
1464• The prefix mis- in misanthrope is from the Greek verb misein, meaning "to hate," and the root anthrop is from the noun anthropos, meaning "man." Thus, a misanthrope is literally "a hater of mankind." There is also another noun form of this word, misanthropy, which refers to hatred or distrust of all humans.
1465
1466• Other words derived from mis- or miso- ("hate") include misogyny ("hatred of women") and misandry ("hatred of men").
1467
1468Execrate (verb)
1469
14701. To damn or denounce scathingly; curse.
1471
14722. To detest utterly, abhor, abominate, loathe.
1473
1474• The words execrate, curse, damn, and anathematize are all synonyms meaning to denounce violently and indignantly.
1475
1476However, these words carry finer nuances in meaning that can help you differentiate which word to use in different contexts.
1477
1478• Use execrate when you want to stress a denunciation filled with intense loathing, hatred, and passionate fury.
1479
148061
1481
1482• Curse and damn both suggest angry denunciation by blasphemous oaths. Curse sometimes comes across as a bit more literary than damn.
1483
1484• Use anathematize to describe a more formal, solemn, impassioned denunciation or condemnation, such as a denunciation by a priest from the pulpit. Anathematize is the verb form of the noun anathema, meaning,"something that is hated."
1485
1486Execrate comes from the Latin prefix ex-, meaning "out of, from, away," and the Latin word sacro, meaning "to devote to, to mark as sacred." Thus, execrate is literally "to take the sacred away," or to curse.
1487
1488Review Questions
1489
14901. This word describes a person who has a small wine cellar and enjoys 
1491
1492Lecture 9: Words Expressing Fear, Love, and Hatred
1493
1494traveling to local vineyards.
1495
14962. The comedian Woody Allen is credited with saying,"I'm not anti-social. I'm just not social." He might be described as a __________.
1497
14983. A dedicated __________, Sandy had been collecting stamps since she was a child.
1499
15004. Holding the phobia support group in the vast auditorium—capable of seating 500 people—on the 50th floor of a skyscraper discouraged the attendance of those suffering from __________, __________, and __________.
1501
15025. The citizens came to __________ the mayor after his underhanded dealings were made public.
1503
15046. Teenagers are known for __________ in movie theaters and parked cars.
1505
15067. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, __________ became more pronounced around the country.
1507
150862
1509
1510Words for the Everyday and the Elite
1511
1512Lecture 10
1513
1514Mark Twain once said,"When red-headed people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn." This quote highlights the fact that the words we choose tell a great deal about ourselves as speakers.
1515
1516Those who want to project the image of a "regular guy" choose different vocabulary than those who want to come across as members of the upper crust. And that difference brings us to two of the themes we'll explore in this lecture—words that relate to the commonplace and the elite. We'll also look at words for things that are so commonplace as to become dull and flat.
1517
1518Insipid (adjective)
1519
1520Bland and lacking inflavor; lacking ininteresting, exciting, or stimulating qualities.
1521
1522• Insipid is often used to describe food, as in the following sentence:
1523
1524"The novice chef left the roast in the oven too long, cooking out all the spices and rendering the meat insipid." But the word can also apply to anything that lacks interest or excitement; for example:
1525
1526"The insipid, overly defensive style of both soccer teams resulted in a nil-nil draw and the most boring match the fans had seen in years." 
1527
1528• Synonyms for insipid include tasteless, bland, and flat.
1529
1530Vapid (adjective)
1531
1532Completely lacking in zest, spirit, animation, and liveliness.
1533
1534• You understand the meaning of vapid if you've ever had the experience of talking to someone who is completely dull and lifeless. You try to stick with the conversation for 10 minutes or so, but at the end of that time, you secretly wish you could regain those 10 minutes of your life.
1535
153663
1537
1538• To remember vapid, highlight vap and think of the related word vapor; in fact, vapid comes from the Latin vapidus, meaning "that has exhaled its vapor." Vapid was originally used in English in a literal sense to describe stale beverages that had lost their flavor, or vapor. Over time, however, vapid added a broader, more figurative connotation to describe anything that is lacking in zest and spirit.
1539
1540• Vapid and insipid are closely related synonyms that both mean lacking interesting or exciting qualities, but there is a slight difference in connotation. Insipid emphasizes a lack of sufficient taste or savor to please or interest, whereas vapid stresses a lack of vitality, life, liveliness, force, or spirit.
1541
1542• If you want to emphasize dullness due to a lack of taste or interest, insipid might be the right choice. If, however, you want to emphasize dullness due to lack of zest, spirit, and life, vapid might work better.
1543
1544Lecture 10: Words for the Everyday and the Elite
1545
1546• For example, a meal can be insipid but not vapid. A conversation can be either, depending on what aspect of its supreme dullness you want to call attention to.
1547
1548Prosaic (adjective)
1549
15501. Dull, lacking in imagination, matter-of-fact.
1551
15522. Commonplace, everyday, ordinary.
1553
155464
1555
1556• Like insipid and vapid, prosaic can mean "dull," but it emphasizes dullness as a result of lack of imagination. For example: "Often, science writing can be prosaic, simply delivering information in a lifeless, unimaginative, 'just the facts, maDam' style." 
1557
1558• The "commonplace, everyday, ordinary" meaning of prosaic appears in the following sentence: "The seemingly prosaic lives of our immigrant ancestors, who worked tirelessly in the steel mills, belie the heroic sacrifices they made for their descendants." 
1559
1560• To remember the meaning of prosaic, think of prose writing, which we tend to consider less creative and imaginative than poetry. Prose transmits information in a straightforward manner.
1561
1562Quotidian (adjective)
1563
1564Daily, customary, ordinary, usual.
1565
1566• Quotidian describes the mundane, unexciting things that we all do routinely, such as washing the dishes, making the bed, and going to work.
1567
1568• You can use quotidian to emphasize the everyday, regular nature of something, such as a quotidian routine, or you can use it to emphasize the mundane, commonplace, nature of something, such as the quotidian talent of an average artist.
1569
1570• One way to remember quotidian is to highlight the last part of the word, dian, which comes from the Latin word dies, meaning "day."
1571
1572This connection gives us the "daily" meaning in quotidian.
1573
1574• Synonyms for quotidian include everyday, garden variety, frequent, common, and routine.
1575
1576Hoi Polloi (noun)
1577
1578The ordinary masses; the common people.
1579
1580• Many people confuse hoi polloi with hoity-toity, which refers to people who think they are better or smarter than others. For this reason, people often think that hoi polloi refers to the elite, rich, and famous. But actually, hoi polloi means the opposite of elite; it refers to the ordinary masses.
1581
1582• Hoi polloi is a transliteration of two Greek words that literally mean "the many." It's often used as a derogatory term by elitist snobs to refer to the great unwashed masses.
1583
158465
1585
1586• Polloi, meaning "many," is related to the Greek root poly, which also means "many or much" and appears in such words as polygon and polygamist. In your vocabulary notebook, highlight the pol in polloi and relate it to a polygon, a figure with many sides; this will help you remember that hoi polloi refers to the many—the common people.
1587
1588• Some linguistic purists object to the phrase the hoi polloi because hoi means "the" in Greek. According to this reasoning, when we say,"the hoi polloi," we're being redundant, literally saying,"the the many." However, the hoi polloi has become an acceptable phrase in English.
1589
1590Banal (adjective) 
1591
1592Lecture 10: Words for the Everyday and the Elite
1593
1594Lacking freshness and originality; trite; commonplace; so ordinary as to have become tedious.
1595
1596• Banal is a great word to describe the clichés you might read in a trashy western novel: a cowboy who is "rough around the edges"
1597
1598but has a "heart of gold" and "nerves of steel." Banal is often used alongside such collocates as comments, observations, and remarks.
1599
1600• Synonyms for banal include trite, stale, threadbare, and hackneyed.
1601
1602This last word is derived from hack, someone who writes anything for hire. You can imagine a hack, writing on a deadline and using tired, worn-out phrases and clichés because he or she doesn't have the time to come up with anything original or fresh.
1603
1604Bromide (noun)
1605
1606A platitude or trite saying.
1607
1608• 66
1609
1610Bromides are similar to clichés and seem to appear frequently in sports contexts, as in: "That player gives 110 percent"; "We kept our eye on the ball"; and "There is no i in team." 
1611
1612• Bromide originally referred to a sedative, specifically, a chemical compound of bromine and another metal. Of course, sedatives deaden and dull the senses, leading to the more figurative meaning of bromide: trite sayings that have become so overused they deaden our senses.
1613
1614Patrician (noun/adjective)
1615
1616noun:
1617
16181. Someone of refined upbringing, manners, and taste.
1619
16202. An aristocrat; a person of high rank or social class.
1621
1622adjective: People or things that have the characteristics of the upper class.
1623
1624• The use of patrician as a noun is shown in the following sentence:
1625
1626"The city's patricians used to have most of the money and power, but the growth of the middle class has all but ended that era in history." Patrician as an adjective appears in this sentence: "Her patrician tastes in music and dining were apparent from her frequent trips to the opera, the symphony orchestra, and only the finest restaurants in town."
1627
1628• The patricians were members of the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome. In contrast to the patrician class was the plebeian or working class. Today, plebeian is used as an antonym for patrician to refer to something that is common, lower class, or vulgar.
1629
1630Nonpareil (adjective)
1631
1632Without peer; having no equal.
1633
1634• Nonpareil comes from the 15th-century French words non (meaning "not") and pareil (meaning "equal"). Combining these two yields "not equal," meaning someone or something that is without equal.
1635
163667
1637
1638• Synonyms for nonpareil include matchless, peerless, inimitable, unrivaled, unsurpassed, and incomparable.
1639
1640Review Questions
1641
16421. Are the hoi polloi generally considered to be patrician?
1643
16442. The CEO's speech did nothing to inspire her employees; she offered only the usual __________ about keeping their noses to the grindstones and their eyes on the bottom line.
1645
16463. Blakely's culinary skills were legendary among her friends; her boeuf bourguignon in particular was __________.
1647
16484. Barbara knew it was time to look for a new job when the tasks she used to enjoy came to seem __________.
1649
16505. This word describes writing that is filled with clichés and hackneyed phrases.
1651
1652Lecture 10: Words for the Everyday and the Elite
1653
16546. Jackie was known in her neighborhood as a terrible hostess; the food she cooked was __________ and her conversation was __________.
1655
16567. The contracting firm failed to win bids because its written proposals to clients were too __________; they lacked all creativity or excitement.
1657
165868
1659
1660Words from Gods and Heroes
1661
1662Lecture 11
1663
1664Just mentioning the names of characters from Greek and Roman mythology brings to mind vivid images; think of Zeus casting lightning bolts down from the heavens or Apollo driving his sun chariot across the sky. In fact, we're still surrounded by the stories of these characters in books, movies, and even video games. One reason we remain interested in myths is that they help us make sense of the world. But they also, as Joseph Campbell wrote, help us tap into the "rapture of being alive." Myths embody our highest dreams, greatest sorrows, most horrific fears, and most fervently held values. In this lecture, we'll explore some words and phrases derived from myths that live on in English today.
1665
1666Sisyphean (adjective)
1667
1668Endlessly laborious and futile.
1669
1670• The word Sisyphean comes from the Greek myth of Sisyphus, the king and reputed founder of Corinth. One day, Sisyphus encountered the river god Asopus, who was searching for his lost daughter, Aegina. Sisyphus said that he would tell Asopus the whereabouts of his daughter but only after the river god gave the city of Corinth a spring. Eventually, Asopus agreed and created a source of water for the city.
1671
1672• Sisyphus then told Asopus that Zeus had carried off his daughter.
1673
1674In a rage, Asopus followed Zeus and came upon him unawares, without his trademark thunderbolt. Weaponless and fearing the river god's fury, Zeus morphed himself into a rock and changed Aegina into an island, which she remains to this day.
1675
1676• Zeus, not pleased that a mere mortal had meddled in his affairs, asked his brother Hades to take Sisyphus back to the underworld and punish him. To arrest Sisyphus, Hades brought a pair of 
1677
167869
1679
1680handcuffs forged by Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths, fire, and volcanoes. But Sisyphus tricked Hades into trying on the handcuffs first, capturing him and preventing him from taking the dead to the underworld.
1681
1682• For a time, mortals on earth didn't die, but eventually, Hades was freed and Sisyphus was taken to the underworld. However, he managed to trick Hades again and returned to earth, where he lived to a ripe old age.
1683
1684• After a long and happy life, Sisyphus eventually returned to the underworld yet again, where the gods had devised a particularly torturous punishment for him: He was given the job of pushing a huge boulder up a steep hill; each time he reached the top of the hill, the boulder would slip out of his hands and roll back down.
1685
1686This task gives us the word Sisyphean, referring to jobs that are difficult and seemingly endless.
1687
1688Sword of Damocles (noun phrase)
1689
1690A constant and imminent peril; an impending disaster.
1691
1692Lecture 11: Words from Gods and Heroes
1693
1694• 70
1695
1696The phrase sword of Damocles comes to us from a Greek parable.
1697
1698Damocles was a professional flatterer, one of many courtiers of Dionysius the Elder, a 4th-century-B.C.E. tyrant of Syracuse. While pandering to the king, Damocles remarked that Dionysius was truly fortunate to have such wealth, power, and influence. In response, Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles for a day, and without a second thought, the courtier agreed.
1699
1700• At first, the experience was wonderful for Damocles, who sat on the throne, ate sumptuous meals, and was waited on hand and foot. But Damocles soon had a feeling that something was wrong. He turned his gaze upward and saw a sword hanging point down above his head, suspended by a single horsehair.
1701
1702Damocles immediately asked to switch back with Dionysius, saying that he no longer had any desire to be so fortunate.
1703
1704• Dionysius had made his point: With great power and authority come great fear and anxiety; rulers live in constant fear because they have what others want. For the ancients, this parable's lesson is that power, wealth, and fame do not lead to a happy life; it is virtue and a simpler life that make one happy.
1705
1706Today, the phrase sword of Damocles refers to a situation of constant and imminent peril. President John F. Kennedy used the phrase in this sense in a 1961 address to the UN General Assembly: "Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness."
1707
1708Gordian knot (noun phrase)
1709
1710An exceedingly complicated and intricate problem or deadlock; an intractable problem.
1711
1712• The phrase Gordian knot comes to us from a myth about the people of Phrygia. During a period of civil unrest, the Phrygians in the city of Telmissus asked an oracle who would become their next ruler.
1713
1714The oracle replied that the next man who entered the city riding an ox cart would become the king.
1715
1716• That man was Gordius, who entered Telmissus with his wife and his son, Midas. After being proclaimed king, Gordius dedicated his ox cart to Zeus and tied the cart with an incredibly intricate knot around the pin that connected the yoke to the chariot.
1717
1718• Later, another oracle foretold that whoever was able to undo the Gordian knot would become ruler of all Asia. Not surprisingly, would-be kings came from miles around to try to undo the knot, but all of them failed.
1719
1720• Many years later, Alexander the Great attempted to untangle the knot.
1721
1722The story has it that Alexander, not being able to find the ends, either sliced through the knot with his sword or reached inside it and removed 
1723
172471
1725
1726the pin around which the knot had been tied. In either case, Alexander took quick and decisive action to solve an intractable problem.
1727
1728Mercurial (adjective)
1729
17301. Liable to sudden and unpredictable change; volatile; erratic.
1731
17322. Animated, lively, quick-witted.
1733
1734Lecture 11: Words from Gods and Heroes
1735
1736• 72
1737
1738The word mercurial is related to Hermes, the Greek god of commerce and trade and the messenger god, who is also identified with the Roman god Mercury. Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia and was a trickster from the day he was born.
1739
1740• Within minutes of his birth, Hermes grew into a small boy and snuck out of his cradle. Outside, he came upon a herd of cows owned by Apollo, god of the sun. Hermes stole the cattle and returned home. He then slaughtered two of the beasts and strung the cow gut across a tortoise shell to fashion a new instrument—the lyre.
1741
1742• Apollo tracked Hermes down and hauled him before a council of the gods on Mount Olympus, accusing the boy of the theft and slaughter of his cattle. In his own defense, Hermes explained that the day before, when he had been born, he was too young to know right from wrong. But 24 hours later, he had matured, gained wisdom, and realized the error of his ways.
1743
1744• Hermes asked for forgiveness and promised that he would return the rest of the cattle; regarding the two cows he had killed, Hermes said that he would cut them up into 12 equal portions to sacrifice to the 12 Olympian gods. When Apollo pointed out that there were only 11 Olympian gods, Hermes declared that he himself was the 1Oth!
1745
1746• A bit later, Apollo demanded to have Hermes's tortoise shell lyre. Hermes said that he would give Apollo the lyre if he could keep the cows that he had stolen. This was the first bargain ever struck and assured Hermes's place as not only the god of tricksters but also the god of commerce.
1747
1748• Hermes is often pictured wearing a winged hat and winged sandals, which enable him to fly as fast as a bird-perfect for the messenger of the gods. Hermes was quick and lively and, as we said, was associated with the Roman god Mercury. From this god's name, we get the adjective mercurial, which means prone to sudden and unpredictable change, as well as animated, lively, and quick-witted.
1749
1750Mercury/Hermes was all of these things.
1751
1752Saturnalia (noun)
1753
1754A celebration marked by unrestrained revelry and, often, promiscuity and excessive drinking.
1755
1756• Saturnalia comes to us from the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn.
1757
1758In ancient Rome, a week-long festival, the Saturnalia, was held in December to honor Saturn. The festival was marked by gift giving, gambling, and role reversals, in which slaves were served by their masters.
1759
1760Saturnine (adjective)
1761
1762Melancholy, sluggish, gloomy.
1763
1764• The god Saturn also gives us saturnine, meaning "morose and sullen." This meaning comes from the fact that ancient and medieval astrologers believed that those born under the planet Saturn would have a gloomy temperament.
1765
1766Promethean (adjective)
1767
1768Daringly original or creative; boldly inventive.
1769
1770• Promethean comes from the name of the Greek Titan Prometheus.
1771
1772After the defeat of the other Titans by the Greek gods, Zeus gave to Prometheus and his brother, Epimetheus, the job of repopulating the earth.
1773
177473
1775
1776Lecture 11: Words from Gods and Heroes
1777
1778• 74
1779
1780Prometheus, whose name means "forethought," carefully shaped humans in the image of the gods, but Epimetheus, whose name means "afterthought," rushed through the job, creating the animals quickly.
1781
1782© fotonehru/iStock/Thinkstock.
1783
1784• Zeus also gave the brothers a basket that contained many gifts they could bestow upon their creations. Prometheus and Epimetheus began to shape river clay into humans and animals, with Prometheus creating the humans and Epimetheus, the animals.
1785
1786Like Prometheus, those who are described as Promethean take bold, innovative action to break through boundaries in their fields of endeavor.
1787
1788• When Prometheus was finished, he looked in the basket of gifts and found that his brother had taken nearly all of the good ones, giving the animals great advantages over humans! Animals could run faster, see better, and had a keener sense of smell than humans. And when the weather became cold, animals had coats of fur or feathers to keep them warm.
1789
1790• Seeing that humans had literally been left out in the cold, Prometheus asked Zeus if he could take some of the sacred fire from Mount Olympus for humans. Zeus, afraid of how powerful humans might become with fire, refused. But Prometheus snuck onto Mount Olympus, stole an ember from the forge of Hephaestus, and smuggled it back to earth. Now, humans had warmth on cold evenings, light to see by at night, protection against animals and enemies, and the ability to forge tools.
1791
1792• When Zeus found out about the stolen fire, he was furious. Later, he also discovered that Prometheus had taught humans how to trick the gods by hiding the choicest portions of their sacrifices. Thus, Zeus chained Prometheus to the top of the Caucasus Mountains with a chain of unbreakable iron links.
1793
1794Every day, a vulture would swoop down and eat Prometheus's liver, but because Prometheus was immortal, every night, his liver grew back. The next day, the vulture would return to pick at Prometheus's liver again.
1795
1796From this story, we get the word Promethean, an adjective that describes Prometheus, who was "daringly original, boldly inventive." Someone who is Promethean is an innovator; an original, clever, and imaginative thinker and doer; courageously and defiantly original.
1797
1798Review Questions
1799
18001. The parade of criminals who passed in front of her bench every day left the judge with a __________ outlook on humanity.
1801
18022. Convincing the accounting department to try a new approach to payroll distribution proved to be a __________ task.
1803
18043. What two phrases originating in Greek mythology might be appropriate in discussing the threat of terrorism in the 21st century? 
1805
18064. The students lived in fear that the __________ professor would change his mind about grading their exams on a curve.
1807
18085. The __________ efforts of early-20th-century scientists dramatically changed our understanding of the physical world.
1809
18106. For many people, Halloween has become an occasion to throw a party that might justly be classified as a __________.
1811
181275
1813
1814Humble Words and Prideful Words
1815
1816Lecture 12
1817
1818Like many words, pride has various connotations, depending on how it's used. You might be justly proud of your accomplishments, in which case, pride would have a positive connotation. However, excessive pride can lead to arrogance and haughtiness—words with distinctly negative connotations. In this lecture, we'll examine some target words related to overbearing pride and prideful behavior—words you can use to describe all the pompous, pretentious jerks; conceited, swollenheaded windbags; presumptuous, preening peacocks; egotistical, puffed-up know-it-alls; brash, self-aggrandizing grandstanders; vainglorious showoffs; and other selfJimportant braggarts, blusterers, boasters, braggadocios, big talkers, and blowhards in your life.
1819
1820Supercilious (adjective)
1821
1822Lecture 12: Humble Words and Prideful Words
1823
1824Feeling or showing haughty disdain; displaying arrogant pride, even scorn.
1825
182676
1827
1828• Supercilious often describes people or facial expressions.
1829
1830Unfortunately, we've all encountered supercilious people—those who think that they're better than everyone else. Consider the word in context: "When we told the supercilious real estate agent our price range for a house, he rolled his eyes and quickly ended our meeting." 
1831
1832• The super- in supercilious is a Latin prefix meaning "above or beyond," as in such words as suservisor, superior, and superabundance. And cilium actually means "eyelash." Because your eyebrows are "above" your eyelashes on your face, an eyebrow is a supercilium. You can connect this word to supercilious by visualizing arrogant people who raise their eyebrows in disdain.
1833
1834• Wonderfully vivid and descriptive synonyms and related words for supercilious are legion in English, including arrogant, uppity, haughty, pompous, priggish, pretentious, prideful, patronizing, disdainful, condescending, swaggering, lofty, lordly, high and mighty, highfalutin, sniffy, snooty, and snotty.
1835
1836Bumptious (adjective)
1837
1838Pushy; offensively or loudly self-assertive; cocky.
1839
1840• Bumptious describes a different type of arrogance than supercilious.
1841
1842With bumptious, the focus isn't on scornful disdain but on the loud and pushy aspects of arrogance. Think of the whippersnapper who drives on the shoulder of the road to get ahead of traffic or the pushy colleague at work who dominates every conversation. Bumptious people are overly confident in a loud, rude, and annoying way.
1843
1844• The American Heritage Dictionary relates that bumptious is probably a combination of bump and pretentious. To remember bumptious, think of an unruly, troublesome person who is so arrogant and pushy that he or she bumps you out of the way to cut in line.
1845
1846Hubris (noun) 
1847
1848• The Greek hero Odysseus was guilty of hubris when he revealed his true name to the Cyclops Polyphemus after he had tricked and blinded the giant. For his hubris, Odysseus was punished by Poseidon, father of Polyphemus and god of the sea, who delayed the hero's return home for 10 years.
1849
1850© Mariusika11/iStock/Thinkstock.
1851
1852Excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.
1853
1854In John Milton's Paradise Lost, it was Satain's pride-his hubris- that caused his downfall.
1855
185677
1857
1858• As this story indicates, hubris comes from Greek, where it originally meant being "presumptuous toward the gods."
1859
1860Bombast (noun)
1861
1862Lecture 12: Humble Words and Prideful Words
1863
1864Pretentious, pompous, grandiloquent speech or writing.
1865
186678
1867
1868• In the 16th century, bombast referred to cotton padding and stuffing-insubstantial material used to fill empty cushions or pillows. This original meaning has shifted to words that are used to fill empty speeches or writing to make up for a lack of substance. This word is a perfect example of how many words in our language shift from an original specific, literal meaning to a more general, figurative meaning.
1869
1870• We often see the adjective form of bombast, bombastic, used alongside the collocates prose, speech, and writing, as in such phrases as a politician's bombastic speech or the author's bombastic prose.
1871
1872• Synonyms for bombastic include turgid, orotund, verbose, prolix, florid, flowery, and pretentious.
1873
1874• Turgid comes from a Latin word meaning "to swell" and can refer to "swollen," overblown, inflated language or to physically swollen things, such as rivers.
1875
1876• Orotund comes from the Latin phrase ore rotundo, meaning "with rounded mouth," and somewhat paradoxically, has either a positive or a negative connotation, depending on how it's used. Orotund can be positive when referring to a resonant, booming voice and negative when referring to bombastic speech or writing.
1877
1878• Use verbose when you want to emphasize that the speech uses more words than needed. Another synonym for overly wordy language is prolix.
1879
1880• Use flowery when you want to describe language that includes overly ornate images and expressions.
1881
1882• Use pretentious when you want to emphasize language that is intentionally inflated to impress.
1883
1884Bloviate (verb)
1885
1886To talk pompously; to talk at great length in a pompous and boastful manner.
1887
1888• Bloviate is an Americanism that sounds like what it means. It is derived from blow, which brings to mind a blowhard who blows hot air.
1889
1890• Bloviate has an interesting history, waxing and waning in usage over time. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, its first known usage was in the late 1800s, but it was already fading by the turn of the century. However, in the 1920s, during the presidency of Warren G. Harding, bloviate experienced a comeback in reference to political speech. Harding himself was known for his flowery, overblow prose. The word faded again but staged another comeback during the 2000 election and is used today by the press to characterize the behavior of many politicians.
1891
1892Sycophant (noun)
1893
1894A servile, self-seening flatterer.
1895
1896• Humility (from Latin humilis,"lowly, humble") is a trait we admire, but we've all also encountered people who are falsely modest or who praise others insincerely to get something they want. Such "suck-ups" are sycophants.
1897
1898• English includes some wonderfully vivid synonyms for sycophants, including grovelers, backscratchers, bootlickers, toadies, and lickspittles.
1899
190079
1901
1902Obsequious (adjective)
1903
1904servile and fawning; overly deferential.
1905
1906• Obsequious people show excessive deference to gain favor. They tend to be too much like servants, and their insincere flattering is meant to score points with those in power.
1907
1908• Obsequious contains the Latin root usually spelled sequ or sec and meaning "follow"; in other words, obsequious people follow others to gain their favor. This fertile root also gives us sequence, non sequitur, sequel, consecutive, persecute, second, sect, consequence, and subsequent.
1909
1910Wheedle (verb)
1911
1912Lecture 12: Humble Words and Prideful Words
1913
1914To attempt to persuade with beguiling flattery and smooth talking.
1915
1916• Wheedle is an underused word, but it packs an expressive punch, as in the following context sentence: "The teenage girl wheedled her father into letting her drive his Porsche 911 with a few crocodile tears, a sob story, and the seemingly sincere assurance that he was 'the best dad in the world.'? 
1917
1918• Wheedle brings to mind the behavior of the snake-oil salesmen, charlatans, hucksters, and mountebanks we discussed in an earlier lecture. Common synonyms for wheedle include cajole and coax.
1919
1920Blandishment (noun)
1921
1922Flattery that is designed to persuade a listener to do something.
1923
1924Unctuous (adjective)
1925
1926Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness.
1927
192880
1929
1930• Unctuous comes from the Latin unctus, meaning "anointed with oil." This etymology is a perfect reminder for the oily, slick, and smooth-talking behavior of unctuous people. You might link unctuous with a description of an unctuous character written by Alan J. Lerner for the musical My Fair Lady: "oozing charm from every pore, he oiled his way across the floor."
1931
1932• A wonderful synonym for unctuous that's a little shorter and more down to earth is smarmy, as in "The smarmy aide thought that his constant blandishments would butter up the congressman and eventually lead to an appointment."
1933
1934Review Questions
1935
19361. What words apply to self-serving flatterers and the type of conversation they engage in to advance their own interests? 
1937
19382. Although Farhad praised his supervisor, Amy, for her generosity and ability to recognize talent, she refused to be taken in by his __________ and didn't give him a raise.
1939
19403. We walked out of the car dealership after just five minutes with the __________ salesman.
1941
19424. Despite the efforts of an image consultant and an expert in public speaking, the politician was unable to suppress his tendency to __________.
1943
19445. The __________ behavior of some millennials has earned the generation as a whole a reputation for arrogance.
1945
19466. This personal flaw was the downfall of Othello.
1947
19487. Parents must learn to ignore the twin tactics of whining and __________ from their children.
1949
195081
1951
19528. The curmudgeon's frequent letters to the editor of the local newspaper were characterized by __________ rather than substance.
1953
19549. The __________ attitude of the saleswoman changed dramatically when Jim flashed a wallet full of credit cards.
1955
1956Lecture 12: Humble Words and Prideful Words
1957
195882
1959
1960High-Frequency Greek and Latin Roots
1961
1962Lecture 13
1963
1964In her excellent book The Greek and Latin Roots of English, Tamara Green tells of a popular rhyme recited by weary Latin students: "Latin is a dead language, / As you can plainly see. / It killed off all the Romans, / And now it's killing me." Although this little poem makes us smile, it also raises an important question: If no one speaks Latin today, why bother studying it? As we've seen, Latin and ancient Greek are Yery much alive in English and many other languages, and the point of studying Greek and Latin Affixes and roots is to improve our English. In this lecture, then, we'll explore some high-frequency Latin and Greek Affixes and roots.
1965
1966A Pleasant Prefix: eu• The prefix eu- comes from Greek and means "good, well, or pleasant." For example, the word eulogy combines the prefix eu with the Greek noun logos, meaning "word." Thus, if you offer a eulogy at a funeral, you are speaking well of the deceased.
1967
1968• Other English words that use the eu- prefix include euphemism, which is the use of a more pleasant word in place of a word that seems overly blunt or harsh, and euphonious, which refers to a pleasant sound.
1969
1970• Two eu- words that spark debate are eugenics and euthanasia. In Greek, eugenics literally means "good birth." This word refers to the idea that the human race can be improved through selective breeding. Euthanasia incorporates the prefix eu- with the Greek noun thanatos, meaning "death." Thus, euthanasia literally means "a good or pleasant death," and of course, the word is used to refer to mercy killing.
1971
1972High-Frequency Prefixes: dis- and in• The Latin prefix dis- can mean "not," as well as "opposite or apart, away." To remember this prefix, keep in mind two key words: disagree ("not to agree") and discard ("to throw away").
1973
197483
1975
1976• The Latin prefix in- also means "not or without," as in incorrect.
1977
1978This relatively simply prefix can help you decode such words as ineluctable ("not capable of being avoided") and ineffable ("not capable of being described in words").
1979
1980Dishabille (noun) 
1981
1982• We find the dis- prefix in dishabille, a word borrowed from the French. A quick look into the etymology of this word lets us know that the second part, habille, comes from the French habiller, meaning "to dress." Literally, dishabille would mean "not dressed," and in fact, the original French word, déshabillé, meant "not fully dressed" or scantily clothed." 
1983
1984• For our current English meaning of "disheveled" or "casually or carelessly attired," let's make a different connection: Habille is also
1985
1986© Aneese/iStock/Thinkstock.
1987
1988Lecture 13: High-Frequency Greek and Latin Roots
1989
1990A state of being dressed in a very casual or even careless, disheveled, and disorderly style.
1991
1992Once you turn on your morphological radar, you'll begin to see Latin and Greek roots and prefixes everywhere 
1993
199484
1995
1996related to the noun habit, as in the clothing worn by religious and clerical orders. In your vocabulary notebook, highlight the DIS part of the word, meaning "not," and the HABI in habille and relate it to habit, as in: "A nun who is often in dishabille is not in the habit of wearing her habit properly."
1997
1998• The high-utility prefix dis- gives you a powerful hook to help you remember that a large part of the meaning of dishabille is "not."Knowledge of relatively frequent prefixes, such as dis-, can be a great help in learning relatively infrequent, sophisticated vocabulary words.
1999
2000• Think of the prefixes and roots you're learning in this course as the tools to turn on your morphological radar—your Latin and Greek early warning detection system.Knowing these prefixes and roots will help you identify Latin and Greek word parts, and that can help you sort out and store the meanings of unfamiliar words.
2001
2002High-utility Prefixes: dys-, pre-, and post• Like the Latin dis- prefix, the Greek dys- carries a negative connotation, but the Greek prefix means "bad, abnormal, or difficult? in such words as dysfunctional, dysentery, dystopia, and dyslexia.
2003
2004• The prefix pre- is from the Latin preposition prae, which means "before" in such words as preview, premature, and even prefix.
2005
2006• The prefix post- is from the Latin preposition post, which means "after" in such words as postmortem and postgame.
2007
2008Prescient (adjective)
2009
2010Perceiving the significance of events before they happen.
2011
2012• You may not hear the pre- prefix in prescient because the sound has changed, but note that the spelling has not, which reminds us of the spelling-meaning connection.
2013
201485
2015
2016• Here's prescient in context: "The prescient economist predicted the stock market collapse well before anyone else."
2017
2018A Handy Root: man
2019
2020• The root man comes from the Latin noun manus, meaning "hand."
2021
2022It's found in such words as manufacture, manual, manipulate, manacle, manuscript, and manicure.
2023
2024• Interestingly, this root is also found in the word manure. What does the excrement of animals, often used as a fertilizer, have to do with hands? 
2025
2026• Manure as a verb came into English from an Old French word in approximately 1400, when it meant "to cultivate the land." Of course, medieval farmers cultivated their lands with their hands.
2027
2028Lecture 13: High-Frequency Greek and Latin Roots
2029
2030• A significant part of working the earth was fertilizing it, which led to the current noun manure, meaning "dung spread as fertilizer."
2031
2032Manumit (verb)
2033
2034To release from slavery or servitude.
2035
2036• Manumit comes from two Latin roots: man ("hand") and mit, from the Latin verb mitto, meaning "send, let go, release." Think of the "hand" here in the sense of the power of the master who releases a slave. You may also encounter the noun form of this verb, manumission, which refers to the act of setting someone free.
2037
2038A Shady Root: umbr
2039
2040• The root umbr is found in the word umbrella, the original purpose of which was to protect one from the sun, not the rain. In terms of its etymology, umbrella actually means "little shadow" and comes to English through Italian from the Latin noun umbra, meaning "shade, shadow." Think of the ancient Romans, in their
2041
204286
2043
2044sunny Mediterranean climate, carrying around umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun by providing a "little shadow" for themselves.
2045
2046• Other words you may know that are derived from umbr include umbra (a region of complete shadow resulting from a total obstruction of light), penumbra (the partial shadow outside of a complete shadow), sombrero, and somber.
2047
2048• The word umbrage is also related to this root. As noted in John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins,"The expression take umbrage, 'take offense, ' arises from a metaphorical extension of 'shadow' to 'suspicion.'" In other words, suspicious statements and people are shady, and when someone makes a statement that we suspect is insulting, we take umbrage.
2049
2050Adumbrate (verb)
2051
20521. To give a sketchy outline of; to suggest, disclose, or outline partially.
2053
20542. To foreshadow vaguely; to intimate.
2055
2056• Here's an example of the first sense of adumbrate in context:
2057
2058"When quizzed by the English teacher, the student was able to briefly adumbrate the major themes in the novel."
2059
2060• The second sense appears in this context sentence: "The first scene in the play, where she notices the new buds on the trees, adumbrates her spiritual rebirth in the second scene."
2061
2062A Root with Traction: tract
2063
2064• The root tract comes from the Latin verb traho, which means "to drag, pull, draw, or haul." It can be found in such words as tractor, traction, extract, retract, distract, attract, and intractable ("not able to be pulled").
2065
206687
2067
2068A Hot Root: therm(o)
2069
2070• This root has a history going back to 480 B.C.E. At that time, Xerxes the Great, ruler of the Persian Empire, was invading Greece with his massive army, which according to modern estimates may have numbered approximately 100,000 men. In response, a number of Greek city-states decided to put their rivalries aside and form an alliance to repel the invading Persians.
2071
2072• To face the enormous Persian army, the Greeks made a strategically astute decision. They planned to defend the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae, which means the "Hot Gates," a reference to the hot sulfur springs there.
2073
2074• Of all the Greeks, the Spartans were known as the fiercest and most well-trained warriors. Thus, it was no surprise that King Leonidas and his Spartans ended up leading the Greek allied army against the Persians.
2075
2076Lecture 13: High-Frequency Greek and Latin Roots
2077
2078• 88
2079
2080Leonidas chose 300 of his best Spartan soldiers to make the stand at Thermopylae. These 300 warriors were joined by approximately 6,000 soldiers from the other Greek cities.
2081
2082• Before the Battle of Thermopylae began, Xerxes attempted to negotiate with the Spartans, promising them their freedom and better land if they submitted. When Leonidas refused these terms, Xerxes demanded of the Greeks,"Hand over your arms."
2083
2084Leonidas's famously terse reply has echoed down the ages: "Come and take them." 
2085
2086• The Persians attacked, and although they greatly outnumbered the Greeks, they couldn't take advantage of their overwhelming numbers because of the narrow pass. In addition, the longer spears of the Spartans were particularly deadly in this narrow space. Wave after wave of attacking Persians were repulsed as the Spartans rotated their troops, some holding the front line while others rested.
2087
2088• Eventually, however, the tide turned. Ephialtes, a Greek traitor who hoped to be rewarded by the Persians, showed the Persians another
2089
2090path winding through the mountains that enabled the Persians to outflank the Greekarmy. When /Honidas realized his dire situation, he decided tostay and fight to the death with his 300 Spartans. This allowed the rest of the Greek army to retreat in safety and live to fight another day.
2091
2092• The Spartans fought to the last. When their weapons broke, they fought with their hands and their teeth. Eventually, they were overrun, but their courage set an example for the rest of Greece.
2093
2094• This courageous account from history leads us to the Greek root therm(o), found in the word Thermopylae, meaning "heat or temperature." This root is found in such words as thermal, thermometer, hypothermia, hyperthermia, thermodynamics, and geothermal.
2095
2096Review Questions
2097
20981. How is the word adumbrate related to the root umbr?
2099
21002. What word related to manumit also contains the man root?
2101
21023. This word, meaning "casually or carelessly dressed," contains the Latin prefix dis-, meaning "not."?
2103
21044. The Latin prefix pre- is slightly hidden in this word, which means "having foresight?"
2105
210689
2107
2108Words Relating to Belief and Trust
2109
2110Lecture 14
2111
2112The great 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said,"I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you." Nietzsche's quote shows just how closely trust and belief—the two themes of this lecture—are tied together. English has a number of precise and powerful words to describe different facets of trust and belief. As we explore vocabulary centering on these themes, we will also answer these questions: What's an apostate, and is it related to an apostle? And what's the difference among equivocal, ambiguous, and ambivalent? 
2113
2114Dogmatic (adjective) 
2115
2116Lecture 14: Words Relating to Belief and Trust
2117
2118Characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproven ideas.
2119
212090
2121
2122• Dogmatic can describe someone who adheres to one way and only one way—someone who is narrow-minded rather than openminded. The word might be used in context as follows: "The CEO's dogmatic adherence to her way of doing business—because that's the way she had always worked—led the company down the path to eventual bankruptcy." 
2123
2124• Synonyms and related words for dogmatic include authoritarian, imperious, and doctrinaire. Use imperious if you want to emphasize someone's haughty, overbearing manner. Use doctrinaire if you want to emphasize stubborn adherence to a doctrine or theory even if it's not practical. More informal terms for dogmatic include pushy, opinionated, one-sided, and narrow-minded.
2125
2126• The noun form of dogmatic is dogma, which means "doctrines and beliefs relating to morality and faith." The original Greek word dogma meant an "opinion, tenet" or, literally,"that which one thinks is true." Thus, the original meaning of dogma—"an opinion, what one thinks is true"—is closer to what dogmatic means today:
2127"arrogantly opinionated."
2128
2129Pontificate (verb) To speak or express opinions in a pompous or dogmatic way.
2130
2131• Someone who pontificates speaks in a patronizing and supercilious manner, especially at some length. For example, consider the word in context: "My high-and-mighty roommate never misses a chance to pontificate, regardless of whether she knows anything about the topic." 
2132
2133• Related to pontificate is the word pontiff, which can refer to a high priest, a bishop, or the pope. Pontificate can also mean to perform the duties of a pontiff.
2134
2135Apostate (noun)
2136
2137Someone who abandons his or her religion, political beliefs, principles, or cause.
2138
2139• Apostate is the term used for a believer in one religion or cause who makes a complete turnaround from his or her beliefs, such as a liberal Democrat who becomes a conservative Republican. The word comes from the Greek prefix apo-, meaning "away from," and the Greek verb stenai, meaning "to stand." In other words, an apostate "stands away from" his or her beliefs.
2140
2141• Synonyms and related words for apostate include backslider, defector, deserter, renegade, heretic, and turncoat.
2142
2143• Part of apostate is related to the word apostle. According to John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins, apostle was borrowed from Greek into Latin and then into Old English, and it meant "messenger." Apostle and apostate both share the Greek prefix apo-, meaning "away from." However, the second part of apostle came 
2144
214591
2146
2147from the Greek verb stellein, meaning "to send." Thus, an apostle is a messenger "sent away" to spread the word, whereas an apostate "stands away" from his or her former beliefs.
2148
2149Agitprop (noun)
2150
2151Political propaganda delivered through art, music, drama, or literature.
2152
2153Agitprop is an example of a portmanteau word, that is, a word created by combining two or more parts of other words, in this case, agitation and propaganda. Agitprop was a shortened form of the name of a Communist Party committee in the former Soviet Union, the Department of Agitation and Propaganda. This department's mission was to spread communist beliefs, principles, and ideals throughout the world. Agitprop theater was a term used to describe the leftist plays that originated in Europe in the 1920s and later spread to the United States.
2154
2155© Jultud/iStock/Thinkstock.
2156
2157Lecture 14: Words Relating to Belief and Trust
2158
2159• Smog is a portmanteau word formed by the combination of smoke and fog.
2160
216192
2162
2163• In English, agitprop usually carries a negative connotation and is used generally to describe any work, particularly in an artistic form, that attempts to indoctrinate people for political purposes.
2164
2165For example: "Although she acknowledged that the movie was leftwing agitprop, the critic also noted, somewhat surprisingly, that it had a compelling plot and characters that the audience actually cared about." 
2166
2167• Agitprop can also be used as an adjective, as in "The play's agitprop message was so blatant that audience members felt as if they had been repeatedly smacked over the head with a political pamphlet."
2168
2169Trusty Roots: fid and cred
2170
2171• The root fid is from the Latin noun fides, meaning "trust, faith."
2172
2173It appears in a large number of English words, including fidelity, confident, confidence, infidelity, infidel, affidavit (a statement written under oath and, therefore, supposedly trustworthy), bona fide, and diffident.
2174
2175• The root cred is from the Latin verb credo, meaning "believe." This root also gives us a large number of words, including incredible, credit, credentials, accredited, credible, credulous (believing too easily; gullible), and incredulous (not inclined to believe, skeptical).
2176
2177Perfidious adjective 
2178
2179Treacherous, disloyal, and deceitful.
2180
2181• Perfidious is used to describe people who are underhanded, dishonest, or disloyal, as in "The perfidious soldier switched sides during the war, revealing his commanding general's strategy to the enemy." 
2182
2183• The noun form of perfidious is perfidy, meaning "treachery."
2184
2185Perfidious comes from the Latin prefix per-, meaning "through"
2186
2187in such words as perspiration ("breathing through the skin"), and the Latin root fid, meaning "faith." Thus, perfidious literally means 
2188
218993
2190
2191"through or beyond the limits of faith." A trusted friend who stabs you in the back goes beyond the limits of your faith.
2192
2193Equivocal (adjective) 
2194
2195Lecture 14: Words Relating to Belief and Trust
2196
2197Open to two or more interpretations, often with an intent to mislead or to be purposely vague.
2198
219994
2200
2201• Evidence and answers are often described as equivocal, as in: "The criminal's equivocal answers to the police officer's direct questions were an obvious ploy to avoid arrest." 
2202
2203• Equivocate is the verb form of equivocal and means to use unclear language, particularly with the intent to deceive. It's the perfect word to use with backtrackers, back peddlers, and anyone who fudges, hedges, shillyshallies, or engages in double-talk.
2204
2205Unequivocal is an antonym for equivocal, meaning "not equivocal, leaving no doubt, clear, or unambiguous." 
2206
2207• The first part of equivocal comes from the Latin root equ, meaning "equal" and found in such words as equality, equator, equilibrium, and equidistant. The second part of equivocal comes from the Latin root voc, meaning "call" and found in such words as vocal, vociferous, and revoke. To remember this word, highlight the equ and voc roots in your vocabulary notebook, noting that equivocal describes something, such as an answer, that gives "equal voice, equal significance? to all things-that's why it's vague or deceptive.
2208
2209• Equivocal is sometimes confused with ambiguous and ambivalent.
2210
2211• The Latin prefix ambi- in ambiguous means "both." Thus, something that's ambiguous can have "both" possible meanings; it's not clear which one. Note that ambiguous means vague and lacking clarity, while equivocal describes something that is purposely ambiguous or vague, with the intent of misleading. It's the intent to mislead that often differentiates between the two words.
2212
2213• Ambivalent means having mixed feelings and difficulty choosing. This word also contains the prefix ambi-, meaning "both." If you're ambivalent about going to a movie, part of you wants to stay and part of you wants to go; you feel both ways.
2214
2215Dissemble (verb)
2216
2217To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance.
2218
2219• Dissemble is related to the English word resemble and comes from the Latin simulo, meaning "pretend, assume, simulate." 
2220
2221• To remember this word, highlight the semble part of dissemble in your vocabulary notebook and relate it to resemble. Someone who dissembles tries to resemble someone else. One world-class dissembler was Frank Abagnale, a real-life imposter whose life story is told in the movie Catch Me If You Can.
2222
2223Review Questions
2224
22251. Charlie __________ at great length on the subject of modern politics, although he seems to know little about it.
2226
22272. Caught in the act of skipping school, Steve __________, telling his mother that classes had been canceled because of an outbreak of food poisoning in the cafeteria.
2228
22293. Keisha's __________ attacks on Ben's character served only to make her seem deceitful and disloyal.
2230
22314. This is a portmanteau word used to refer to a form of political propaganda conveyed through art.
2232
22335. The mayor's __________ answers at the press conference caused reporters to dig deeper into the allegations of corruption in his administration.
2234
223595
2236
22376. The professor's __________ approach to teaching left little room for open discussion in his class.
2238
22397. Anyone who strayed from the "party line" in the terrorist cell was labeled an __________ and marked for death.
2240
2241Lecture 14: Words Relating to Belief and Trust
2242
224396
2244
2245Words for the Way We Talk
2246
2247Lecture 15
2248
2249The baseball player Yogi Berra was known for his humorous sayings, including "I never said most of the things I said." At one time or another, probably all of us, like Yogi, would love to take back something we've said. This lecture and the next focus on the theme of speaking. We may speak to praise someone, to plead a case, to lament a sorrow, or to denounce a wrong. English has powerful vocabulary words to describe each of these types of speech, and we will explore many of them in these lectures. This lecture focuses on negative speech, while the next one looks at positive speech and words relating to nonsense speech, including jibber-jabber, hogwash, and baloney.
2250
2251Laconic (adjective)
2252
2253Using few words, terse, brief, succinct, taciturn, concise.
2254
2255• The word laconic brings to mind the characters played by Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns of the 1960s. In such films as A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Eastwood's gunslinger said little, preferring to let his six-shooter do most of the talking.
2256
2257• The English word laconic comes from Laconia, a region in ancient Greece whose capital was Sparta. In contrast to their rivals, the Athenians, who prided themselves on being great orators, the Spartans prided themselves on the exact opposite, the brevity of their speech. At one point in history, King Philip of Macedon threatened the Spartans with takeover, saying,"If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground." The Spartans' laconic reply was "If …."
2258
225997
2260
2261Pithy (adjective)
2262
2263Language that is short and terse but meaningful.
2264
2265• Both pithy and laconic refer to language that is brief and succinct, but pithy implies the added meaning of language that is meaningful and powerful. For example: "In direct contrast to the bombastic, long-winded arguments of the prosecuting attorney, the defense attorney's pithy arguments won the case." 
2266
2267• Pithy comes from pith, which is the soft, spongy center of the stem of most flowering plants-in other words, the essential part of a plant. Pith can also be used in a figurative sense to refer to the essential or central part of anything, such as an argument. The pith of something is its heart or essence, its substance. For example:
2268
2269"The losing debate team seemed to dance around the central issues, while the winning team's arguments struck right at the pith of the matter." Pith, in turn, is related to pit, as in a peach pit.
2270
2271Obloquy (noun)
2272
22731. Harshly critical speech or verbal abuse.
2274
2275Lecture 15: Words for the Way We Talk
2276
22772. The disgrace that results from such abuse.
2278
227998
2280
2281• Obloquy shares the Latin root loq with a number of other words in English related to speech and speaking, such as ventriloquist, soliloquy, and loquacious. It refers to harshly critical speech, in particular, criticism made by the public or a group of people toward an individual. For example: "Having cast an unpopular deciding vote, the congressman was subjected to obloquy from nearly all the members of the opposition party." 
2282
2283• Obloquy is a combination of the Latin prefix ob- and the root loq.
2284
2285The prefix ob- has a number of different meanings, but in obloquy, it means "against, in opposition to." Thus, obloquy is "speech made against others." 
2286
2287Foment (verb)
2288
2289To stir up, incite, rouse, provoke, inflame, encourage, or instigate.
2290
2291• Foment is often used alongside its collocates riot, insurrection, and rebellion, as in,"A few hardcore guerillas attempted to foment a widespread insurrection against the brutal dictatorship." 
2292
2293• Associating the fom in foment with the word foam may help you remember that foment means "to stir or whip up."
2294
2295Fulminate (verb)
2296
22971. To issue a thunderous verbal attack; to vehemently denounce.
2298
22992. To explode with sudden violence; to detonate.
2300
2301• Fulminate comes from the Latin word fulmen, meaning "a lightning flash." This etymology captures the second, more literal definition of the word.
2302
2303• Synonyms for fulminate include rail against, upbraid, denounce, lambaste, berate, castigate, and excoriate.
2304
2305Philippic (noun)
2306
2307A bitter verbal attack; a rant filled with harsh, cruel language.
2308
2309• Philippic has a memorable etymology. The original philippics were a series of speeches by the great Athenian orator Demosthenes. In these speeches, Demosthenes denounced King Philip of Macedon and warned his fellow Athenians of Philip's political ambitions. We now use philippic to refer to any bitter denunciation or verbal attack.
2310
2311In your vocabulary notebook, highlight the philip in philippic to remember this etymology: Demosthenes's verbal attacks against King Philip.
2312
231399
2314
2315© Mike Watson Images/moodboard/Thinkstock.
2316
2317An angry coach is likely to deliver a postgame philippic to the press.
2318
2319Lecture 15: Words for the Way We Talk
2320
2321• 100
2322
2323Synonyms for philippic include invective, vituperation, diatribe, rant, tirade, harangue, and broadside.
2324
2325• Invective is a noun that refers to a vehement or violent denunciation; a railing accusation, usually bitter and sarcastic, as in "The prisoner hurled a stream of invectives at the judge, jury, and prosecutors as he was led away in chains."
2326
2327• Vituperation is a synonym for invective that refers to a violent denunciation or verbal abuse or castigation. It's often heard in its adjective form, vituperative.
2328
2329• A diatribe is a bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism. For example: "The increasingly bitter diatribes against the horrific boss led to his resignation."
2330
2331• A tirade is a long, vehement speech or bitter denunciation.
2332
2333For example: "After finding cigarette butts and ash in the customers' food, the health inspector launched into a 20-minute tirade against smoking in the restaurant's kitchen." 
2334
2335• A harangue can be a noun that means a scolding or a long and intense verbal attack. Harangue can also be used as a verb meaning to deliver such a verbal attack, as in "His mother constantly harangues him about his messy room."
2336
2337Vilify (verb)
2338
2339To attack someone's reputation with strong or abusive criticism; to malign.
2340
2341• Vilify means to say terrible things about a person, whether such statements are true or not. Consider this context sentence: "Although she was initially vilified in the media for her controversial findings, the scientist's reputation was restored by other researchers who confirmed her hypothesis."
2342
2343• The first three letters in vilify, vil, give us a spelling-meaning connection with the word vile. When you vilify someone, you say vile things about that person.
2344
2345• Synonyms and related words for vilify are numerous, including backbite, malign, slander, slur, libel, defame, disparage, denigrate, knock down, put down, tear down, slam, pan, besmirch, smear, and sully.
2346
2347Calumny (noun)
2348
2349A false accusation maliciously intended to destroy someone's reputation.
2350
2351• Calumny is a good word for the slanderous lies and false accusations you might use to vilify someone. Consider, for example, this context sentence: "Instead of basing his attacks on the president's actual policies, the candidate resorted to calumny to try to smear the chief executive's reputation." 
2352
2353• The verb form of calumny is calumniate, which means "to utter maliciously false statements."
2354
2355101
2356
2357Bowdlerize (verb) 
2358
2359Lecture 15: Words for the Way We Talk
2360
2361To change a text by removing or modifying parts that could offend people.
2362
2363• Bowdlerize is an eponym, that is, a word derived from someone's name. It came from an English physician named Thomas Bowdler, who, in the early 19th century, decided that Shakespeare's plays were too risqué to be appropriate for the public. Bowdler took it upon himself to remove all material from Shakespeare's plays that he deemed offensive, objectionable, or immoral. He then published an expurgated version of Shakespeare titled The Family Shakespeare in 1818.
2364
2365• According to The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories, Bowdler described his censored version of Shakespeare in this way: "Those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family." He further stated that he wanted to make the plays appropriate for "the perusal of our virtuous females." After cleaning up Shakespeare, Bowdler continued his linguistic purification of literature, starting in on Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
2366
2367• The word bowdlerize took off quickly as Bowdler's name was associated with the purging of literary works. By 1836, only a few years after Bowdler's death, bowdlerize was already being used as a verb to describe removing or modifying passages in text considered vulgar or offensive.
2368
2369Review Questions
2370
23711. This word can be traced back to the Athenian orator Demosthenes, who denounced King Philip of Macedon for his political ambitions.
2372
23732. Despite the fact that Senator Johnson was innocent, the __________ spread by her opponent did its job; the senator was __________ in the news media.
2374
2375102
2376
23773. In turn, the leader of Johnson's party __________ against what he deemed as the Pedia's tendency to resort first and investigate later.
2378
23794. The storm of __________ that followed the incident took its toll on Senator Johnson's health.
2380
23815. This word is an eponym that means to purge a text of material that might be deemed offensive.
2382
23836. Susan's __________ speech charmed her audience.
2384
23857. The students' attempt to __________ a protest fizzled out when the university president agreed to meet with student body representatives and discuss their concerns.
2386
23878. Gerald's __________ style of speech attracted women who valued a touch of mystery and machismo in their relationships.
2388
2389103
2390
2391Words for Praise, Criticism, and Nonsense
2392
2393Lecture 16
2394
2395In the last lecture, we explored words relating to negative speech, such as obloquy, fulminate, and philippic. In this lecture, we'll wrap up our discussion of negative speech words, then move on to some words that deal with positive speech. Finally, we'll finish with words that describe speech that's just plain nonsense. Along the way, we'll answer the following questions: Does maunder have anything to do with meander, meaning "to wander around aimlessly"? Is a formal speech of praise best characterized as a panegyric or a jeremiad? Finally, what is claptrap?
2396
2397Maunder (verb)
2398
2399Lecture 16: Words for Praise, Criticism, and Nonsense
2400
2401To talk aimlessly and incoherently.
2402
2403• Someone who maunders is the exact opposite of someone who is pithy, one of our target words from the previous lecture. Maunder means to talk on and on without meaning; in contrast, pithy refers to language that is brief and full of meaning.
2404
2405• Synonyms for maunder include babble and prattle, which means "to chatter meaninglessly and at length." 
2406
2407• Most sources state that maunder is probably related to, or a dialectical variant of, meander, which means "to wander aimlessly"
2408
2409and originally referred to winding rivers.
2410
2411Pillory (noun)
2412
2413To expose to (often public) ridicule, abuse, and scorn; to criticize harshly.
2414
2415• 104
2416
2417From the Middle Ages up until the early 1800s in some places, pillory referred to a device used for public punishment: a wooden or metal frame with holes into which the head and hands of a person accused of a crime would be locked.
2418
2419© Marbury/iStock/Thinkstock.
2420
2421Pillories were purposely setup in market places or at crossroads to add public humiliation to the punishment of the guilty.
2422
2423Today, we use pillory as a verb, meaning "to expose to public ridicule."
2424
2425jeremiad (noun)
2426
2427A long lamentation or complaint; a bitter lament; a scolding speech or sermon.
2428
2429• Jeremiad, like bowdlerize in the previous lecture, is an eponym, a word derived from someone's name. Jeremiad is named after the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, who prophesied the imminent downfall of the Kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah's prophecy came true, and in the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah laments the fall of the Kingdom of Judah.
2430
2431• Often, jeremiad refers to a bitter lament about the state of society, particularly one containing a prophecy of doom. For example: "Her article was yet another jeremiad describing and lamenting the decay of morals in today's society."
2432
2433105
2434
2435Badinage (noun)
2436
2437Light, playful banter; raillery.
2438
2439• Badinage comes from the French word badiner, meaning "to jest, joke."
2440
2441It refers to good-natured teasing between people, as in the following:
2442
2443"In their classic films together,Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy were known for their witty repartee and charming badinage." 
2444
2445• Synonyms for badinage include banter, back-and-forth, give and-take, raillery, and repartee. A related word is riposte, which means "a quick, witty comeback; a sharp reply in speech or action; a counterstroke." Riposte comes from fencing, where it refers to a quick thrust following a parry of an opponent's lunge.
2446
2447Lecture 16: Words for Praise, Criticism, and Nonsense
2448
2449Panegyric (noun)
2450
2451Formal or elaborate praise; specifically, a formal speech or writing that offers praise.
2452
2453• Panegyric refers to lofty, formal praise, such as that given in a speech. For example: "The general's panegyric for his fallen soldiers moved everyone to tears." 
2454
2455• Synonyms and words related to panegyric include accolade, commendation, homage, tribute, and encomium.
2456
2457• Panegyric is derived from two Greek roots: pan ("all") and agora ("marketplace"). The combination of the two yields the image of a formal speech of praise delivered to all those assembled in a public meeting place.
2458
2459Paean (noun)
2460
24611. A joyous song or hymn of praise, thanksgiving, or triumph.
2462
24632. Speech or writing that expresses enthusiastic praise.
2464
2465106
2466
2467• In ancient Greece, a paean was a hymn of invocation or thanksgiving to Apollo or another Greek deity. Today, the word is used more generally to refer to a hymn of praise or thanksgiving or to speech or writing that expresses praise.
2468
2469• Paean is often used for critical acclaim of books, plays, and movies, as in: "The play received a paean from the usually negative critics."
2470
2471Claptrap (noun)
2472
2473Pretentious nonsense; insincere speech.
2474
2475• Originally, claptrap meant speech or any artifice through which a person tried to trap an audience into clapping. The noun can still carry that same meaning today.
2476
2477• Not surprisingly, claptrap is often used to describe political speeches, as in: "His fiery speech may have riled up his base supporters for the primary, but it was largely partisan claptrap that won't play well in the general election." The use of claptrap is not, however, restricted to politics alone. You might hear claptrap at work from your colleagues or at a neighborhood get-together from the local blowhard.
2478
2479• English has at least 40 synonyms for claptrap, including sham, hokum, tripe, tosh, bosh, rubbish, humbug, poppycock, balderdash, blarney, bombast, babble, blather, twaddle, and many others.
2480
2481Bunk (noun)
2482
2483Foolish, untrue talk; nonsense.
2484
2485• Bunk is a toponym, that is, a word named after a place. Buncombe is a county in North Carolina that was represented in 1820 by a congressman named Felix Walker. In one session, as Walker was making a longwinded speech, his fellow congressmen called for him to sit down, but he refused, saying that he was not speaking to 
2486
2487107
2488
2489the House but to the voters in Buncombe. In other words, Walker wanted to make a speech that would be printed in the papers back home to prove to his constituents that he was working hard.
2490
2491• Because Walker's speech was long on wind and short on substance, bunkum, with a change in spelling from the place name, became a term for lofty political mumbo-jumbo. Bunkum was later shortened to bunk.
2492
2493Palaver (noun)
2494
24951. Profuse and idle chit-chat; chatter; empty talk; nonsense.
2496
24972. Flattery and sweet talk used to persuade.
2498
2499Lecture 16: Words for Praise, Criticism, and Nonsense
2500
2501• Palaver brings to mind the buzz of conversation among students in the few minutes before class starts. Consider, for example, this context sentence: "The high school English teacher, annoyed at the incessant chattering in class, said, Diet's put an end to this palaver and start our discussion of Macbeth.'"
2502
2503Pablum (noun)
2504
2505Trite, insipid, or simplistic writing, speech, or conceptualization.
2506
2507108
2508
2509• Originally, pablum was the trademark name for a soft, bland, mushy, easy-to-digest cereal developed for infants and invalids in the 1930s. It's now used in a figurative sense to refer to bland, simplistic, or trite speech or ideas.
2510
2511• Pablum was derived from the related word pabulum, which can refer to a nourishing substance or to insipid intellectual nourishment.
2512
2513• A wonderful synonym for pablum is pap. Like pablum, pap also originally referred to soft food for infants and is now used to refer to an oversimplified idea or something lacking substance, as in: "That white paper from the think tank is just intellectual pap." 
2514
2515Roots for "Speak"
2516
2517• We'll end this lecture with three powerful roots that center on the meaning of "speak." We've touched on some of these roots and derived words in earlier lectures, but reviewing them will help you make connections among words and learn new, unfamiliar words in the future.
2518
2519• The Latin root usually spelled loc or loq means "speak." Our key word for this root is ventriloquist; other words we've studied that share this root are soliloquy, loquacious, and obloquy. Some additional derived words include the following:
2520
2521• elocution: the art of public speaking 
2522• eloquent: characterized by fluency and persuasiveness in speech or writing
2523
2524• colloquium: a conference, usually academic, at which specialists and experts speak on particular topics
2525
2526• colloquial: speaking in an informal way
2527
2528• grandiloquent: overblown, bombastic speech
2529
2530• interlocutor: someone who takes part in a conversation or dialogue between people; often used in a political sense to refer to an informal middleman between parties in the preliminary stages of negotiations
2531
2532• The Latin root dic/dict also means "speak." English words derived from this root include diction, dictate, dictionary, predict, verdict, benediction, edict, and indict.
2533
2534• Finally, the Latin voc means "call." English words derived from this root include vocal, vociferous, advocate, avocation, convocation, equivocal, and invocation.
2535
2536109
2537
2538Review Questions
2539
25401. What might you call the light, playful banter that occurs between two people on a first date? 
2541
25422. And what might you call the sweet talk used by one member of the couple to secure a second date? 
2543
25443. These two close synonyms are often used to refer to meaningless political speech.
2545
25464. The minister delivered a __________ from the pulpit against permissive parenting.
2547
25485. The CEO's __________ to Pat at his retirement party received a standing ovation from his fellow employees.
2549
2550Lecture 16: Words for Praise, Criticism, and Nonsense
2551
25526. A visit from her mother-in-law inevitably meant two hours of complaining and __________.
2553
25547. Bob delivered a moving __________ to his son, who had fought a heroic battle against cancer.
2555
25568. The city councilwoman was __________ in the press for her refusal to vote in favor of a raise for law enforcement officers.
2557
25589. The best that can be said about the __________ served up on television these days is that it might drive more patrons to the library.
2559
2560110
2561
2562Eponyms from Literature and History
2563
2564Lecture 17
2565
2566In this lecture, we'll explore eponyms—words named after people. The word eponym is a combination of the Greek prefix ep- or epi-, meaning "on" or "upon," and the Greek noun onuma, meaning "name." Thus, an eponym is a word built on someone's name. English is replete with eponyms, such as bloomers (named after women's rights advocate Amelia Bloomer), sideburns (Civil War General Ambrose Burnside), and sandwich (the fourth earl of Sandwich). To become a true eponym, a word must acquire its own meaning independent of the original story behind it. When that happens, most language users aren't even aware of the person behind the word. In this lecture, we'll learn about the people and stories behind eight eponyms.
2567
2568© Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division/ LC-afG-ppmsca-35451.
2569
2570Draconian (adjective)
2571
2572Exceedingly harsh; very severe; cruel.
2573
2574• In Athens of the 7th century B.C.E., justice was largely carried out according to oral law; personal vendettas and blood feuds were usually the deciding factors in determining guilt and punishment. If someone in a family was killed, it was up to the family—not the state—to seek justice.
2575
2576In response to this situation, the Athenian legislator Draco set forth what was probably Athens's first comprehensive code of written laws, disseminated around 621 B.C.E. For each crime, the code mandated only one penalty: death. The harshness of Draco's laws became legendary and led to the coining of the word draconian.
2577
2578The word sideburns comes from the Union Civil War General Ambrose Burnside, known for the unusually thick whiskers on the sides of his face.
2579
2580The following sources were particularly helpful in the creation of this lecture: John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins: The Histories of More Than 8,000 English-Language Words, The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories, Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, and the Oxford English Dictionary (Ond edition).
2581
2582111
2583
2584• Fortunately for the Athenians, Solon, a later Athenian statesman, repealed almost all of Draco's laws around 594 B.C.E. However, Solon was wise enough to keep Draco's homicide law, which made the state, not the family, responsible for justice in murder. Solon has since come into English as a noun referring to a wise and skilled lawgiver.
2585
2586Quixotic (adjective)
2587
2588Lecture 17: Eponyms from Literature and History
2589
2590Romantically impractical or impulsive.
2591
2592• Quixotic comes from the name Don Quixote, the main character in a Spanish novel written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 1600s, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.
2593
2594• As you may know, the novel follows the adventures of a retired country gentleman who is so profoundly influenced by reading books of chivalry that he decides to sally forth as a knight-errant to right wrongs, save fair maidens, and generally uphold the knight's code. With a distorted perception of reality and a romantic view of the world, he renames himself Don Quixote and, among many other adventures, attacks windmills he mistakenly believes are giants.
2595
2596• Connecting the character of Don Quixote to quixotic is probably the best way to remember this word. Or you might make a personal connection with a time when you did something completely crazy, a bit romantic, or totally impractical.
2597
2598Gerrymander (noun/verb)
2599
2600noun: The act of dividing election districts to give one party an unfair advantage.
2601
2602verb: To divide election districts unfairly.
2603
2604112
2605
2606• Elbridge Gerry was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, delegate to the Second Continental Congress, vice president of the United States under James Madison, and governor of Massachusetts.
2607
2608Despite this impressive resume, Gerry is most well-known for a specific type of political skulduggery that is still practiced and still controversial today.
2609
2610• In 1812, during his second term as governor of Massachusetts, Gerry's administration introduced a bill that would redraw the state's congressional election districts to benefit Gerry's Democratic-Republican Party. Although this certainly was not the first time a political party had tried to use redistricting for political advantage, this attempt was so blatant that it was noted by the opposition Federalist Party during the campaign.
2611
2612• In fact, the redrawn map of Essex County, Gerry's home territory, was shown at a Federalist Party meeting. Noticing the odd shape of the newly drawn district, one of the Federalists drew his own version of the outline on the map: a serpent-like creature with claws and wings. The Federalist proclaimed,"That will do for a salamander," and according to one account, another party member quipped,"Gerrymander," coining the word.
2613
2614• Notice that gerrymander is both an eponym and a portmanteau word—a combination of two or more unrelated word parts. In this case, gerrymander is a combination of Gerry, a person's name, and salamander.
2615
2616Quisling (noun)
2617
2618A traitor who aids an invading and/or occupying enemy force, often serving later in the puppet government.
2619
2620• Born in 1887, Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian army officer and politician. In 1933, he became the leader of Norway's Fascist Party, and in 1939, he met with Adolf Hitler, asking Hitler to invade and occupy Norway. Quisling hoped to lead a new Norwegian government with German support.
2621
2622113
2623
2624Lecture 17: Eponyms from Literature and History
2625
2626• As we know, Germany invaded Norway in April 1940. During this invasion, Quisling asked his fellow Norwegians not to resist; he then proclaimed himself head of Norway's new government.
2627
2628However, Quisling lasted only a week as prime minister. There was such vehement opposition among Norwegians to Quisling's German-supported power grab that even the Germans themselves withdrew their support.
2629
2630• However, this wasn't the end for the Norwegian traitor. The Germans set up a puppet government during their occupation of Norway in which Quisling went on to serve as a figurehead. In this role, he tried to force-feed National Socialism to Norwegian churches and schools.
2631
2632• Because of his actions, Quisling became known as a traitor.
2633
2634According to the OED, it was the London Times, on April 15, 1940, that first used the term quisling as a synonym for "traitor,"
2635
2636reporting: "There should be unremitting vigilance also against possible 'Quislings' inside the country." Within a month, quisling had been used by the great CBS News correspondent Edward R. Murrow, and it can be found in the wartime writings of Winston Churchill, George Orwell, and C. S. Lewis.
2637
2638• Why did this particular word catch on so quickly and universally? Why do some words catch on and others don't? The answer may lie in a combination of factors.
2639
2640• For example, the historical context may play a role. In the case of quisling, the strong reaction of so many people against one individual certainly contributed to the adoption of the word.
2641
2642• 114
2643
2644The sound of the word may also influence its adoption. In this case, the London Star of July 10, 1940, reported that the sound of the name Quisling "conveyed all the odious, greasy wickedness of the man." The London Times further ventured that Quisling brought to mind other Q words with negative connotations, such as quavering, quivering, and querulous.
2645
2646• Although the term quisling has lived on, Quisling himself didn't last any longer than the war. With Norway's liberation at the end of World War II, Quisling was found guilty of treason and war crimes and was executed.
2647
2648Bedlam (noun)
2649
2650A place or situation of noisy uproar and confusion.
2651
2652• The story of bedlam starts nearly 800 years ago in England, when Simon FitzMary, former sheriff of London, founded the Priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem in 1247. Around 1330, this religious house was converted into a hospital. Less than 100 years later, St. Mary's began to admit mental patients, and by the 16th century, it was converted into a state asylum for the insane.
2653
2654• By the 1400s, the word Bethlehem in the hospital's name had been telescoped into bedlam, and the word was used to refer to a patient of the Bethlehem hospital. This meaning was later extended to refer to patients of any lunatic asylum or to any person suffering from insanity.
2655
2656• In the 1700s, it was not uncommon for members of the upper class to take a trip to St. Mary's to watch the mentally ill patients as a form of entertainment. We can imagine what a disorderly scene that must have been, with the unfortunate patients on display to throngs of visitors. With that image in mind, we can also see how the term bedlam, which was initially used to refer to any "madhouse," was extended to the more figurative sense of a "scene of noisy, mad confusion."
2657
2658Luddite (noun)
2659
2660Anyone who opposes the introduction of technological change.
2661
2662115
2663
2664Lecture 17: Eponyms from Literature and History
2665
2666• The original Luddites were a group of English craftsmen who organized themselves into an activist workers group in 1811.
2667
2668Because the Luddites feared that the introduction of new machinery would put them out of work, they began destroying the machinery.
2669
2670• The OED etymology for luddite is drawn from Pellew's Life of Lord Sidmouth (1847). According to this source, the Luddites took their name from Ned Ludd,"a person of weak intellect" who destroyed some equipment used to make stockings in an English village around 1779.
2671
2672• Luddite has been used as a proper noun since 1811, the year of the Luddites' inception, to refer to that specific group. However, it entered English as a common noun—referring to anyone who opposes the introduction of new technology—relatively recently, in 1961. At that time, the old term—meaning "resistance against progress"-found a new, specific meaning-"resistance against computers."
2673
2674Billingsgate (noun)
2675
2676Foul, coarse, abusive language.
2677
2678116
2679
2680• The word billingsgate is actually a toponym—"a word named after a place"—rather than an eponym. Billingsgate, now one of London's 25 wards, originally was a water gate in the river wall on the north bank of the Thames. Over the centuries, Billingsgate developed into a market, particularly a fish market.
2681
2682• The market at Billingsgate became well-known for something besides the fish: the vulgar, abusive, and coarse language that one heard while shopping there. In particular, it was the female fishmongers who were notorious for their creative and biting profanity.
2683
2684• The fishwives of Billingsgate and the market itself became so well known for this obscene language that references to the place
2685were not uncommon in English literature. The word became a true toponym in the late 18th century, when it began to be used as a common noun to describe particularly foul, coarse, and abusive language.
2686
2687Malapropism (noun)
2688
2689A ridiculous and often humorous misuse of words, particularly words that sound similar but are different in meaning.
2690
2691• Malapropism came into our language from an 18th-century English comedy, The Rivals, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. In this play, a character named Mrs. Malaprop misuses words, often to humorous effect.
2692
2693• Mrs. Malaprop's name comes in part from the French word apropos, literally meaning "to the purpose." The word is used to mean "fitting, appropriate, pertinent." Mal- is a prefix that means "bad, evil, or ill." The combination of the two means "inappropriate" or "inopportune." 
2694
2695• We hear malapropisms come out of the mouths of children, celebrities, sports stars, politicians—and even ourselves. A famous example comes from Richard Daley, former mayor of Chicago, who once said,"The police are not here to create disorder; they're here to preserve disorder" (yourdictionary.com).
2696
2697Review Questions
2698
26991. You might think this political practice had faded into history, but it's still used in local, state, and national elections today.
2700
27012. Rose is such a __________ that she refuses to purchase a computer or even a cell phone.
2702
2703117
2704
27053. The baseball player Yogi Berra is remembered for many humorous quotes, such as "He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious."
2706
2707What might you call this particular misuse of words? 
2708
27094. Chris emitted a steady stream of __________ whenever he watched the nightly news.
2710
27115. Leaking national secrets on the Internet marked him as a 21st-century __________.
2712
27136. The teacher was forced to institute __________ punishments to reduce the all-out __________ that her classroom had become.
2714
27157. Jerry's wife said that his purchase of a red convertible was the most __________ behavior her husband had ever exhibited.
2716
2717Lecture 17: Eponyms from Literature and History
2718
2719118
2720
2721Thinking, Teaching, and Learning Words
2722
2723Lecture 18
2724
2725According to the Greek historian Plutarch,"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." Good teachers take this quote to mean that education does not involve simply lecturing to students but actively engaging them to construct meaning in an inspiring way. Learning, in other words, is active. It's also true that our minds are innately disposed to detect patterns. In the process of learning, we look and listen for patterns we already know to help us remember, store, and retrieve information. In this lecture, we'll explore words related to thinking, teaching, and learning and, as always, apply some strategies for identifying patterns and similarities among words to help us remember them.
2726
2727Induction (noun)
2728
2729The process of inferring general principles from individual facts or instances.
2730
2731Deduction (noun)
2732
2733The process of reasoning in which a conclusion necessarily follows from the stated premises.
2734
2735• Induction is bottom-up reasoning, that is, moving from the specific to the general. Deduction is the opposite of induction; it's top-down reasoning, moving from the general to the specific.
2736
2737• Deductive reasoning is often introduced in philosophy with the following syllogistic argument:
2738
2739• All men are mortal.
2740
2741• Socrates is a man.
2742
2743• Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
2744
2745119
2746
2747• Notice that this argument moves from a general statement about humanity to the specific case of Socrates. Also note that the conclusion necessarily follows from the premises.
2748
2749• Deduction derives from a combination of the Latin prefix de-, meaning "down from, away," and duc (from Latin duco), meaning "lead." Thus, a deduction "leads down" from general principles to the specific.
2750
2751Exegesis (noun)
2752
2753© anyaivanova/iStock/Thinkstock.
2754
2755Lecture 18: Thinking, Teaching, and Learning Words
2756
2757An explanation or critical interpretation, especially of the Bible or another religious text.
2758
2759Exegesis is a transliteration of a Greek word meaning "explanation, interpretation"; to remember this word, think of time when a teacher helped you make sense of a particularly difficult reading assignment.
2760
2761120
2762
2763Perspicacious (adjective)
2764
2765Having or showing keen mental perception.
2766
2767• In the 1950s, the theory of behaviorism dominated the social sciences. Popularized by the writings of psychologists John B.Watson and B. F. Skinner, behaviorism argued that all behavior, including language, could be explained by a few laws of stimulus and response.
2768
2769• Noam Chomsky, now widely recognized as the father of modern linguistics but a relatively unknown scholar at the time, saw holes in this theory that others missed. He revolutionized the field of linguistics by famously critiquing Skinner's book Verbal Behavior.
2770
2771• As described by Steven Pinker in The Language Instinct, Chomsky's critique of behaviorism was twofold: First, he argued that if language is simply a collection of learned responses, we would be unable to come up with novel sentences. Second, he pointed out that children have an innate instinct for language and the ability to generate linguistic rules.
2772
2773• Chomsky, in other words, was far too perspicacious to be taken in by the claims of behaviorism. He perceived gaps in the theory that others had missed.
2774
2775• Perspicacious comes from the Latin prefix per-, meaning "through," and the Latin root that is usually spelled spec or spic, meaning "look." In other words, those who are perspicacious have the ability to "look through" the surface of things.
2776
2777• Synonyms and related words for perspicacious include acute, astute, discerning, penetrating, sagacious, and sapient.
2778
2779121
2780
2781Didactic (adjective)
2782
2783Inclined to teach or moralize excessively.
2784
2785• Didactic carries with it a connotation of preachy and boring. For example: "The professor's didactic lecture style was known for putting her students to sleep." 
2786
2787• Synonyms for didactic include preachy, donnish, and sermonize.
2788
2789Pedantic is another synonym, but it has a slightly different meaning: characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules. In other words, didactic emphasizes excessive teaching, while pedantic emphasizes excessive attention to trivia, often to show off.
2790
2791Lecture 18: Thinking, Teaching, and Learning Words
2792
2793Philistine (noun)
2794
2795A person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits and indifferent or hostile to artistic and cultural values.
2796
2797122
2798
2799• Philistine is a rich vocabulary word with a wonderful history going back to biblical times. The original Philistines were the inhabitants of the southern coast of ancient Palestine. Enemies of the Israelites, the Philistines were known for being aggressive and crude. Since the 1600s, the word philistine was used to refer humorously to one's enemies.
2800
2801• However, the modern meaning of philistine as a boorish person seems to have originated in the German town of Jena in 1687.
2802
2803• A town-versus-gown confrontation between the people of Jena and the students at the local university led to several deaths. In response, a local clergyman delivered a sermon to the townspeople on the value of education and quoted a passage from the Book of Judges: "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." 
2804
2805• The university students took this sermon and ran with it, using the German word for philistine, philister, to refer to those ignorant townspeople who were opposed to education.
2806
2807But it was Matthew Arnold, an English poet and literary critic, who took the final step, translating the German philister to philistine and using the word in his book Culture and Anarchy. Since the book's publication in 1869, philistine—carrying its current meaning—has been used widely by English authors.
2808
2809Erudite (adjective)
2810
2811Learned or scholarly; characterized by deep and extensive knowledge.
2812
2813• Erudite comes from the Latin verb erudio, meaning "to educate, teach, instruct." This Latin word, in turn, is derived from the Latin preposition ex ("out of") and the Latin adjective rudis ("unpolished, rough, unlearned"). Those who are erudite are literally "brought out of a rough, raw, unlearned state"—polished through education.
2814
2815• Synonyms for erudite include lettered, brainy, scholarly, and learned.
2816
2817Recondite (adjective)
2818
2819Difficult to understand.
2820
2821• Something that perhaps goes beyond erudite or scholarly may be described as recondite, meaning "difficult to understand." For example: "Although the recondite economics paper contained some important findings, it didn't make an impact because few could understand it."
2822
2823Esoteric (adjective)
2824
2825Understood by only a select group.
2826
2827123
2828
2829• Esoteric describes secret or specialized knowledge that might seem mysterious because it's known only to an enlightened inner circle.
2830
2831For example: "The intricacies of the software program seemed esoteric to everyone but the programmers." 
2832
2833• Both esoteric and recondite can describe knowledge that is beyond the power of the average person to understand. However, recondite is used to stress the fact that it's the profundity of the ideas and remoteness of the subject to normal interests that make it difficult to comprehend. Esoteric is used to stress the idea that the knowledge is secret, guarded, or known by only a select group of initiates or students.
2834
2835Lecture 18: Thinking, Teaching, and Learning Words
2836
2837The gn(o) Root: "Know"
2838
2839• The Greek root that means "know," usually spelled gn(o), is a powerful one that gives us many derived words, including cognition,"the act or process of knowing," as well as recognition, incognito, and cognizant.
2840
2841• You may have encountered the related words gnosis, referring to secret knowledge of spiritual mysteries, and Gnosticism, a religious movement of the 2nd century C.E. Gnosticism claimed that salvation came from acquiring secret, esoteric knowledge.
2842
2843• Other words derived from gn(o) include agnostic, diagnosis, ignorant, and prognosis and prognosticate—both sharing the core meaning of "knowing something before."
2844
2845Review Questions
2846
28471. When Carl refused to see any movie with subtitles, Janet denounced him as a __________.
2848
28492. Dr. Nolan's keen insights into the science of thermodynamics were characteristic of her __________ mind.
2850
2851124
2852
28533. The minister's __________ style of preaching carried over into his personal life, all but putting his guests to sleep at the dinner table.
2854
28554. Nonetheless, his __________ of individual Bible verses was insightful and inspiring to his congregation.
2856
28575. Differentiate among erudite, recondite, and esoteric.
2858
28596. Differentiate between induction and deduction.
2860
2861125
2862
2863Words for the Diligent and the Lazy
2864
2865Lecture 19
2866
2867We've all heard the aphorism that there's no substitute for hard work. But if you've ever worked with any group, you know that not everyone is a hard worker. Some people are diligent and dogged and will persistently plug away until a job's done. Others are highly skilled, competent, and technically adroit; these professionals have the expertise to do the job and do it well. Still others are cheerful and optimistic; they give their fellow workers a shot of energy when they're flagging. Finally, there are always a few who are downright lazy, sluggish, or apathetic. In this lecture, we'll discover some new words to describe all these different types of working and doing.
2868
2869Sedulous (adjective)
2870
2871Lecture 19: Words for the Diligent and the Lazy
2872
2873Diligent in application or in the pursuit of something; persevering; constant in effort.
2874
2875126
2876
2877• Sedulous can describe both people and their work. In the following context sentence, it applies to the work of the carpenter: "The sedulous workmanship of the master carpenter was evident in the perfection of every detail of the stunning table, from the exquisitely turned legs to the tight-fitting tongue-and-groove joints."
2878
2879• Synonyms for sedulous include diligent, assiduous, persistent, tenacious, and pertinacious.
2880
2881• The last words in this list, tenacious and pertinacious, are related, but they are not exact synonyms. As observed by Rod L. Evans in The Artful Nuance, tenacious has a positive connotation, suggesting a determined adherence to a course of action or holding fast despite opposing forces. For example:
2882
2883"The cancer survivor's tenacious spirit—overcoming years of setbacks, chemotherapy, and radiation—inspired others." 
2884
2885• Pertinacious shares the basic meaning of holding resolutely to a course of action, purpose, or opinion, but it carries a negative connotation of being so tenacious as to become stubborn or obstinate. For example: "The pertinacious questioning of the high-strung student annoyed his professor and the rest of his classmates so much that the professor gave up on holding open discussions in class."
2886
2887Facile (adjective)
2888
2889Done or achieved with little effort or difficulty; easy; performed with effortless ease and fluency.
2890
2891• Facile can be used to describe work, actions, speech, or movements, as in the following context sentence: "The professor's facile wit kept his students on their toes and engaged throughout the class."
2892
2893The word is often used to describe people who are highly skilled and at ease in a particular field of endeavor.
2894
2895• Facile is derived from the Latin root fac ("make or do"), which we explored in an earlier lecture. People who are facile can "do" things easily and effortlessly. Fac is also commonly spelled in three other ways: fec (effective), fic (artificial), and -fy, a verb-forming suffix form of this root, meaning "to make into." We see this -fy suffix in such words as sanctify ("to make sacred or holy"), magnify ("to make larger"), dulcify ("to make sweeter"), and stupefy ("to stun"; literally,"to make into a stupor").
2896
2897• Two other words that are closely related to facile are facility and facilitate. A person who has the facility for a task or job possesses the aptitude or skill to do it easily and effortlessly. Facilitate, of course, means to make doing something easier. To remember these related words, you might connect them in your vocabulary notebook with the following sentence: "A facile person has the facility to facilitate work."
2898
2899127
2900
2901• Synonyms and related words for facile include skilled, adroit, adept, dexterous, and proficient.
2902
2903• In addition to having a positive connotation, facile may also have a negative one; that is, something can be done with too much ease, showing little care or attention to detail. For example: "His facile answer on the essay portion of the exam earned him a D overall."
2904
2905Alacrity (noun)
2906
2907Lecture 19: Words for the Diligent and the Lazy
2908
2909A quick and cheerful readiness and eagerness to do something.
2910
2911• People who do their work quickly, willingly, and promptly are said to work with alacrity, as in the following context sentence: "She dove into the research paper assignment with alacrity, illustrating the importance of giving students some flexibility in choosing their topics." 
2912
2913• Synonyms for alacrity include vivacity, animation, sprightliness, ebullience, get-up-and-go, vim and vigor, liveliness, zeal, avidity, and expedition.
2914
2915Indolent (adjective)
2916
2917Habitually lazy and slow; tending to avoid exertion.
2918
2919128
2920
2921• Indolent is used to describe laggards, slackers, loafers, clockwatchers, do-nothings, malingerers, and procrastinators. Consider, for example, this context sentence: "The indolent writer never made it out of bed before noon; he was usually too lazy to check the credibility of his sources and rarely made his deadlines." 
2922
2923• The great 20th-century British moral philosopher Bernard Williams once observed,"I like the word 'indolence.' It makes my laziness seem classy." 
2924
2925• Synonyms for indolent include sluggish, idle, lackadaisical, languid, lethargic, listless, and slothful.
2926
2927Torpor (noun)
2928
2929Sluggishness; a state of mental or physical inactivity; lethargy, apathy.
2930
2931Torpid (adjective)
2932
2933Slow, sluggish, lethargic, dull, benumbed.
2934
2935• Torpor and torpid come from the Latin word torpeo, meaning "to be numb, inactive, or dull." The ancient Romans used this word to refer fish that Qumbed their prey with an electric shock. In the 16th century, the English used the word torpedo for the same type of fish, known today as electric rays. In the early 1800s, Robert Fulton chose the name torpedo for the floating device he invented that exploded on contact with a ship, although today we would call such devices mines.
2936
2937• Consider torpor and torpid in the following context sentences: 
2938
2939(1)
2940
2941"The teenage boys were aroused from their torpor by the promise of allthe free pizza they could eat," and 
2942
29432) "We've finally broken out of the torpid economic growth following the recession." 
2944
2945You might also hear these words used to describe the mind and ideas, as in:
2946
2947"Not having read or discussed anything stimulating for more than 40 years, his mind had grown torpid from lack of use."
2948
2949Turbid (adjective)
2950
29511. Muddy, thick, or opaque with sediment; obscured; clouded.
2952
29532. Confused, muddled, disordered.
2954
2955• Torpid and torpor are commonly confused with turbid and turgid.
2956
2957Turbid is often used to describe roiled, muddy water or liquid that's heavy, thick, and dense, as in: "The turbid river, full of mud and debris from the flood, made it nearly impossible for the rescue teams to recover the missing."
2958
2959129
2960
2961Turbid can also be used in a more figurative sense to describe something that is confused, muddled, or disordered, as in: "The writer's turbid prose confused her readers."
2962
2963• Turbid includes the root turb, which comes from the Latin word turba, meaning "turmoil or confusion." The root can also carry the connotation of "spinning and whirling." Other words that share the turb root include turbulent, disturb, perturb, imperturbable, and turbine.
2964
2965Turgid (adjective)
2966
2967Swollen, distended, puffy.
2968
2969Lecture 19: Words for the Diligent and the Lazy
2970
2971• Turgid can refer to physical swollenness, as in: "The disease had ravaged his body, leading to swollen limbs and turgid facial features." It can also be used in a more figurative sense to refer to language that is swollen, pompous, and bombastic, as in: "The love song's turgid lyrics and hackneyed expressions made it unpopular with listeners."
2972
2973Roots for "Work"
2974
2975• The Latin root oper means "work" and is found in such words as operate, cooperate, cooperative, uncooperative, inoperable, opus (a work or composition), magnum opus (literally, a "great work"), and opera (borrowed into English from the Italian opera, literally meaning "a work, labor, or composition").
2976
2977• 130
2978
2979The Greek root erg also means "work." This root is found in such words as energy (the capacity or power to do work), erg (a unit of work or energy), ergonomics (the study of the relationship between workers and their environments), synergy (the combined effect of working together), metallurgy (the science of working with or extracting metals), and ergophobia (the fear of work).
2980
2981Review Questions
2982
29831. Synonyms for this word include adept, skilled, and dexterous.
2984
29852. These two words both refer to sluggishness.
2986
29873. These two words might be considered opposite approaches to work.
2988
29894. Colleen watched in horror as the __________ river, __________ from the flood, swallowed her beloved car.
2990
29915. Hadeem always approached his work with __________, making him a valued employee.
2992
2993131
2994
2995Words That Break and Words That Join
2996
2997Lecture 20
2998
2999You've probably heard Neil Sedaka's hit song from 1962,"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do." Of course, that's not the only pop song that deals with the heartache of saying goodbye. In fact, breaking up, getting back together, and breaking up again have been a staple of music for some time. Where would songwriters be without this ongoing human tension between joining together and pulling apart? Luckily for songwriters-and for the rest of us—English has a number of rich vocabulary words that center on the opposing concepts of breaking things apart and putting them together.
3000
3001In this lecture, we'll explore some of these target words.
3002
3003Schism (noun) 
3004
3005A division among the members of a group into opposing factions because of a disagreement.
3006
3007Lecture 20: Words That Break and Words That Join
3008
3009132
3010
3011• Although an informal club can experience a schism, this word is often used in reference to divisions of a more serious nature, such as a rift within a profession, a region, a political party, or a religion. For example: "The high-stakes testing policies mandated by the federal government have opened a schism in the education community." 
3012
3013• Synonyms and related words for schism include split, rift, division, parting of the ways, falling-out, fracture, rupture, fissure, breach, and cleft.
3014
3015• Schism comes from the Greek schisma, meaning "division, cleft," and is related to two other words you already know that can help you remember its meaning: scissors, which "cut or split" things in two, and schizophrenia, literally, the "splitting of the mind." 
3016
3017• You'll also hear the term Great Schism for the division of the Christian church during the period 1378–1417 into what would later become the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
3018
3019Diaspora (noun)
3020
3021The movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland.
3022
3023• Diaspora comes from two Greek words, dia and speirein, that were joined together as a compound word meaning "to scatter across."
3024
3025The word was used in the Bible to refer to the scattering of the Jewish communities outside Palestine (or modern-day Israel) after their exile by the Babylonians. The word is capitalized in reference to this Jewish Diaspora.
3026
3027• However, diaspora has added a more general meaning to describe any large movement or migration of people or culture. For example,"Many families who left their homeland during the diaspora struggled to retain their culture in their new country." 
3028
3029• Diaspora can also refer to the actual group of people who have settled far from their ancestral homelands or to the place where those people live.
3030
3031Lacuna (noun)
3032
3033A gap or hole where something should be.
3034
3035• Have you ever wondered why English has gender-specific words for siblings (brother and sister) and gender-specific words for parents (mother and father) but no similar gender-specific words for male cousins and female cousins? 
3036
3037• For that matter, why do we have collective terms for our mothers and fathers (parents) and for our sisters and brothers (siblings) but not for our aunts and uncles? 
3038
3039133
3040
3041• In linguistics, such missing pieces are called lexical gaps. We might expect a word for something based on patterns found elsewhere in the language, but instead, we get a gap. This gap or break in the pattern is an example of a lacuna.
3042
3043• Lacuna is often used to refer to a missing section of a book that has been censored or to a part of an ancient text that has gone missing.
3044
3045For example: "Although the ancient manuscript was recovered, the notably large lacuna at the beginning made the text confusing."
3046
3047In medicine, lacuna can refer to a small cavity in an anatomical structure, such as a bone.
3048
3049• Lacuna comes from the Latin lacuna, meaning "hole or pit."
3050
3051Related words include lake and lagoon, which are holes or pits filled with water.
3052
3053Maw (noun) 
3054
3055Lecture 20: Words That Break and Words That Join
3056
3057The mouth, throat, or gullet of an animal, particularly a carnivorous animal.
3058
3059• Maw is a short, powerful word for the mouth and jaws of voracious, carnivorous beasts, as in: "Staring directly into the gaping maw of the ravenous lion, he lost all courage and ran away as fast as he could."
3060
3061• In addition, maw can be used to refer to a cavernous opening that resembles the jaws of an animal: "At the end of the horror movie, her soul is sucked down into the gaping maw of hell."
3062
3063• 134
3064
3065Maw can also be used in a more figurative sense to refer to the metaphorical center of a voracious appetite: "The paparazzi will go to any lengths to get scurrilous pictures of celebrities, knowing the need to feed the insatiable maw of the scandal loving public."
3066
3067As is the case with many single-syllable words, maw is from an Old English word, in this case, maga,"stomach." 
3068
3069• English has a large number of synonyms and related words for maw or mouth, including craw, gullet, jaws, muzzle, piehole, gob, yap, trap, chops, and kisser.
3070
3071Two Latin Roots: rupt and junct
3072
3073• The Latin root rupt means "break" and gives us a number of derived words, including rupture, bankrupt, disrupt, interrupt, and erupt.
3074
3075One rupt word you might not be familiar with is irruption. The initial ir- in this word is an absorbed prefix, a variant spelling of the prefix in-, meaning "into." Thus, an irruption is a sudden, violent breaking or bursting in. This word is used to describe a sudden increase in the plant or animal population of a region.
3076
3077• In direct contrast to rupt, meaning "break," is the Latin root junct, meaning "join." This root appears in such words as juncture (the time, place, or point at which two things are joined) and conjunction (a word that joins other words together).
3078
3079Cleave (verb)
3080
30811. To split or divide by cutting.
3082
30832. To stick closely to; to cling to.
3084
3085• The word cleave has two meanings that are the exact opposite of each other: to split apart and to stick closely to. Such words that are their own antonyms are called contronyms, or Janus words, named after the Roman god Janus, who is the two-faced god of gates, doorways, and beginning and endings.
3086
3087• Buckle is another Janus word, meaning either "to fasten together," as in "I buckled my belt," or to "bend and break," as in "My knees buckled."
3088
3089• In the same way, bolt can mean either "to secure and lock," as in "Bolt the door," or "to run; to make a sudden, swift dash," as in "The rabbit bolted toward the undergrowth when it saw the dog."
3090
3091135
3092
3093© Kizel/iStock/Thinkstock.
3094
3095Lecture 20: Words That Break and Words That Join
3096
3097The Romans named January in honor of the two-faced god Janus because this month is at the end of one year and the beginning of the next.
3098
3099136
3100
3101• The first meaning of cleave,"to split or divide by cutting," appears in this context sentence: "If you want to cleave the roast, use the sharp meat cleaver." You might also hear cleave used in the sense of "to make or create by cutting or dividing," as in: "The swift sailboat cleaved a path through the choppy water." 
3102
3103• The second definition of cleave,"to cling to; adhere closely to; stick to," appears in this sentence: "The baby boy cleaved to his mother."
3104
3105Cleave can also be used figuratively with this second meaning; for example: "Despite the temptations of college life, he cleaved to the principles his parents had instilled in him in his youth." 
3106
3107• The reason cleave has two opposite meanings is that it really is two distinct words that happen to be spelled in the same way. These two meanings evolved from two different words of Germanic origin.
3108
3109Concatenation (noun)
3110
3111A series of things that are linked together.
3112
3113• Concatenation refers to a chain-like series of ideas or events, such as the events that cause a person's life to go in a certain direction or reach a particular point. For example, consider the word in this context sentence: "All of our lives can be seen as a concatenation of events that has led us to where we are today." 
3114
3115• You can remember this word by breaking it down into two parts.
3116
3117The first part is the prefix con-, which is a variant of the Latin preposition cum, meaning "with, together." The second part is the Latin base, catena, which means "a chain."
3118
3119Cabal (noun)
3120
31211. A small group of people secretly working together.
3122
31232. A secret plot.
3124
3125• The first meaning of cabal is illustrated in the following context sentence: "The fourth-grade cabal of Jimmy, Zach, and Trent had secretly plotted to start a food fight at lunch, but the conspirators were ratted out by a classmate and punished by Principal Zimmerman." The second meaning appears in this sentence: "In this time of political and civil unrest, the opposition party's cabal to overthrow the government by force just might work." 
3126
3127• Cabal originally comes from Kabbala, a Jewish mystical method of interpreting scripture that became associated with the secret and the occult. The word was popularized and given its current meaning by a 17th-century cabal of five English ministers who served under King Charles II. The members of this powerful royal council were named Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale.
3128
3129By a strange coincidence, the initial letters of their names spelled cabal.
3130
3131137
3132
3133Coterie (noun)
3134
3135A small, often select group of people who associate with one another frequently and share a common interest, background, or purpose.
3136
3137• Coterie has a similar meaning to cabal but without the added sense of secrecy and the connotation of treachery. For example: "A tightknit coterie of presidential advisors made all the important decisions in the administration." 
3138
3139• Synonyms and related words for coterie include sisterhood or brotherhood, society, troop, sect (often used to identify a religious group that may be exclusive and may deviate from mainstream religious traditions), faction (often a dissentious unit within a larger group), clique (a snobby, exclusive group), band, ring, circle, cadre, gang, and clan.
3140
3141Lecture 20: Words That Break and Words That Join
3142
3143Review Questions
3144
31451. An interesting __________ of circumstances led to Martin's career as a clown.
3146
31472. The lab didn't know if it would ever be able to fill the __________ left by the retirement of Dr. Dagley.
3148
31493. The new high-stakes testing policies mandated by the federal government have opened a __________ in the education community.
3150
31514. This word has a number of colorful synonyms, including craw, gullet, piehole, and muzzle.
3152
31535. Give the two opposite meanings of the contronym cleave.
3154
31556. Differentiate between the words cabal and coterie.
3156
31577. For many Jews, the __________ that began in the 6th century B.C. continues to this day.
3158
3159138
3160
3161Some High-utility Greek and Latin Affixes
3162
3163Lecture 21
3164
3165In our earlier lecture on Latin and Greek roots, we identified three main goals: 1) to explore some powerful Affixes and roots that aren't fully covered in other lectures, 2) to discuss how these Affixes and roots combine to form words, and (3) to learn a few more target vocabulary words.
3166
3167With these three goals in mind, we'll explore some additional Greek and Latin Affixes and roots in this lecture. As we've seen, studying these Affixes and roots capitalizes on the tendency of the brain to categorize knowledge through patterns and meaning.
3168
3169A High-utility prefix: de• The Latin-derived prefix de- is found in many words, but it can be tricky because it carries a number of different meanings, including "remove, undo" and "down, out of, away from."
3170
3171• The "remove, undo" meaning is seen in such words as defrost, decaffeinate, and defuse. The "down, out of, away from" meaning is found in deflate, which comes from the Latin deflo, which means "to blow away."
3172
3173Denude (verb)
3174
3175To lay bare; to strip; to make nude.
3176
3177• You may encounter a literal sense of denude, as in the following context sentence: "The hillside had been denuded of trees by clearcut mining." Denude might also be used in a figurative sense of stripping something away or depriving someone of something important. Consider this context sentence: "The constant criticism by the captious boss denuded the small company of its once tightknit camaraderie."
3178
3179139
3180
3181• As you probably suspect, the de- in denude means "away." The nude comes from the Latin verb nudo meaning "to strip."
3182
3183A Fertile Prefix: ab• The Latin preposition ab- meant "off, away"; thus, this prefix is close in meaning to one of the de- meanings we've just seen. The ab- prefix appears in such words as absent, abnormal, and abduct.
3184
3185Abdicate (verb)
3186
3187To renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, or responsibility.
3188
3189Lecture 21: Some High-utility Greek and Latin Affixes
3190
3191• When we look at abdicate, the ab- prefix Lmmediately stands out. What's left is the word part dicate, which contains the root dic, meaning "speak." Thus, etymologically, abdicate means "to speak away" and originally meant to "disown and disinherit one's children." In fact, it wasn't until the 1600s that abdicate began to take on the meaning of giving up a public office or power.
3192
3193Abnegate (verb)
3194
31951. To deny or renounce.
3196
31972. To relinquish power.
3198
3199140
3200
3201• Again, if we look at the word parts of abnegate, we immediately see ab-, meaning "away." The remaining part, negate, comes from the Latin nego,"to deny." Etymologically, when you abnegate, you "deny something away." 
3202
3203• The second meaning of abnegate,"to relinquish power," often causes confusion with abdicate. However, according to vocabulary.com, abdicate is usually reserved for offices of higher power. In other words, you're more likely to hear of a queen abdicating the throne and a project manager abnegating responsibility.
3204
3205Ablution (noun)
3206
3207The washing of one's body, or part of it, especially as a religious ritual.
3208
3209• The second word part of ablution comes from the Latin verb luo, meaning "wash." English words that contain the lu root often have something to do with washing, such as deluge, a torrential downpour.
3210
3211Antediluvian (adjective)
3212
32131. Of or relating to the period before the biblical flood.
3214
32152. Very old-fashioned, out of date, antiquated, or primitive.
3216
3217• Antediluvian was originally coined by Sir Thomas Browne in the 1600s by combining the Latin preposition ante, meaning "before," with the Latin noun diluvium, meaning "deluge or flood." Thus, originally, antediluvian was an adjective meaning of or relating to the period before the biblical flood.
3218
3219• However, by the 1700s, antediluvian took on a second sense: very old-fashioned, out of date, antiquated, or primitive. You'll probably see this second sense of antediluvian more often, as in: "Because of the company's antediluvian views on social media and the Internet, it lost the opportunity to market its products to 18- to 35-year-olds."
3220
3221Absquatulate (verb)
3222
3223To flee, abscond.
3224
3225• According to vocabulary.com, absquatulate was an Americanism coined in the 1830s during a fad for creating Latin-sounding words that were playful and snappy. It might be used in a context sentence such as this: "When we returned to our campsite, we realized that the other hiker had absquatulated with most of our gear."
3226
3227141
3228
3229• Two other words that grew out of this 19th-century fad are bloviate, a verb meaning "to speak pompously," and discombobulate, a verb meaning "to confuse, upset, or frustrate."
3230
3231142
3232
3233• For their part, suffixes often determine the part of speech of a word. For example, if we add the suffix -ize to the adjective civil, we change the adjective to a verb:
3234
3235civilize, meaning "to bring out of a rude state, to enlighten, refine."
3236
3237• The -ism in such words as rationalism, empiricism, and materialism is derived from the Greek suffix -ismos. Like its Greek source, -ism is a noun-forming suffix that can refer to a condition, theory, belief system, or doctrine.
3238
3239• A related suffix is -ist, which we see in such words as atheist, nihilist, and solipsist. This suffix is from the Greek suffix -istep, whichis an agent-forming suffix. It can signify "one who does or makes," such as a chemist. It can also be used to indicate "one who adheres to a certain doctrine or belief system" in such words as capitalist, socialist, and communist. A capitalist, for example, is "one who believes in" capitalism.
3240
3241© Photos.com/Thinkstock.
3242
3243Lecture 21: Some High-utility Greek and Latin Affixes
3244
3245Useful Suffixes: -ism and -ist
3246
3247• As we've said, a root gives us the core meaning of a word, and a prefix modifies or augments this core meaning. For example, the lu in deluge carries the central meaning of "wash." And the prefix de- modifies this core meaning by adding the meaning of "away." Etymologically speaking, then, a deluge washes things away.
3248
3249The word agnostic was coined by the English biologist T.H.Huxley, who combined the Greek prefix a- with the Greek noun gnosis, meaning "knowledge"; an agnostic is "without knowledge" of God.
3250
3251• Two -isms that are commonly confused are agnosticism and atheism.
3252
3253• Agnosticism is a noun referring to the view that we do not know or cannot know whether or not a deity exists.
3254
3255• Atheism, in contrast, is a noun referring to the belief that there is no God. Atheism comes from the Greek prefix a-, meaning "not or without," and the Greek noun theos, meaning "god."
3256
3257Nihilism (noun)
3258
3259A belief in nothing.
3260
3261• Nihilism comes from the Latin nihil, meaning "nothing." In philosophy, this word refers to the complete rejection of religious beliefs and moral values.
3262
3263Solipsism (noun)
3264
32651. The philosophy that one has no valid reason for believing that anything exists except oneself.
3266
32672. An extreme preoccupation with one's own feelings and thoughts.
3268
3269• Solipsism was coined in 1871 from two Latin words: solus, meaning "alone," and ipse, meaning "self." It's commonly used in reference to an extremely egocentric person.
3270
3271Protean (adjective)
3272
3273Able to take many forms or do many different things; versatile.
3274
3275• Protean comes to us from Proteus, a sea god in Greek mythology who both was prescient and could change shape. He would foretell the future only to those who could catch him in his shape-shifting.
3276
3277143
3278
3279• You might hear this word in reference to a protean genius, such as Picasso, who constantly experimented and changed how he worked throughout his career.
3280
3281Review Questions
3282
32831. Differentiate between the words abdicate and abnegate.
3284
32852. The teenager considered her parents' rules about dating positively __________.
3286
32873. Of course, like many teenagers, her self-centered view of the world might be summed up in the word __________.
3288
32894. What religious ritual involves washing? 
3290
3291Lecture 21: Some High-utility Greek and Latin Affixes
3292
32935. The high winds __________ the fledging trees in the new subdivision. 
3294
32956. This word brings to mind squatting or crouching down, then running away.
3296
32977. Friedrich Nietzsche is the thinker most often associated with this philosophy.
3298
32998. With her ability to sing, dance, and play characters of many ages, the actress was considered a __________ talent.
3300
3301144
3302
3303Cranky Words and Cool Words
3304
3305Lecture 22
3306
3307The great Mark Twain chronicled human hypocrisy and foibles with wit and sarcasm. He is known for such curmudgeonly quotes as "The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog." Although Twain was known for his sarcasm, there was always an undercurrent of warmth and humanity in his writing. However, in our own lives, we often deal with crabby people who don't share Twain's tempering warmth. We also deal with people on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum—the reserved and dispassionate. In this lecture, we'll look at a host of wonderful words to use for both these types of people—the cranky and the cool.
3308
3309Splenetic (adjective)
3310
3311Bad-tempered, irritable, or spiteful.
3312
3313• In general, a splenetic person is full of anger. Think of the professor who's so prickly that you're afraid to ask a question in class for fear of receiving a sarcastic response or the boss you've had who flies into a rage at the slightest provocation. Put simply, splenetic people are ill-tempered cranks.
3314
3315• The word splenetic is actually related to spleen, which was considered the seat of moroseness and bad temper in medieval physiology.
3316
3317• English has a wide variety of synonyms for splenetic, including bristly, prickly, crabby, cranky, crotchety, cantankerous, irascible (easily provoked), testy (irritated by small annoyances), and dyspeptic (gloomy, sullen, and irritable).
3318
3319Fractious (adjective)
3320
3321Unruly; hard to manage; rebellious.
3322
3323145 
3324
3325Lecture 22: Cranky Words and Cool Words
3326
3327• We've all probably been a bit rebellious at some point in our lives, but truly fractious people seem to stir up trouble wherever they go. They can also be cranky, peevish, and irritable, but it's their disobedience or opposition to established authority that differentiates the fractious from the splenetic.
3328
3329• In addition to people, fractious is also used to describe troublesome, difficult relationships, as in: ", t took years for the son to overcome the fractious relationship he had with his father as a teenager." 
3330
3331• Fractious is close in meaning to one of our target words from an earlier lecture, contumacious, an adjective meaning stubbornly rebellious; willfully and obstinately disobedient.
3332
3333• The root fract in fractious is derived from the verb Latin frango, meaning "to break." Other words with this root include fracture (a broken bone or a break), fraction (a whole broken into parts), and infraction (a breaking of the rules). This root also appears in a synonym for fractious, refractory, which means stubbornly disobedient or difficult to manage.
3334
3335Asperity (noun)
3336
3337Roughness or harshness of surface, sound, climate, condition, manner, or temper.
3338
3339146
3340
3341• Asperity can mean harsh and rough both literally, as in "the asperity of cruel Siberian winters," or figuratively, as in "the asperity of her manner." 
3342
3343• Asperity comes from the Latin word asper, meaning "rough, harsh," and was used in Latin to describe sour wine, bad weather, and hard times.
3344
3345• A related word to asperity is exasperate. The prefix ex- usually means "out of" (export), but in exasperate, it has the connotation of "completely, thoroughly." When combined with asper ("harsh, rough"), the result is a word that describes your feelings when you've been treated with complete and total harshness: annoyed and frustrated.
3346
3347Importune (verb)
3348
3349© Devonyu/iStock/Thinkstock.
3350
3351To harass with repeated requests; to demand of someone insistently.
3352
3353Importune-meaning "to harass or demand insistently"-is a useful word in today's world of mass-mail advertising, telemarketing, and other means of demanding more of our time and money.
3354
3355Phlegmatic (adjective)
3356
3357Showing little emotion; not easily excited to action.
3358
3359• Phlegmatic means "unemotional," which can be both a positive and a negative attribute. In the same vein, phlegmatic can have both positive and negative connotations.
3360
3361• In a positive sense, phlegmatic can mean "self-possessed, calm, composed," as in: "The phlegmatic firefighters were 
3362
3363147
3364
3365completely unruffled during the harrowing rescue; their unflappable demeanor saved the day."
3366
3367• In a negative sense, phlegmatic can mean "cold, apathetic, sluggish," as in: "Her passionate plea evoked nothing but a phlegmatic shrug from her teenage son."
3368
3369Of course, phlegmatic brings to mind phlegm, but what does mucus have to do with being unemotional? In ancient and medieval medicine, phlegm was considered to be one of the four humors of the body—along with blood, black bile, and yellow bile—that needed to be in balance to sustain health. Phlegm was thought to cause apathy, and people who were cold and unemotional were said to have an imbalance of this humor—too much phlegm. From this, we get the word phlegmatic.
3370
3371Stoic (adjective)
3372
3373Seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure or pain.
3374
3375Lecture 22: Cranky Words and Cool Words
3376
3377• Stoic is a close synonym for phlegmatic, but there is a fine distinction between the two.
3378
3379• According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms, phlegmatic "implies a temperament or constitution in which emotion is hard to arouse." Thus, phlegmatic carries the suggestion of inborn or natural lack of emotion.
3380
3381• 148
3382
3383Stoic, however, suggests restraint that has been gained through self-discipline and as a matter of principle. Stoic people have trained themselves to suppress pain and emotion. For example:
3384
3385"The mountain man showed a stoic indifference to hunger and cold."
3386
3387The adjective stoic came from Stoicism, a radical philosophy founded and taught by Zeno in Athens around 300 B.C.E. Zeno taught that happiness could be attained by the use of reason and by repressing emotion and becoming indifferent to pleasure and pain. The word stoicism came from the Stoa Poikile, the "Painted Porch," a colonnaded portico in the agora of ancient Athens where Zeno taught.
3388
3389Stolid (adjective)
3390
3391Having or expressing little or no sensibility; unemotional.
3392
3393• Stolid, like phlegmatic and stoic, carries the general meaning of being unresponsive to something that would normally excite or interest people. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms, it also "implies heavy, dull, obtuse impassivity or apathy" and suggests "impassive, mechanical, plodding, unquestioning adherence to routine."
3394
3395Inure (verb)
3396
3397To become accustomed to something undesirable, such as hardship, difficulty, or pain; to toughen or harden; to habituate.
3398
3399• Inure is the perfect verb to describe how stoics are able to suppress their emotions: They train themselves to become accustomed to hardship and privation. For example: "Living in the wild for 30 years, the stoic hermit had become inured to cold and want."
3400
3401Review Questions
3402
34031. The cold-hearted suservisor dispatched underperforming employees with __________.
3404
34052. Despite her __________ for a second chance, the student's __________ behavior was cause for dismissal from class.
3406
34073. Those who live in perpetual poverty may become __________ to the deprivations they suffer.
3408
3409149
3410
34114. The cantankerous Mr. Snyder was so __________ that his neighbors were afraid to complain about the constant barking of his dogs.
3412
3413Lecture 22: Cranky Words and Cool Words
3414
34155. Differentiate among phlegmatic, stoic, and stolid.
3416
3417150
3418
3419Words for Courage and Cowardice
3420
3421Lecture 23
3422
3423In this lecture, we'll explore words associated with courage and cowardice.
3424
3425The word courage itself is derived from the Latin root commonly spelled cor or cord, meaning "heart." To fight with all your heart is to fight with great courage. Richard I of England was known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Coeur de Lion, coeur being the French word derived from the Latin cor. We'll begin the lecture with some powerful words for different kinds of courage, including false courage, cheeky courage, and reckless courage.
3426
3427We'll then move onto some cowardly words to use when we're not feeling quite so brave.
3428
3429Intrepid (adjective)
3430
3431Resolutely fearless, dauntless.
3432
3433Fortitude (noun)
3434
3435Mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously.
3436
3437• One of the most courageous figures in American history was Frederick Douglass. After escaping slavery, he became one of the great leaders in the abolitionist movement, a social reformer, a writer, and a statesman. His life epitomizes our first two target words in this lecture: intrepid and fortitude.
3438
3439• Douglass was known for his brilliant oratory and trenchant antislavery writing, including his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In it, he describes the amazing feat of learning to read and write by himself, at a time when it was against the law to teach slaves to read. Having learned to read a few short words from his mistress when he was 12 years old, Douglass recognized the power of the written word to free the human heart and mind, and he refused to let anything stop him from becoming literate.
3440
3441151
3442
3443Lecture 23: Words for Courage and Cowardice
3444
3445• In working toward his goal, Douglass had to be both courageous and smart. He made friends with a number of poor white boys and traded food for lessons in reading. To learn how to write, Douglass was just as ingenious. In the Baltimore shipyards, he watched ship carpenters write and carefully copied the letters.
3446
3447Then, as he tells it:
3448
3449After a time, when I met with any boy who I knew could write, I would tell him I could write as well as he. The next word would be,"I don't believe you, Let me see you try it." I would then make the letters which I had been so fortunate as to learn, and ask him to beat that. In this way I got a good many lessons in writing, which it is quite possible I should never have gotten in any other way.
3450
3451• Douglass's quest for literacy and, later, his escape from slavery and work in the abolitionist movement exemplify the courage embodied in the words intrepid and fortitude. Intrepid suggests either daring in the face of danger or fortitude in enduring it.
3452
3453According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms, fortitude suggests "prolonged endurance … of physical or mental hardships … without giving way under the strain."
3454
3455Intrepid comes from the Latin in, meaning "not," and trepidus, an adjective that means "alarmed, scared." Trepidus is related to the Latin verb trepido, meaning "tremble." Thus, to be intrepid is to not be alarmed or scared, to not tremble, even in the face of danger.
3456
3457Moxie (noun)
3458
34591. The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.
3460
34612. Aggressive energy, vigor, verge, and pep or skill and know-how.
3462
3463152
3464
3465• We might think of moxie as the little brother to courage—a plucky, spunky little brother who has attitude and a fighting spirit. Those who have moxie have nerve, grit, backbone, and guts. Moxie can also refer to energy and vigor or skill.
3466
3467• Moxie was originally the brand name of a nonalcoholic, bitter drink sold in the late 1800s that was advertised to "build up your nerve."
3468
3469Some sources indicate that moxie may have originally come from a New England Native American word meaning "dark water" that was later used as a name for the soft drink.
3470
3471Temerity (noun)
3472
3473Reckless boldness; rashness; foolhardy disregard of danger.
3474
3475• Someone who has the temerity to do something is unafraid of the consequences. He or she doesn't care about possible punishment or danger, just like the student in our example who used a cell phone in class, despite the professor's warning not to.
3476
3477• To remember temerity, make a personal connection. Think of a time when you've seen someone act with temerity—perhaps an upstart politician who had the temerity to challenge a powerful incumbent.
3478
3479Or perhaps you can think of a time when you spoke to someone in authority with temerity and later realized that you hadn't thought through the consequences of your actions before you spoke.
3480
3481Chutzpah (noun)
3482
3483Personal confidence or courage; shameless audacity; impudence.
3484
3485• People who have chutzpah are audacious, overconfident, and so daring that they may shock others or be perceived as rude.
3486
3487Chutzpah is courage bordering on insolence and can have either a positive or negative connotation, depending on how it's used. The positive sense comes across in this context sentence: "Even though
3488
3489153
3490
3491she shocks and comes across to some folks as rude, I admire her chutzpah; she speaks her mind and gets things done."
3492
3493• Chutzpah comes from a Yiddish word meaning "impudence, gall." According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the classic definition of chutzpah is given by Leo Rosten: "that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan." 
3494
3495• Synonyms for chutzpah include audacity, nerve, impudence, and insolence; related adjectives include brazen, brash, cheeky, and saucy.
3496
3497Bravado (noun)
3498
3499A pretentious, swaggering display of courage intended to impress others.
3500
3501Braggadocio (noun)
3502
3503Lecture 23: Words for Courage and Cowardice
3504
35051. A braggart.
3506
35072. Empty, arrogant boasting.
3508
3509154
3510
3511• Bravado refers to an outward display of bluster and false bravery used to cover up insecurity and fear. Braggadocio is a related word referring to someone who shows bravado.
3512
3513• Bravado comes to us via the Middle French bravado, which in turn comes from the Old Italian bravata, meaning "bragging, boasting."
3514
3515Both of these words ultimately derive from the Italian bravo, the exclamation used at the end of a performance or show to mean "Well done!" This connection offers a convenient way to remember the meaning of bravado. Someone who is displaying bravado is putting on a "show" of courage.
3516
3517• The word braggadocio comes from a name coined by Edmund Spenser in his epic poem The Faerie Queene. Braggadocchio is a horse-thieving would-be knight with no honor. As Spenser describes him:
3518
3519Yet knight he was not, but a boastfull swaine, 
3520That deedes of armes had ever in despaire,
3521Proud Braggadocchio, that in vaunting vaine
3522His glory did repose, and credit did maintaine.
3523
3524A Brave Root: val
3525
3526• Valor is a synonym for bravery and means strength of character that allows one to stand up to danger without faltering. Valor comes ultimately from a Latin verb, valeo, which means "to be strong."
3527
3528Thus, the root val in an English word connotes strength or worth.
3529
3530• Other words in English that contain the root val include valid (having the force or strength of law), validate, invalidate, evaluate, valiant, and convalescent (someone who is recovering his or her health and growing strong again).
3531
3532Timorous (adjective)
3533
3534Fearful or timid.
3535
3536• Both timorous and timid come from the Latin verb timeo, meaning "to be afraid." To remember the meaning of timorous, highlight the first syllable, tim, and connect it to timid in your vocabulary notebook.
3537
3538• A fun word for someone who is overly timid is milquetoast, meaning a "meek, timid person." This word comes from the name Caspar Milquetoast, a character created by newspaper cartoonist H.T. Webster in the early 20th century. A similar word is milksop.
3539
3540Craven (adjective)
3541
3542Very cowardly; abjectly afraid.
3543
3544• Someone described as craven is spineless or chickenhearted.
3545
3546Craven politicians, for instance, are afraid to stand up for what 
3547
3548155
3549
3550© Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division/ LC-USZ62-10610.
3551
3552they believe and deserve no respect; indeed, their lack of heart inspires contempt. Use craven to describe cowardly people, actions, speeches, and decisions.
3553
3554• A good way to remember craven is to link it to Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven." The narrator of the poem is overcome with fear by the knocking that comes at his door:
3555
3556Lecture 23: Words for Courage and Cowardice
3557
3558To remember craven, link this word to the craven ("cowardly") narrator of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."
3559
3560And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me-filled me with Fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door— Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;— This it is and nothing more."
3561
3562Pusillanimous (adjective)
3563
3564Cowardly; lacking courage or resolution; fainthearted.
3565
3566156
3567
3568• We can put pusillanimous in context with a quote from Herman Melville: "Nobody is so heartily despised as a pusillanimous, lazy, good-for-nothing, land-lubber; a sailor has no bowels of compassion for him." This quote captures the connotation of shameful cowardice carried by pusillanimous.
3569
3570• Pusillanimous comes from the Latin words pusillus, meaning "very weak, little," and animus, meaning "spirit, courage." Based on these root meanings, pusillanimous means "weak or little spirit or courage." 
3571
3572Review Questions
3573
35741. This word brings to mind a young boxer, swaggering and trash-talking to cover up his fear.
3575
35762. This related word refers to an even more pretentious form of false bravery—empty, arrogant boasting.
3577
35783. Successful entrepreneurs often display these two traits.
3579
35804. The company president couldn't believe that the office manager had the __________ to call him out for leaving the office early on Friday.
3581
35825. The __________ explorers Lewis and Clark were undaunted by the task of mapping the vast wilderness of America.
3583
35846. Diane's __________ actions revealed to her friends that she was spineless and disloyal.
3585
35867. The senator's __________ refusal to defend the rights of his constituents lost him the election.
3587
35888. Aiden's continuous __________ in the face of multiple setbacks was impressive.
3589
35909. Never __________, Kat boldly entered the house that her fain thearted and gullible friends believed was haunted.
3591
3592157
3593
3594Reviewing Vocabulary through Literature
3595
3596Lecture 24
3597
3598So far in this course, we've explored a tremendous number of rich, powerful, and beautiful vocabulary words. Just as importantly, we've delved into many high-utility Affixes and roots that underlie these words—the Latin and Greek akA that runs throughout English vocabulary.
3599
3600And we've used many word-learning strategies that you can add to your vocabulary toolbox. In this lecture, we will review several of the words we've learned in previous lectures by relating them to some exemplary and colorful figures from literature.
3601
3602Sherlock Holmes
3603
3604• Back in Lecture 1, we learned the word procrustean and the story of Procrustes, the son of Poseidon who had an iron bed on which he forced his hapless guests to sleep, conducting a bit of amputation for those who were too tall and stretching those who were too short. Thus, procrustean means "tending to produce conformity
3605
3606© Stockbyte/Thinkstock.
3607
3608Lecture 24: Reviewing Vocabulary through Literature
3609
3610Sherlock Holmes famously summed up his Promethean approach to solving crimes: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
3611
3612158
3613
3614by arbitrary, ruthless, or violent means." This word relates to some of the policemen in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
3615
3616• In these stories, Holmes repeatedly complains that the policemen he works alongside depend too much on their own expectations and prejudices, rather than using deduction and analysis to objectively solve a case. These policemen could be accused of following procedures blindly, trying to make things fit their preconceived notions.
3617
3618• In The Sign of the Four, the second Holmes novel, one of the characters, Bartholomew Sholto, is found murdered in a locked room. The police detective, Athelney Jones, arrests all the usual suspects—the victim's brother and household staff—rather than looking at the special circumstances of the case.
3619
3620• However, Holmes has a boldly original mind, one not tied down by convention or preconceived notions. Holmes uses his astute powers of observation and deduction to conclude that the usual suspects are actually innocent. In fact, Holmes deduces that Sholto was murdered by a one-legged man and a diminutive native of the Andaman Islands.
3621
3622• Even Detective Jones eventually must admit that Sholto's brother and the other suspects could not have committed the murder. In short, Detective Jones's procrustean approach fails to solve the crime.
3623
3624• If Jones was procrustean, Holmes himself, the boldly inventive master detective, might be described as Promethean. Given that he often comes across as a bit of a cold fish, Holmes might also be called phlegmatic; that is, he shows little emotion and is not easily incited to action.
3625
3626An Ideal Husband
3627
3628• In an earlier lecture, we learned the word misanthrope, someone who hates other people. The classic misanthrope is Alceste, the title 
3629
3630159
3631
3632character of Molière's 1666 play The Misanthrope. Alceste truly does, as Shakespeare would have it, strut and fret his hour upon the stage, captiously critiquing his fellow characters. He's irascible and splenetic.
3633
3634• Another classic misanthrope, Lord Goring, is found in the play An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. As his butler, Phipps, helps him dress, Goring rather nicely sums up his own misanthropic attitude: "Other people are quite dreadful. The only possible society is oneself."
3635
3636Supercilious (adjective)
3637
3638Lecture 24: Reviewing Vocabulary through Literature
3639
3640Having a holier-than-thou attitude.
3641
3642• Oscar Wilde and other gadflies are often loved for their sharp tongues. Another wag whose trenchant wisecracks brought her considerable fame was Dorothy Parker. Throughout the 1920s, Parker wrote poems, stories, and satires for such magazines as Vanity Fair and Vogue. She was even listed on the editorial board when The New Yorker debuted in 1925.
3643
3644• Although Parker was one of the most quick-witted and funniest people who ever lived, there is definitely a certain snideness to her humor. Indeed, her acerbic remarks often reflect that holier-than-thou attitude that we identify with the adjective supercilious.
3645
3646• Groucho Marx once said of the Algonquian Round Table, a social group to which Parker belonged, that "The price of admission is a serpent's tongue and a half-concealed stiletto." Parker herself later criticized the haughtiness of the group, writing, "The Round Table was just a lot of people telling jokes and telling each other how good they were. Just a bunch of loudmouths showing off, saving their gags for days, waiting for a chance to spring them." 
3647
3648160
3649
3650The Music Man
3651
3652• In the Broadway hit The Music Man,"Professor" Harold Hill attempts to convince the people of a town in Iowa that their sons are in desperate need of a boys' band. By exaggerating the pernicious evils of playing pool, which he says leads boys into licentious, avaricious, and salacious activities, Hill talks parents into buying expensive instruments and uniforms.
3653
3654• His plan, though, is to skip town the moment the goods arrive, going back on his promise to instruct the boys on how to play. In the meantime, Hill teaches his students a factitious performance method called the Think System, in which they are simply to imagine that they know how to play. Along the way, he meets Marion the librarian, and his scam is thwarted when he falls in love.
3655
3656• Of course, Professor Harold Hill is a paragon of one of the target nouns we've looked at: a mountebank.
3657
3658James Joyce
3659
3660• The early-20th-century Irish author James Joyce serves to illustrate the differences among three words we've already discussed: erudite, recondite, and abstruse. These words are all related, but they connote varying depths of knowledge and difficulty of comprehension.
3661
3662• In 1914, Joyce published his first book, a collection of short stories called Dubliners, and he followed it up in 1916 with the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
3663
3664• Each of the stories in Dubliners hinges on what Joyce called an "epiphany," a moment in which the main character arrives at a life-changing realization.
3665
3666• In A Portrait of the Artist, a semiautobiographical account of his own experiences at a Jesuit school, Joyce developed his epiphany technique further while fictionalizing his decision to abandon both Catholicism and Ireland itself.
3667
3668161
3669
3670• Lecture 24: Reviewing Vocabulary through Literature
3671
3672• 162
3673
3674Even in these early works, Joyce's highly developed style reflects his erudition. His work evinces a deep knowledge of the literary tradition and his place in it. He also displays a thorough understanding of Irish society, the Catholic Church, popular music and opera, and much more.
3675
3676Joyce's 1922 masterpiece, Ulysses, is also erudite, but it's a more difficult read. The novel takes place on one day-June 16, 1904- and the action meanders through the city of Dublin, following a Jewish canvasser named Leopold Bloom, a 20th-century version of Homer's Odysseus.
3677
3678• The novel is famous for using a different literary style in each of its 18 chapters and for its use of stream-of-consciousness narration. This technique allows readers to follow Bloom's thoughts as he walks about town, ultimately meeting up with Stephen Dedalus, the main character from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
3679
3680• Ulysses contains thousands of recondite references to music, drama, poetry, and contemporary Irish politics, culture, and even street geography. Moreover, it's marked by its literary experimentation, using new forms to echo ancient ones.
3681
3682• Joyce himself said of the work: "I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality."
3683
3684Joyce's magnum opus, Finnegans Wake, published in 1939, is the most difficult of all his works. In it, he virtually invents his own language. Here, for example, is the opening line: "riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs." Several authors have written "keys" to Finnegans Wake to help readers understand its abstruse mythological and literary references.
3685
3686• In sum, we might say that Joyce's early work is erudite, his middle work is recondite, and his final work is abstruse. These words delineate a spectrum of learnedness and difficulty.
3687
3688The Lord of the Rings
3689
3690• One of the minor characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings is Grima, also known as Wormtongue. This character is the unctuous, perfidious, double-dealing chief counselor and lickspittle to King Theoden of Rohan, once a proud and noble ruler of his people. But Wormtongue's wicked counsel and false blandishments poisoned the king's mind and soul, convincing Theoden that he was a feeble old man who should stay shut up in his great hall and let others lead the kingdom.
3691
3692• We learn that Wormtongue is actually a secret agent of the evil wizard Saruman. Even as he's trying to weaken King Theoden and Rohan from the inside, he's feeding his true master, Saruman, information. As a reward, he hopes to win Eowyn, the fierce and beautiful niece of King Theoden.
3693
3694• At one point, in a scene in the great hall, Wormtongue is exposed for the malefactor and sycophant that he truly is. Knowing that he's trapped, he professes loyalty to King Theoden. Theoden tests Wormtongue with the ultimate choice: "To ride with me to war, and let us see in battle whether you are true; or to go now, whither you will. But then, if ever we meet again, I shall not be merciful." 
3695
3696• True to his nature, Wormtongue spits at the king's feet with "hissing breath" and is allowed to flee back to his master, Saruman.
3697
3698All Creatures Great and Small
3699
3700• All Creatures Great and Small, which was published in the United States in 1972, describes the life of James Herriot, a country veterinarian in the wild and beautiful Yorkshire Dales of England.
3701
3702The stories—heartwarming and humorous slices of life—are chock-full of colorful characters, including the brothers Siegfried
3703
3704163
3705
3706and Tristan carnon. Siegfried is the older brother who first hires Herriot at a time when jobs for vets were scarce in England.
3707
3708• Although a bit cantankerous or even mercurial at times, Siegfried proves to be a fantastic boss, supporting James, a tyro veterinarian, as he works to establish his reputation with the sometimes hard-to please, laconic Yorkshire farmers.
3709
3710• The younger brother, Tristan, is the opposite of the hard-working James. He is to be a perpetual student who never studies but eventually passes his exams, never seems to worry, and parties nearly every night, yet everything seems to work out for him in the end. He's indolent but has an incredibly facile mind, and his devil-may-care approach to life might best be described as insouciant.
3711
3712Review Questions
3713
3714Lecture 24: Reviewing Vocabulary through Literature
3715
37161. This word describes someone who is overly emotional, to the point of being sickly sweet.
3717
37182. This word describes someone who is youthful and inexperienced.
3719
37203. This word describes someone who has a holier-than-thou attitude.
3721
37224. Differentiate between didactic and pedantic.
3723
37245. What is a procrustean bed? 
3725
3726164
3727
3728Words for Killing and Cutting
3729
3730Lecture 25
3731
3732Simon Wiesenthal was an Austrian Jewish Holocaust survivor who went on to become a famous Nazi hunter and author after World War II. Wiesenthal famously said,"What connects two thousand years of genocide? Too much power in too few hands." Wiesenthal's words remind us that throughout history, too much power in the hands of a few, left unchecked, has led to unspeakable horrors. But it's important for a language to have words for such horrors so that we can name them, bring them into the light, and hopefully prevent them from happening again. Thus, this lecture focuses on words sharing the themes of killing, cutting, and ending.
3733
3734In addition, we will explore some important roots related to these themes.
3735
3736Parricide (noun)
3737
3738The murder of a parent or close relative.
3739
3740• The root cide comes from the Latin ending -cidium, which itself is related to the Latin verb caedo, meaning both "to cut" and "to kill."
3741
3742English has many words containing this root, including suicide, homicide, matricide, patricide, infanticide, regicide, and the target word here, parricide.
3743
3744• In addition to parricide, other words for killing within the family include fratricide and sororicide. But perhaps the ultimate human atrocity is genocide. Derived from the Greek root genos, meaning "race or kind," the word genocide was coined in 1944 by U.S. jurist Raphael Lemkin to describe the Nazi's systematic killing of Jews.
3745
3746The word now extends to any large-scale eradication of a particular racial, cultural, or political group, such as the mass murders in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia, and Sudan.
3747
3748• The root cide is also used in many more innocuous ways, as in the words insecticide, herbicide, and fungicide.
3749
3750165
3751
3752• A less expected place to find this root is in the word decide. When you decide something, you are making a final choice, determination, or conclusion and "cutting off" other possibilities.
3753
3754• The root cide can also be spelled cise. To remember this root, think of the word scissors, which ultimately derives from the verb caedo. Words with the cise root include incisive, incisors, incision, and excise.
3755
3756Caesura (noun)
3757
3758A break or pause.
3759
3760• In prosody—the study of poetic meter—and in musical composition, a caesura is a small pause in the middle of a line of verse or music.
3761
3762The word can also be used to mean any break or interruption, as in a pause or interruption in a speech or conversation.
3763
3764• Caesura is borrowed directly from the Latin noun caesura, which again, comes from the verb caedo,"to cut." 
3765
3766Lecture 25: Words for Killing and Cutting
3767
3768Vivisection (noun)
3769
3770The cutting of, or operation on, a living animal, usually for scientific research.
3771
3772166
3773
3774• The Latin root spelled seg or sect also means "to cut." Key words for this root include segment and section, both of which derive from the Latin verb seco,"to cut." Other words with this root include insect, segment, section, intersection, bisect, transect, and dissect.
3775
3776• The target word here, vivisection, is a particular type of dissection performed on living animals to enable researchers to observe the functioning of organs. The vivi part of the word is from the Latin adjective vivus, meaning "alive." 
3777
3778• In the past, especially during the age of early medical advances, vivisection was commonplace. These days, many scientists consider it unnecessary or cruel, and this sense of disapproYal is reflected in a second connotation of the verb to vivisect: experimentation that injures or kills the animal or person studied.
3779
3780• You may also encounter vivisection used metaphorically, as in: "His public vivisection by the press left the commanding general with no choice but to offer his resignation." Here, the word refers to a harsh examination or criticism performed with excruciating detail.
3781
3782False "Cutting" Roots
3783
3784• Several words seem as if they might be derived from the seg/sect root, especially given their meanings. For example, consider segregate. Although this word contains the seg letter sequence and seems to have something to do with separating or cutting, it's not related to the seg/sect root. Segregate comes from the Latin roots se,"apart from," and grex,"herd."
3785
3786• Similarly, secede and secession come from se,"apart," and cedo,"to go." Finally, the word sect, as in a religious sect, comes from the Latin word secta,"way, school of thought," which is derived from the verb sequor,"to follow." Interestingly, the word sect is not related to the root sect.
3787
3788Desuetude (noun)
3789
3790A state of disuse or inactivity.
3791
3792• Desuetude fits in to our lecture theme because this state marks the end of something's usefulness. Put this word to work to describe the state of something that you can't use or that is no longer active owing to neglect, deterioration, or abandonment. Desuetude can also refer to conceptual things, such as a custom that's no longer practiced.
3793
3794• You'll often see desuetude used with its collocate, fall, to indicate that something gradually deteriorated into a state of disuse, as in:
3795
3796"fallen into desuetude."
3797
3798167
3799
3800© GordonImages/iStock/Thinkstock.
3801
3802A beat-up jalopy that doesn't run anymore might be said to have fallen into desuetude.
3803
3804Lecture 25: Words for Killing and Cutting
3805
3806• Desuetude comes from the Latin prefix de-, meaning "away from," and the Latin verb suesco, meaning "to become accustomed." If you neglect things for too long, you become unaccustomed to them, and eventually, they're no longer useable. They fall into desuetude through neglect.
3807
3808Perdition (noun)
3809
3810Loss of the soul; eternal damnation; hell; utter ruin.
3811
3812• 168
3813
3814The word perdition is sometimes used in sermons to refer to the religious idea of the fires of hell-the place where sinners suffer eternal damnation. It is also used in the sense of "hell on earth," as in: "The governor's policies will lead our state down the road to perdition." 
3815
3816Extirpate (verb)
3817
3818To pull up by the roots; to root out and destroy completely; to wipe out.
3819
3820• Extirpate is often used in a figurative sense, meaning to root out and destroy, as in: "We need to extirpate the materialistic, self-centered outlook that too many people have today." You may also see extirpate used in reference to the extermination of animal populations, as in: "Unfortunately, the black bears were extirpated from that region by 2003." 
3821
3822• Extirpate originally comes from the Latin prefix ex-, meaning "out," and the Latin noun stirps, meaning "a root, stock of a tree."
3823
3824Abrogate (verb)
3825
38261. To abolish by formal, authoritative action; to annul, repeal.
3827
38282. To treat as non-existent; to do away with, set aside.
3829
3830• Abrogate is commonly used with its second sense, as in such phrases as "abrogating responsibility" or "abrogating one's duty." 
3831
3832• Here, however, is an example of abrogate used inits first sense: "On August 15, 1947, India abrogated British rule, officially becoming a country independent of the British Empire." This example refers to a formal action that abolishes the status quo, and it's actually closer to the meaning of the Latin word abrogo, from which abrogate is derived. Abrogo means "to annul" or "to repeal." Thus, when a law is abrogated, it is officially abolished or repealed.
3833
3834Two Ending Roots: term and fin
3835
3836• A number of common words use the root term, meaning "end":
3837
3838terminal, terminus, terminate, exterminate, and interminably.
3839
3840• In addition to term, fin is another Latin root that means "end." This root comes from the Latin noun finis, which means "boundary or end." That boundary or end can be spatial or temporal, literal or 
3841
3842169
3843
3844metaphorical. Words derived from fin include final, finale, finish, finite, infinite, and define.
3845
3846Fin de siècle (noun phrase)
3847
3848End of the century.
3849
3850• The phrase fin de siècle can be applied to the end of any century, but it is more commonly used to describe the end of the 19th century, particularly its culture of sophisticated despair and ennui. Here's an example in which the word applies to that period: "Fin de siècle Vienna became a major hub for artists of the Secession movement." 
3851
3852• Though we often use the French phrase, English has its own idiom, as well—turn of the century—though this phrase is far more generic.
3853
3854Review Questions
3855
38561. The fire-and-brimstone preacher thundered that his congregation was on the road to __________ if the members weren't able to __________ sin from their lives.
3857
3858Lecture 25: Words for Killing and Cutting
3859
38602. Differentiate among regicide, patricide, and parricide.
3861
38623. The house on the corner had fallen into __________, leading neighborhood children to believe that it was haunted.
3863
38644. This word is used to refer to a break in a line of music or poetry.
3865
38665. The __________ culture of Paris has been widely romanticized.
3867
38686. By failing to deal with the issue of immigration, some believe that Congress has __________ its responsibility.
3869
38707. Today, this research practice is condemned by many as unnecessarily cruel.
3871
3872170
3873
3874A vocabulary Grab Bag
3875
3876Lecture 26
3877
3878In this lecture, we'll look at some words that don't fit neatly into the themes of the other lectures but are too wonderful to be left out of the course. Because we learn vocabulary words gradually, like a dimmer switch growing brighter, we will also review a few target words from earlier lectures. Remember that each time you review a word, your knowledge of it will grow brighter, until eventually, you will make that word your own. For this reason, take a few minutes from time to time to go back and review your vocabulary notebook, refreshing yourself on just a few words to expand your overall command of the language.
3879
3880Hobson's choice (noun phrase)
3881
3882A choice between what is available and nothing; the absence of a real alternative.
3883
3884• Cable television providers sometimes provide their customers with a modern-day Hobson's choice: bither purchase an entire sports or movie package or get no sports or movie channels at all. Such "take-it-or-leave-it" options represent a classic Hobson's choice.
3885
3886• This useful phrase comes to us from Cambridge, England, in the late 1500s and early 1600s. At that time, Thomas Hobson was licensed to take parcels, letters, and passengers back and forth between Cambridge and London.
3887
3888• To do this, Hobson kept a stable of approximately 40 horses.
3889
3890When these horses weren't being used to carry the mail, he rented them out to Cambridge University students. But the students always chose just a few of their favorite horses, which meant that those horses became overworked.
3891
3892• In response, Hobson devised a rotation system. To ensure that each horse got the same amount of work and rest, Hobson gave 
3893
3894171
3895
3896each customer the following choice: Either he took the horse nearest the door or he got no horse at all.
3897
3898• Lecture 26: A vocabulary Grab Bag
3899
3900• 172
3901
3902This system ensured equal rest for the horses and equal treatment for the customers. And it also gave rise to the phrase Hobson's choice, which spread throughout Cambridge and to other cities in England to mean "no choice at all."
3903
3904A truly intriguing example of Hobson's choice in action can be found in the ultimatum game, which has been devised by researchers in economics to explore the rationale behind individual decision making.
3905
3906• In this game, Player 1 is given $100 and asked to make a proposal for dividing the money with Player 2. Player 2 can either accept the division exactly as proposed by Player 1 or choose not to take the offer, in which case, neither player receives any money.
3907
3908• Not surprisingly, most people are willing to accept an equal division of the money, and some will accept a 60/40 or 70/30 split. But what do people do when offered a 99/1 split? 
3909
3910• Anyone operating on the basis of a purely rational economic decision would take this offer because having $1.00 is better than having nothing. But many people reject an offer of 99/1, even though rejection means that they will not receive any money at all.
3911
3912• Obviously, there's a lot more at work here than simply making an economic decision. One explanation for people rejecting the 99/1 offer is that humans have a sense of inherent fairness, and if we perceive an offer as being unfair, we don't want the unfair person to profit from it, even if that means that we also get nothing.
3913
3914• The ultimatum game is an example of a Hobson's choice in action.
3915
3916• Although Hobson's choice refers to a choice between something and nothing, it has also taken on a second sense: a choice between two equally undesirable alternatives. For example, suppose two corrupt politicians were the only two candidates running for mayor in your town. Strictly speaking, this would not be a Hobson's choice because you do have a choice, even if it's a choice between two terrible alternatives. Purists argue that this situation is more properly termed a dilemma.
3917
3918Stultify (verb)
3919
39201. To cause to lose interest; to cause to feel dull and not alert.
3921
39222. To render useless or ineffectual.
3923
3924• The word stultify brings to mind a hot, stuffy classroom with a monotonous lecturer. The students are sapped of all energy and left exhausted by the end of the class.
3925
3926• To remember stultify, use the word-part connection strategy.
3927
3928Highlight the stul in stultify and connect it to the rhyming word dull. In your vocabulary notebook, write down that a dull lecture will stultify the listeners, leaving them bored and exhausted.
3929
3930Frisson (noun)
3931
3932An almost pleasurable sensation of fright.
3933
3934• Frisson is the perfect word for those who like to watch horror movies or read suspenseful thrillers. It refers to a strange combination of fright and excitement. Perhaps vocabulary.com describes frisson best: a "thrilling shiver" whose "meaning lies directly between thrill and fear." 
3935
3936• Frisson came into English in the 1700s from the French word frisson, meaning "shiver, thrill," which came from the Latin frigeo,"to be cold."
3937
3938173
3939
3940Detritus (noun)
3941
3942Disintegrated or eroded matter; debris.
3943
3944• The primary sense of detritus appears in this context sentence:
3945
3946"The detritus of battle littered the city, with crumbled buildings and smoking hulks of vehicles everywhere." You may also encounter the word used in a figurative sense, as in: "The detritus of our failed relationship included bitterness and mistrust." 
3947
3948• To remember detritus, use the related-word strategy with the more familiar word detriment. Both detriment and detritus ultimately come from the Latin verb detero, meaning "to wear away."
3949
3950Something that is detrimental to your health, such as drinking too much,"wears away" at your health, and detritus is debris that's been "worn away." 
3951
3952Lecture 26: A vocabulary Grab Bag
3953
3954Target Word Review
3955
3956• A sophist is skilled in clever and devious arguments designed to persuade. Remember, sophists don't care much for the truth; they simply want to win the argument.
3957
3958174
3959
3960• Mountebanks are different types of tricksters; they're flamboyant charlatans who try to sell quack remedies.
3961
3962• Ersatz refers to an inferior substitute or imitation.
3963
3964• Querulous means complaining in an annoying way. Querulous people can also be irritating gadflies, who pester and nitpick.
3965
3966• Contumacious means stubbornly disobedient and rebellious to authority.
3967
3968• Treacle is sickly sweet writing, speech, or music.
3969
3970• Bromides are tired clichés that have lost all meaning.
3971
3972• Mollycoddle means to treat with excessive attention to the point of spoiling.
3973
3974• Propitiate means to appease or try to regain the favor of.
3975
3976• Truculent means disposed or eager to fight, belligerent.
3977
3978• The hoi polloi are the common people, while patricians are aristocrats or those of higher social class.
3979
3980• Insipid means bland and tasteless.
3981
3982• Callow means inexperienced.
3983
3984Review Questions
3985
39861. Word set: supercilious and bumptious. The man who pushes in front of you in line at the coffee shop can best be described as __________.
3987
39882. Word set: pontificating and dissembling. Someone who tells a lie is guilty of __________.
3989
39903. Word set: stultifying and fomenting. This type of speaker probably could not incite a rebellion.
3991
39924. Word set: frisson and paean. The thrill of fear you experience when reading a scary story at night is a __________.
3993
39945. Word set: detritus and lacuna. The __________ left after the party was shocking to my meticulous roommate.
3995
39966. Define a Hobson's choice.
3997
3998175
3999
4000Words for Words
4001
4002Lecture 27
4003
4004Words are truly the tools with which we explore and interpret every aspect of our world—physical, mental, real, and imagined. In fact, we can use words to discuss any topic we can think of, including, of course, words themselves. In this lecture and the next one, then, we will learn some words for words. In this lecture, we'll focus on more general words for words that you're likely to see in books, articles, blogs, and the news. In the next lecture, we'll explore words that refer to more specialized categories of vocabulary and language.
4005
4006Shibboleth (noun)
4007
4008A test word, phrase, or custom used to distinguish one group from another.
4009
4010Lecture 27: Words for Words
4011
4012• Shibboleth is a transliteration of a Hebrew word that originally meant "stream" or "ear of corn." What's important about this word, however, wasn't its original meaning but its pronunciation.
4013
4014• The biblical book of Judges gives an account of a battle between the Gileadites and the Ephraimites. The Gileadites routed the Ephraimites, who tried to retreat across the Jordan River.
4015
4016Unfortunately for the retreating Ephraimites, the Gileadites held the ford against them. The Gileadites wanted to kill the fleeing Ephraimites, but first, they had to correctly identify them as the enemy. To do this, they conceived of a simple test.
4017
4018• 176
4019
4020According to Judges 12: 5–6: "Gilead then cut Ephraim off from the fords of the Jordan, and whenever Ephraimite fugitives said, "Let me cross, ' the men of Gilead would ask, 'Are you an Ephraimite?' If he said, 'No,' they then said, 'Very well, say 'Shibboleth.' If anyone said, 'Sibboleth,' because he could not pronounce it, then they would seize him and kill him by the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed on this occasion." 
4021
4022• Because the Ephraimites could not pronounce the phoneme /sh/ in shibboleth, that word became the perfect test.
4023
4024According to Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, in the 1630s, shibboleth began to be used more figuratively in English in the sense of a watchword or slogan of a political party or class. By the mid 1800s, this meaning evolved into an "outmoded slogan still adhered to"—a sense that the word still carries today. This second sense is seen in the following context sentence: "The old-guard politicians still trot out their tired shibboletes, which don't mean much anymore."
4025
4026Argot (noun)
4027
4028A specialized language characteristic of a particular group of people.
4029
4030• Although it is often used to refer to the vocabulary and phrases of crime and the underworld, argot can be used for the special vocabulary or language of any particular group, such as members of the military. In this context sentence, it refers to the language of business: "She thinks that she's impressing others by using the argot of the corporate world, such as leveraging your employees' skillsets and thinking outside the box." 
4031
4032• According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, argot entered English in 1860 from French and originally referred to "the jargon of Paris rogues and thieves." 
4033
4034• Other examples of argot can be found in the world of soccer (e.g., knackered out for "exhausted" and draw for a "tie") and hiking (e.g., NOBOs for "northbound hikers," SOBOs for "southbound hikers," and slackpacking for "hiking without a pack").
4035
4036Dialect (noun)
4037
4038A variety of a language often associated with a certain region or social class.
4039
4040177
4041
4042Vernacular (noun)
4043
4044Form of a language spoken by the common people, as opposed to the learned and literary.
4045
4046Jargon (noun) 
4047
4048• According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms, dialect, vernacular, and jargon "all denote a form of language or a style of speech which varies from that accepted as the literary standard." 
4049
4050• A dialect is a variety of a language used by a group of speakers that is often associated with a certain region or social class. Dialects differ from other varieties of the same language in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. For example, the words sub and hoagie—used in different parts of the country for a type of sandwich—represent a dialect vocabulary difference.
4051
4052• Vernacular refers to the everyday language used by everyday people.
4053
4054• Jargon refers to technical or specialized language that is generally unintelligible to people outside a certain group or profession.
4055
4056© mb-fotos/iStock/Thinkstock.
4057
4058Lecture 27: Words for Words
4059
4060Unintelligible or meaningless speech.
4061
4062When Martin Luther translated the Bible into vernacular German, he made it accessible to people who couldn't understand the Latin of the Bible used by the church.
4063
4064Lingua franca (noun)
4065
4066A common language used by speakers of different languages to communicate.
4067
4068178
4069
4070• The phrase lingua franca might tempt you to think that the original lingua franca was French, but it was actually a language spoken in eastern Mediterranean ports around the time of the Renaissance.
4071
4072According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, this Mediterranean lingua franca was "a stripped-down Italian peppered with Spanish, French, Greek, Arabic, and Turkish words." 
4073
4074• Literally, lingua franca is an Italian phrase that means "Frankish tongue." Presumably, franca was used to describe this motley language because Arabic traders had a longstanding custom of calling all Europeans "Franks." 
4075
4076• Lingua francas are also referred to as bridge languages, that is, languages that bridge one language group with another.
4077
4078Discursive (adjective)
4079
4080Rambling from topic to topic, aimless, digressive.
4081
4082• The word discursive comes from the Latin verb discurro, which means "to run to and fro" or "to wander." To remember this word, highlight the cur in discursive and link it to the related word current. A current in a river is usually meandering and rambling, just as a discursive speaker is.
4083
4084Sobriquet (noun)
4085
4086A nickname, usually a humorous or affectionate one.
4087
4088• We're all familiar with sobriquets for famous people and places.
4089
4090For example:
4091
4092• The Big Apple for New York City 
4093
4094• The Big Easy for New Orleans
4095
4096• The Queen of Soul for Aretha Franklin
4097
4098179
4099
4100• Satchmo for Louis Armstrong
4101
4102• The Great Bambino, the Sultan of Swat, the Titan of Terror, the Colossus of Clout, and the Babe for George Herman "Babe" Ruth.
4103
4104Sobriquet comes from an Old French word meaning "a chuck under the chin," reminding us that sobriquets are often—but not always— jesting or humorous.
4105
4106Sesquipedalian (adjective)
4107
41081. Given to the overuse of long words.
4109
41102. Long and ponderous, polysyllabic.
4111
4112Lecture 27: Words for Words
4113
4114• All of the following words can be described as sesquipedalian:
4115
4116• Electroencephalograph 
4117
4118• Deinstitutionalization
4119
4120• Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (a lung disease)
4121
4122• Antidisestablishmentarianism.
4123
4124• According to John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins, sesquipedalian as an English word was inspired by Horace, the Roman poet. Horace criticized the pretentious use of long, pompous-sounding words, using the phrase sesquipedalia verba, which literally means "words a foot and a half long." 
4125
4126• Sesquipedalian comes from the Latin sesqui- ("half as much again") and ped "foot". The prefix sesqui- is also found in sesquicentennial, a 150-year anniversary or celebration.
4127
4128Somniloquy (noun)
4129
4130Sleep talking.
4131
4132180
4133
4134• Somniloquy is an easy word to remember if we break it down by its morphemes: somni and loq. The root somni is from the Latin word somnus, which means "sleep." The same root is found in insomnia, the inability to sleep. The root loc or loq comes from the Latin verb loquor, which means "to speak." We saw this same root in the target word obloquy from an earlier lecture, meaning critical speech or verbal abuse.
4135
4136Review Questions
4137
41381. After completing this course, your friends might characterize your speech as __________.
4139
41402. Early linguistic studies of slang often concentrated on the __________ of the criminal world in Britain.
4141
41423. The language of texting and the Internet seems to have become the __________ of young people today.
4143
41444. The professor's __________ style of teaching, in which he engaged in rambling discourses on unrelated topics, did nothing to help his students understand his political history course.
4145
41465. The nickname Honest Abe is an example of one of these.
4147
41486. The nearly incomprehensible __________ of the computer engineers discourages most people in the company from even asking questions about software or hardware.
4149
41507. What's the difference between the vernacular and a dialect?
4151
41528. The slogan "Yes We Can" from President Obama's 2008 campaign might be described as a __________ of the Democratic Party.
4153
41549. This word shares a Latin root with insomnia.
4155
4156181
4157
4158Specialty Words for Language
4159
4160Lecture 28
4161
4162Over the years, linguists and language scholars have organized and categorized words in a number of different ways. In this lecture, we'll discuss many of these linguistic categories or specialty words, such as blended words, clipped words, spoonerisms, and more.
4163
4164Spoonerism (noun) 
4165
4166Lecture 28: Specialty Words for Language
4167
4168The transposition of the (usually) initial sounds of two or more words, often creating a humorous effect.
4169
4170• Spoonerisms are often slips of the tongue, or speech errors, but are sometimes made intentionally for comedy's sake. For example, one might mistakenly say,"Go and shake a tower" instead of the intended "Go and take a shower" or "a well-boiled icicle" instead of "a well-oiled bicycle." 
4171
4172• These two examples were actually attributed to the man spoonerism was named for, the Reverend William Archibald Spooner. He was an Anglican clergyman and warden of New College Oxford in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a well-respected, kindly man but is known in history for his humorous slips of the tongue.
4173
4174• Although Spooner undoubtedly had a tendency toward muddled speech, many spoonerisms attributed to him are apocryphal.
4175
4176Legitimately or not, here are some other well-known spoonerisms attributed to Spooner himself:
4177
4178• "The Lord is a shoving leopard" instead of "The Lord is a loving shepherd."
4179
4180• 182
4181
4182"It is kisstomary to cuss the bride" instead of "It is customary to kiss the bride." 
4183
4184• "Let us glaze our rasses to the queer old dean" instead of "Let us raise our glasses to the dear old queen."
4185
4186• "Is the bean dizzy"? instead of "Is the dean busy?"
4187
4188• "He was killed by a blushing crow" instead of "He was killed by a crushing blow."
4189
4190We all have these slips of the tongue from time to time, but as David Crystal notes in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, the interesting thing about spoonerisms is that they are predictable, not random.
4191
4192• For example, one predictable pattern of spoonerisms is that the two words that contain the slip of the tongue, such as blushing crow for crushing blow, are usually found within the same syntactic or rhythm unit—often right next to each other. Thus, we're more likely to swap sounds in two words that are in the same phrase, not words found far apart.
4193
4194• In this way, spoonerisms give us some insight into how our minds plan out our speech. We plan our speech in phrasal units, and these phrases correspond to units of thought.
4195
4196• When we try to pronounce the spoken words that represent these units of thought, we sometimes put them down in the wrong places, mixing up words and sounds within the words.
4197
4198Homophone (noun)
4199
4200One of two or more words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.
4201
4202• The Greek root homo in homophone means "same," and the root phon means "sound," as in phonics or telephone. Thus, homophones are "same-sounding" words.
4203
4204183
4205
4206• A few common homophone pairs include the following: blue/blew, faint/feint, haul/hall, patience/patients, and kernel/colonel.
4207
4208Homograph (noun)
4209
4210One of two or more words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings.
4211
4212• Bass is a common homograph that refers to both a fish and a large stringed instrument. Other homographs include bow ("a stringed weapon" and "to bend in respect") and minute ("a 60-second unit of time" and "very small").
4213
4214Homonym (noun) 
4215
4216Lecture 28: Specialty Words for Language
4217
4218One of two or more words that are spelled and pronounced the same but carry different meanings.
4219
4220184
4221
4222• An easy way to remember homonyms is that they have characteristics of both homographs and homophones.
4223
4224• An example of a homonym pair is bear/bear. Both words are spelled and pronounced the same, but one refers to an animal, and the other means "to endure." Because homonyms are spelled the same and sound the same, the only way to know which word a writer or speaker intends is from the context.
4225
4226• You can remember the word homonym from its word elements.
4227
4228Again, homo means "same," and onym is from the Greek word onuma, meaning "name." Thus, homonyms are words that have the same "name"—the same spelling and sound—even though they have different meanings.
4229
4230• Why does English have word pairs that are spelled the same and sound the same but mean different things? It's often the case that homonyms are actually two different words, derived from two different sources, and just happen to have evolved into the same spelling and pronunciation.
4231
4232• In an earlier lecture, we encountered a specific category of homonyms—Janus words, or contronyms; as you recall, these are homonym pairs in which one word is the antonym for the other.
4233
4234Our earlier target word was cleave, which can mean both "to split or divide by cutting" or "to cling closely to."
4235
4236• Sanction is another Janus word, which can mean both "to permit to do something" and "to punish or penalize." For example, someone can be sanctioned to do something, as in:
4237
4238"The town sanctioned the use of motor scooters on sidewalks."
4239
4240Or sanction can carry the meaning of a penalty or punishment, as in: "The United States imposed economic sanctions against Russia."
4241
4242• Even the simple word dust is a Janus word. This word can mean both "to remove dust," as in "dusting the house," or "to add dust," as in "dusting a cake with sugar."
4243
4244Eponym (noun)
4245
4246A word derived from a person's name.
4247
4248• In our earlier lecture on eponyms, we saw that the word draconian came from the harsh Greek lawgiver Draco and quixotic came from the romantically idealistic Don Quixote.
4249
4250• The word eponym seems to be undergoing a change in meaning.
4251
4252Originally, eponym was defined as one whose name is or is thought to be the source of a word.
4253
4254• As you recall, bowdlerize means to change a text by modifying or deleting parts that might be considered vulgar. It came from the name of Thomas Bowdler, a physician who published a sanitized version of Shakespeare's works. Under the original definition of eponym, Bowdler—the source—would be considered the eponym for the derived word bowdlerize.
4255
4256185 
4257
4258Lecture 28: Specialty Words for Language
4259
4260• However, language users today are more likely to flip this definition, using eponym to mean the word or name derived from a proper noun. Using this definition, bowdlerize is the eponym, derived from the name Bowdler.
4261
4262• Another interesting eponym is boycott, which means to abstain from buying or using something. The source of this word was Charles Boycott, the land manager for an absentee landlord in County Mayo, Ireland. Boycott refused to lower rents to Irish tenant farmers in 1880, which was a poor year for harvests. In response, the locals organized a campaign to shun Boycott: Workers refused to harvest his crops, businessmen would not trade with him, and even the local postman would not deliver his mail. This type of protest and the word itself quickly spread across Europe and even into non-European languages.
4263
4264• The word guillotine is also an eponym. Of course, a guillotine is a device for decapitating criminals, but believe it or not, guillotines were actually developed as a more humane way of executing people. The word comes from the name of Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a French physician who proposed that a machine might deliver a quicker and less messy death than an executioner with a broadax.
4265
4266• Grundyism is an eponym that means a prudish adherence to conventionality, especially in personal behavior, or a display of excessive modesty. The word comes from Mrs. Grundy, an unseen character in a play written by Thomas Morton called Speed the Plough. The character was known for her extreme prudishness, particularly in matters of sexual morality.
4267
4268Toponym (noun)
4269
42701. A place-name.
4271
42722. A word named after a place.
4273
4274• 186
4275
4276We've already encountered a few toponyms in our lectures, including billingsgate. As you recall, this word came from the market at Billingsgate in London, where the female fishmongers spewed forth harsh but creative profanity.
4277
4278• Another toponym with an interesting history is tuxedo. This word originally came from a Native American Delaware word meaning "wolf."
4279
4280• The word was anglicized and given to the name of Tuxedo village in southeastern New York. Tuxedo Park, an area on Tuxedo Lake and near the village of Tuxedo, developed into a fashionable resort in the 1880s.
4281
4282• By the turn of the century, a few of the young men in the area became disenchanted with the current style of formal dress that was in fashion and started a new trend: wearing dress jackets without tails. Thus, the tuxedo was born.
4283
4284It's interesting to note that you could eat an entire meal consisting solely of culinary toponyms. For the main meal, you'd have your choice of frankfurters or hamburgers (Frankfurt and Hamburg, Germany). For condiments, you could choose Worcestershire sauce (Worcestershire, England) or Dijon mustard (Dijon, France). And for a side dish, you might have Boston baked beans. You could wash the meal down with any number of beverage toponyms, such as Bordeaux wine, a Manhattan, a Long Island Iced Tea, or a Singapore Sling.
4285
4286Acronym (noun)
4287
4288A word or abbreviation formed from the initial letters of each of the successive or major parts of a compound term.
4289
4290• Acronyms are created by taking the initial letters of a set of words and combining them into a single word or phrase. Acro comes from the Greek word akros, which can mean "topmost or highest" but can also refer to the "tip" of something. You can think of an acronym as consisting of the "tips" of several words.
4291
4292187
4293
4294© Jupiterimages/liquidlibrary/Thinkstock.
4295
4296Lecture 28: Specialty Words for Language
4297
4298The military is known for its penchant for acronyms, including the colorful SNAFU "situation normal, allfouled up") and FUBAR ("fouled up beyond all recognition").
4299
4300188
4301
4302• The acronyms USA, FBI, and CIA are pronounced as a series of initial letters rather than as a whole word; for this reason, some linguists classify them as initialisms. But for our purposes, we'll consider the two categories together.
4303
4304• We often think of acronyms as a recent phenomenon because the term acronym came into English in the 1940s, and there has been a dramatic increase in acronym usage in the 20th century. However, acronyms are not a modern invention. For example, the legions of ancient Rome carried standards on which the acronym SPQR was emblazoned. This acronym stood for the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, meaning "the Senate and the People of Rome." It was a way of referring to the government of the Roman Republic and, later, the Roman Empire.
4305
4306• In the following acronyms, the initial letters of a set of words make up a new word that is pronounced as a whole word:
4307
4308• RADAR: radio detection and ranging 
4309
4310• SCUBA: self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
4311
4312• LASER: light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
4313
4314Portmanteau word (noun)
4315
4316A new word that is blended together from parts of existing words.
4317
4318• Relatively recent examples of portmanteau words include the following:
4319
4320• Infomercial = information + commercial 
4321
4322• Netiquette = Internet + etiquette
4323
4324• Chortle = chuckle + snort
4325
4326• The term portmanteau word comes from the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the unusual terms in the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky."
4327
4328Humpty says,"You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word." A portmanteau is a suitcase or bag with two compartments that can be folded together.
4329
4330• Other portmanteau words include:
4331
4332• Motel = motor + hotel 
4333
4334• Brunch = breakfast + lunch
4335
4336• Spork = spoon + fork
4337
4338• Turducken = turkey + duck + chicken
4339
4340• Stagflation = stagnation + inflation 
4341
4342189
4343
4344• Microsoft = microcomputer + software
4345
4346• Amtrak = American + track
4347
4348Clipped word (noun)
4349
4350A word that has been shortened with no change in meaning.
4351
4352Lecture 28: Specialty Words for Language
4353
4354• In addition to acronyms and portmanteau words, clipped words are another way to say more with less in English. Common clipped words include the following:
4355
4356• gym = gymnasium 
4357
4358• Exam = examination
4359
4360• Lab = laboratory
4361
4362• Roach = cockroach
4363
4364• Net = Internet
4365
4366• Flu = influenza
4367
4368• Fridge = refrigerator
4369
4370The word canter, referring to a horse's easy gallop, is also a clipped word. According to the Dictionary of Word Origins, this word is derived from the phrase Canterbury trot or gallop, referring to the pace at which pilgrims in the Middle Ages rode to the shrine of Saint Thomas A Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
4371
4372Review Questions
4373
43741. Distinguish among homophones, homographs, and homonyms.
4375
43762. Distinguish between toponyms and eponyms.
4377
4378190
4379
43803. English speakers seem to have a propensity for saying more with less; this tendency is apparent in our fondness for __________ and __________.
4381
43824. The phrase rental deceptionist for dental receptionist is an example of this.
4383
43845. The language of the military is notorious for being replete with __________, such as POTUS.
4385
4386191
4387
4388Nasty Words and Nice Words
4389
4390Lecture 29
4391
4392We all know that the word nasty means "offensive, vicious," and nice means "pleasing, agreeable." It's interesting to note, however, that nice hasn't always been so nice. Nice comes from the Latin nescius, which meant "ignorant, unaware." English borrowed the word from Old French in the late 1Pth century, when it meant "foolish, stupid, senseless." It took on many other meanings over the years, including "wanton, lascivious," "coy," and "precise." It wasn't until the 18th century that nice began to be used in the modern sense of "agreeable." Since then, nice has proved so useful that if anything, it is now overused. In this lecture, then, we'll discover some other words to use instead of nasty or nice.
4393
4394Virulent (adjective)
4395
43961. Extremely infectious, malignant, poisonous, or deadly.
4397
4398Lecture 29: Nasty Words and Nice Words
4399
44002. Bitterly hostile, antagonistic, or spiteful; hateful.
4401
4402192
4403
4404• In October of 1347, the townspeople in the Sicilian port of Messina went to the docks to greet 12 trading ships. Sadly, they were in for a terrible surprise that would forever change the course of history.
4405
4406What they found sounds like a scene from a modern-day horror movie: Nearly all the sailors aboard the ships were dead, and the few who were alive were in terrible pain, riddled with fever, and vomiting.
4407
4408• Perhaps most horrifying were the strange black boils oozing pus and blood that covered the sailors and eventually gave rise to the name of the disease from which they were suffering: the Black Death.
4409
4410Some historians estimate that one-third of Europe's population—20 million people-died from the Black Death in the five years following the introduction of the disease in Sicily in 1347.
4411
4412• The Black Death is a perfectly horrifying example of the word virulent. This word has a literal meaning of "extremely infectious or deadly," as in a "virulent disease." It also has a more figurative meaning—"bitterly hostile," as in a "virulent personal attack." 
4413
4414• Virulent is related to the English word virus and comes from the Latin word virus, meaning "poison." Synonyms and related words include pernicious, acerbic, caustic, acrimonious, and vitriolic.
4415
4416Pernicious (adjective)
4417
4418Exceedingly harmful or destructive; deadly.
4419
4420Mordant (adjective)
4421
4422Bitingly sarcastic.
4423
4424• Like trenchant, mordant can imply a sharp wit, but it is used to emphasize the biting, sarcastic nature of the language. Someone who is mordant has the ability to drive home disagreeable truths in a sardonic, caustic manner. Mordant comments imply insensitiveness or even outright maliciousness in intent. Thus, mordant is a bit nastier than trenchant.
4425
4426• Synonyms and closely related words for mordant include caustic, acrid, and scathing.
4427
4428• Caustic is a close synonym for mordant.
4429
4430• Use acrid when you want to stress bitterness or even malevolence.
4431
4432• Scathing often implies righteous indignation and can describe a withering criticism or a fierce raking over the coals. For example, you might see a "scathing expose" of a politician's corrupt administration by an investigative reporter on the news. In other words, scathing criticism, although fierce, can come from a good motive. In contrast, mordant criticism often implies ill intent.
4433
4434193
4435
4436• Not surprisingly, mordant comes from a Middle French word that meant, literally,"biting." The Middle French word, in turn, originally came from the Latin mordeo, meaning "to bite, bite into; nip; sting." Mordant is also related to the English word morsel, meaning "a small bite of something."
4437
4438• Remorse,"a deep regret for a past wrongdoing," is another word that comes from the same Latin origin. The prefix re- can mean "back," and the root mor means "to bite"; thus, a feeling of remorse is literally a feeling that something you did in the past has come "back to bite" you.
4439
4440• Don't confuse the Latin root commonly spelled mord or mor and meaning "to bite" with the Latin root mort, which means "death." The words mordant, morsel, and remorse are all connected, but they have no etymological relationship with such mort words as mortuary, immortal, and mortality.
4441
4442Piquant (adjective)
4443
44441. Agreeably pungent or sharp in taste or flavor; pleasantly biting or tart; spicy.
4445
4446Lecture 29: Nasty Words and Nice Words
4447
44482. Agreeably stimulating and engagingly provocative.
4449
44503. Interesting, charming, attractive.
4451
4452194
4453
4454• Piquant can relate to flavor or taste, as in the sour taste of a lemon, or to something that is agreeably stimulating and engagingly provocative, as in "The editorial's piquant commentary sparked a lively debate among the coffee house regulars." Piquant can also mean "interesting, charming, or attractive," as in "her piquant wit."
4455
4456Antonyms for piquant include bland, tasteless, and insipid.
4457
4458• Piquant comes from the French word piquer, meaning "to prick or sting," and is related to the English word pike, a long, spear-like weapon. To remember the biting, stinging aspect of piquant, you might connect it to pike in your mind. You might also think of a concrete personal connection to piquant, such as your friend's spicy homemade salsa, or a figurative connection, such as the "piquant conversation"—provocative, engaging—that takes place in your book club.
4459
4460• Both piquant and pique share the same French ancestor word meaning "to prick or sting." Thus, it's no surprise that pique as a verb means "to irritate or to provoke." You might also hear the phrase "It piqued my interest," meaning that something aroused or stimulated your curiosity.
4461
4462Officious (adjective)
4463
4464Marked by excessive, often aggressive eagerness in offering unwanted advice, service, or help to others; meddlesome.
4465
4466• Both officious and office come from the Latin officium, meaning "duty, service." According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, when officious originally came into English in the 1560s, it carried the positive meaning of "zealous, eager to serve." However, by 1600, officious had taken on its current negative connotation of "overzealous and meddlesome." 
4467
4468• We've all probably encountered someone who could be described as officious—the busybody who always offers unwanted advice. To remember this word, keep in mind the connection to office and the -ous suffix, which means "full of." People who are officious could be "full of" their jobs at the office. You might also make a personal connection to the word; think of someone you know who tries to be so helpful that he or she crosses the line to become annoying and pushy.
4469
4470Salubrious (adjective)
4471
4472Conducive or favorable to health or well-being; wholesome.
4473
4474195
4475
4476Salutary (adjective) 
4477Producing a beneficial effect; remedial.
4478
4479• Both salubrious and salutary can describe something that's good for your health, but salutary can also describe something that's beneficial in a more general sense. According to The Artful Nuance by Rod L. Evans,"What is salutary promotes an improvement, especially an educational, a psychological, or a moral one." In this sense, you'll often hear salutary used along with effect, as in "Research has proven that unstructured play has a salutary effect on children's social and emotional development." 
4480
4481• The salu morpheme is found in several Latin words related to health and welfare, including salubrious and salutary, as well as salute and salutation. When you greet someone with a salutation, you generally ask about that person's health. When the ancient Romans greeted one another, they typically said,"Salve!" which literally means "Be well!" In French, a more informal greeting is "Salut!"
4482
4483© Horsche/iStock/Thinkstock.
4484
4485In Irish, a common toast is "Slainte," meaning "health"; this word is distantly related to the Latin salus, which also means "health." 
4486
4487196
4488
4489Lecture 29: Nasty Words and Nice Words
4490
4491Avuncular (adjective)
4492
44931. Of or having to do with an uncle.
4494
44952. Resembling an uncle; friendly; helpful; kind, patient, and indulgent.
4496
4497• Avuncular is often used not in the strict "uncle" sense but in the more general "patient and kind" sense, as in such phrases as avuncular charm or avuncular indulgence.
4498
4499• Avuncular comes from the Latin avunculus, which means "maternal uncle" and is the ultimate source of the English word uncle. To remember avuncular, highlight the unc part of the word and link it to your favorite uncle.
4500
4501Review Questions
4502
45031. Distinguish between the words salubrious and salutary.
4504
45052. Sheila bustled about in an __________ manner, meddling in the work of everyone in her department.
4506
45073. Unlike Sheila, Walter was an __________ coworker, always willing to help out when needed but never offering unwanted advice.
4508
45094. This word is a slightly nastier synonym for trenchant.
4510
45115. The __________ fumes caused watery eyes, coughing, and headaches among the lab technicians.
4512
45136. Both the conversation and the wine at the party were delightfully __________.
4514
45157. Hillary's __________ rumors worked their magic; by the end of the week, no one in the group would even speak to Maureen.
4516
4517197
4518
4519Words for the Really Big and the Very Small
4520
4521Lecture 30
4522
4523This lecture focuses on words associated with the large and the small, both literally and figuratively. In the course of the lecture, we will answer the following large and small questions: (1) Is ginormous really a word in the dictionary, and if so, should you use it? 2) Should really big things be described as capacious or commodious, and what's the difference between these two close synonyms? 3) What are the two words for big and small given to English by the classic satire written by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels? 
4524
4525Exiguous (adjective)
4526Excessively scanty, inadequate, and meager.
4527
4528Lecture 30: Words for the Really Big and the Very Small
4529
4530• Use exiguous to emphasize a smallness that is undesirable or is less than the normal amount or size of something, as in: "Starting with exiguous financial resources, she stunned everyone and made a fortune in the stock market, becoming known as a wizard of Wall Street." Synonyms for exiguous include inadequate, hand-to-mouth, scant, scarce, skimpy, spare, and sparse.
4531
4532• We often see exiguous used with one of several collocates:
4533
4534resources, supplies, finances, or evidence.
4535
4536• To remember exiguous, connect it to exact, a related word that comes from the same Latin origin. In your vocabulary notebook, highlight the ex- and write down that when you have less than the exact amount of something you need, you have an exiguous amount.
4537
4538Diminuendo (noun)
4539
4540A decrease in loudness or intensity.
4541
4542198
4543
4544© Devonyu/iStock/Thinkstock.
4545
4546The Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy gave us the terms minute (pars minuta prima,"the first smallpart," or 1/60th of a circle) and second (pars minuta secunda,"the second smallpart," 1/60th of a minute).
4547
4548• The etymology of diminuendo can help you remember its meaning.
4549
4550Diminuire is an Italian verb meaning "to diminish," and -endo is basically the Italian version of the -ing we use in English as a suffix for gerunds and participles. Highlight the dimini in diminuendo and connect it to the related word diminish in your vocabulary notebook. Write down that a diminuendo refers to a diminishing loudness or intensity.
4551
4552• The min morpheme in diminuendo is a Latin root meaning "small."
4553
4554It appears in such words as miniscule, mince, minor, minimum, minus, minute, diminish, and diminutive.
4555
4556Lilliputian (adjective)
4557
45581. Very small, diminutive.
4559
45602. Trivial, petty.
4561
4562199
4563
4564Lecture 30: Words for the Really Big and the Very Small
4565
4566• In 1726, Jonathan Swift published his classic biting satire, Gulliver's Travels. The central character in this book is Lemuel Gulliver, an English surgeon who takes to traveling the seas because his business is failing.
4567
4568• Soon after setting out, Gulliver is shipwrecked. When he awakens, he finds himself tied up by a race of tiny people, the Lilliputians. The Lilliputians are a small people who talk big.
4569
4570Swift, with great skill, ironically contrasts this puny race with their pretentious, vainglorious boasting and bombast.
4571
4572• Eventually, the Lilliputians take Gulliver to their emperor. As the story unfolds, we discover that the Lilliputians engage in a great deal of backbiting and machinations: These physically smallpeople are also figuratively small; they're petty and argue over trivial, ridiculous issues. In the Lilliputians, Swift was satirizing what he saw as petty religious quarrels over trivial doctrinal issues of his time.
4573
4574• The Lilliputians eventually convince Gulliver to help them fight against their enemies, the people of Blefescu, and he uses his great size to win a battle over their navy. However, Gulliver's fortunes turn when a fire breaks out in the royal palace of Lilliput. He puts the fire out by urinating on it, and for this act, he is condemned to death by being shot in the eyes and starved to death. Luckily, Gulliver escapes and makes his way back to England.
4575
4576Of course, this story gives us the target word Lilliputian, which can mean either "very small" or "trivial." The word took off immediately after the publication of Gulliver's Travels, demonstrating the book's influence.
4577
4578Brobdingnagian (adjective)
4579
4580Immense, enormous.
4581
4582200
4583
4584• You might think that after nearly getting executed, Gulliver would stay at home, but he decides to take to the seas again. This time, he ends up in the land of the giants called the Brobdingnag.
4585
4586• A Brobdingnag farmer finds Gulliver and exploits him by charging other giants to see this tiny exotic creature. Eventually, the farmer sells Gulliver to the queen of Brobdingnag, who takes a fancy to him.
4587
4588• At court, Gulliver sees the ordinary flaws of the giants magnified many times over because of their great size, and he becomes repulsed by them. Here, Swift is demonstrating that the human race, even humans who might appear perfect at first glance, will show foibles and flaws upon closer examination.
4589
4590This episode brings us the word Brobdingnagian, meaning "enormous." Consider the word in context: "The billionaire's Brobdingnagian sculptures towered over us as we approached the front door of her mansion."
4591
4592Magnum opus (noun)
4593
4594An artist's greatest work.
4595
4596• Magnum opus is Latin for "great work," but it is typically used in reference to an artist's greatest work, such as Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling or James Joyce's Ulysses. The word opus is often used for composers' works, as in: "The 'Moonlight Sonata' is actually Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, opus 27, number 2." The plural of magnum opus is magna opera.
4597
4598• The Latin root magn means "great, large." This root appears in magnificent, magnate, Magna Carta, magnum, magnanimous, Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great, a sainted doctor of the Catholic Church), and Charlemagne (Charles the Great).
4599
4600• Greek has its own root meaning "great, large": mega, which comes from the Greek word megas. Words containing this root include 
4601
4602201
4603
4604megalopolis, megabyte (1 million bytes of information storage in a computer), megacycles, and megohms.
4605
4606• Colloquially, mega is often tacked onto the front of words to convey the meaning "very large." For example, if you just won the lottery, you might say that you're rolling in megabucks!
4607
4608Commodious (adjective)
4609
4610Lecture 30: Words for the Really Big and the Very Small
4611
4612Comfortably or conveniently spacious; roomy.
4613
4614• Both commodious and commode originally came from the same Latin word, commodus, which meant "proper, fit, appropriate, convenient."
4615
4616• Commodious first appeared in English in the early 15th century, meaning "convenient," but it wasn't until the 16th century that it began carrying the current meaning of "roomy and spacious." 
4617
4618• The original Latin commodus passed into French as commode, meaning "convenient, suitable," and was used to refer to both a tall headdress for a woman and a chest of drawers. In the 18th century, English borrowed this French word for a chest of drawers. It wasn't until 1851 that commode started to be used for a chair housing a chamber pot.
4619
4620Capacious (adjective)
4621
4622Capable of containing a great deal; spacious and roomy.
4623
4624202
4625
4626• Like commodious, capacious means spacious and roomy, but according to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms, capacious stresses the ability to hold more than the ordinary container can hold.
4627
4628• Capacious comes from the same Latin origin as capable. In your vocabulary notebook, highlight the capa in capacious and connect it to capable: "Something that is capacious is capable of holding a lot; it's spacious."
4629
4630Juggernaut (noun)
4631
4632An overwhelming or unstoppable force that smashes everything in its path.
4633
4634• Juggernaut is a Hobson-Jobson of Jagannath, the name of one of the incarnations of the Hindu god Krishna. In Sanskrit, jagat means "world or universe," and natha means "lord." Thus, Jagannath is the lord of the world.
4635
4636• The English word juggernaut dates back to the 1630s and originally referred to the huge wagons that devotees would pull through the streets during the Rath Yatra, an annual chariot procession in the town of Puri in India. An early European account of the festival claimed that Hindus threw themselves beneath the wheels of the wagons. Though this is unlikely, it led to the word's two meanings in English: the older sense of "something that demands blind devotion or sacrifice" and the more common, modern sense of "an unstoppable force." 
4637
4638• The term Hobson-Jobson refers to the law of Hobson-Jobson, which states that loanwords are always phonetically adapted to suit the phonology of the language borrowing them. Both the principle and the term come from a book called Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive, published in 1886. In short, Brits had difficulty pronouncing Jagannath; thus, when they borrowed the name to use metaphorically, it morphed into the more English-friendly juggernaut.
4639
4640Review Questions
4641
46421. What two words, respectively meaning "large" and "small," were given to English by Jonathan Swift? 
4643
4644203
4645
46462. Over the course of his career, the artist's work showed a __________ in the use of color.
4647
46483. His __________, which was hailed by critics and admired by the public, was a very pale canvas entitled simply Desert.
4649
46504. Synonyms for this word include scanty, sparse, and inadequate.
4651
46525. The candidate's forceful campaign was a __________, rolling over his opponents' less intensive efforts.
4653
46546. Rhochelle's large new apartment featured a __________ guest room and __________ storage for her sports equipment.
4655
4656Lecture 30: Words for the Really Big and the Very Small
4657
4658204
4659
4660Spelling as a vocabulary Tool
4661
4662Lecture 31
4663
4664Throughout this course, we've been tapping into the spelling-meaning connection, specifically focusing on high-utility Latin and Greek Affixes and roots to help us learn vocabulary. But to get the most out of the spelling-meaning connection, it's helpful to understand the three layers of information in the English spelling system that we'll explore in this lecture: alphabet, pattern, and meaning. When you see how all three layers work together, you'll have a better appreciation for the vocabulary we've been learning.
4665
4666Spelling Patterns
4667
4668• Even though you may not be consciously aware of it, you already know many spelling patterns in English.
4669
4670• For example, with a two-syllable word in which the vowel in the first syllable is short, the following consonant is often doubled. This pattern appears in such words as better, rabbit, and sudden.
4671
4672• With a two-syllable word in which the vowel in the first syllable is long, the following consonant is usually not doubled. This pattern appears in such words as pilot and vacant.
4673
4674These "to double or not to double" patterns with short and long vowels are two high-utility patterns contained in a host of English words. In fact, English has scores of similar spelling patterns, which means that the language has a much more regular spelling system than most people think.
4675
4676Alphabetic Layer
4677
4678• The first layer in our spelling system is the alphabet layer. Most kindergarten and first-grade children are exploring this first layer as they learn to read and write. A child learning the alphabetic layer believes that every letter makes a sound and that we read and spell words in a left-to-right, linear fashion.
4679
4680205
4681
4682© monkeybusinessimages/iStock/Thinkstock.
4683
4684Children in the alphabetic layer of development are learning to sound out and spellone-syllable, short-vowel words, such as mat.
4685
4686Lecture 31: Spelling as a vocabulary Tool
4687
4688206
4689
4690• Children at this developmental stage also tend to be letter-name spellers; that is, they believe that the names of the letters tell their sounds. For example, a child at this stage might spell the word wise as y-i-z. This strategy works well for many letters in the English alphabet, such as b, but not all of them.
4691
4692• As long as children have been writing, they have been "inventing" spellings, but in the early 1970s, research by Carol Chomsky and Charles Read provided the linguistic key that unlocked the systematic logic behind young children's invented spellings.
4693
4694• At roughly the same time, Edmund Henderson and his colleagues at the University of Virginia were also looking for patterns and logic in children's spellings across a range of ages and grade levels. Read's findings enabled Henderson and his colleagues to interpret these spellings.
4695
4696• • Henderson and his colleagues then extended Read's work. The Virginia spelling studies resulted in a comprehensive model of developmental word knowledge—of how our knowledge of words develops over time from young children to adults through three layers: from sound or alphabet, to pattern, to meaning.
4697
4698One interesting insight growing out of this work was the fact that the spelling development of children over time mirrors the historical development of English spelling over time.
4699
4700• For example, Henderson referred to beginning spellers as "little Saxons," because of the similarities between the way young children spell and how the Anglo-Saxons spelled and wrote in Old English.
4701
4702• In fact, the alphabetic layer in English was established during the Old English period. As the authors of the book Words Their Way put it,"[Old English was] remarkably consistent in letter sound correspondence and used the alphabet to systematically represent speech sounds." That is quite similar to the way young children spell and read: one letter for each sound they hear.
4703
4704• And this insight makes sense. The oldest words in English are the short, high-frequency Anglo-Saxon words, such as sun, moon, and day. These Anglo-Saxon words are the same high frequency words that children learn to read and spell in the primary grades.
4705
4706Here's what we know, then, about the alphabetic layer of English spelling:
4707
4708• First, children in the alphabetic layer have a tacit logic underlying their spelling; their spelling makes linguistic sense.
4709
4710207
4711
4712• Second, children at this stage operate under the principle that every letter makes a sound and that we read and spell in left-to-right, linear fashion.
4713
4714• Third, children in this stage have the same basic spelling logic as the Anglo-Saxons.
4715
4716Pattern Layer
4717
4718• Many critics of the English spelling system would have us stop at the alphabetic layer. They believe that we should just spell words "the way they sound"—that a system based on a one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds would be much better.
4719
4720• What if we spelled hate the way it sounds, with one letter for each sound? We couldn't use the silent e because every letter must make a sound. That would leave us with h-a-t, but we already have a word spelled that way. This example shows us why the alphabetic layer alone isn't enough.
4721
4722• Lecture 31: Spelling as a vocabulary Tool
4723
4724• 208
4725
4726A long-vowel word, such as hate, is a perfect example of how the next layer of spelling information comes into play: the pattern layer.
4727
4728Notice a few things about the word hate that are different from the alphabetic later.
4729
4730• First, not every letter makes a sound; the e is silent.
4731
4732• Second, this silent e is present for a good reason: It makes the preceding vowel long, in this case, a. This is an important concept in English orthography: We usually mark long vowel sounds with a silent letter.
4733
4734• Finally, we can't read the word hate one letter at a time because when we get to the silent e, we would have to go back to make the a long. In other words, we have to process the -ate ending in hate as a single pattern or chunk. And this is where the pattern layer comes in. When children reach this stage of development, they start processing whole chunks of common letter sequences, or patterns, together.
4735
4736• Children at the pattern stage of development realize a few things they did not know in the alphabet stage:
4737
4738• First, every letter does not make a sound in English; there are some silent letters.
4739
4740• Second, these silent letters provide important information, such as marking another vowel as long.
4741
4742• Third, the "one letter at a time" strategy won't work for all words. Thus, children at this stage learn to read letters in frequently occurring patterns, processing entire parts of words simultaneously.
4743
4744• To get the idea of the type of patterns we learn in this layer of spelling, consider the words peach and patch. With long vowel sounds in such words, as in peach, the /ch/ sound at the end is usually spelled c-h. With short vowel sounds, as in patch, the /ch/ sound at the end is usually spelled t-c-h. Most adults don't consciously realize this pattern, but it, too, demonstrates the regularity of English spelling.
4745
4746• If Anglo-Saxon Old English was responsible for the alphabetic layer in English, the patterns came from the period of the Norman Conquest 1066, which led to a massive influx of French words in English. This, in turn, led to a host of new vowel sounds represented by new vowel patterns entering English with the new words.
4747
4748• As we said, children at this pattern stage spell eerily like "little Anglo-Normans." For example, a child at this stage might spell the word sweet as s-w-e-t-e, the same way Chaucer spelled sweet in the 1300s.
4749
4750• What's interesting here is not that this child's spelling is "wrong" but that it demonstrates what the child knows. In this case, the child knows the pattern of marking a long vowel with a silent letter, even though the pattern chosen is not the correct one for this particular word.
4751
4752209
4753
4754• In literacy studies, this is called "using but confusing," that is, using one vowel pattern but confusing it in another word.
4755
4756Lecture 31: Spelling as a vocabulary Tool
4757
4758Meaning Layer
4759
4760• Throughout this course, we've tapped into the power of the meaning layer through our study of high-utility Latin and Greek Affixes and roots, such as cide/cise ("kill") and spect ("see"). And we know how to apply the spelling-meaning connection. For example, when we notice the spelling of the root spect in the word circumspect, it can be a clue to the word's meaning. Those who are circumspect "look around" and are cautious.
4761
4762210
4763
4764• If the alphabetic layer of our spelling system was established with the Anglo-Saxons in Old English, and if the pattern layer was established after the Norman Conquest, when did all the classical roots in the meaning layer come into the English spelling system? The answer is during the Renaissance.
4765
4766• The explosion of new knowledge during the Renaissance created a demand for new vocabulary. And with the rediscovery and renewed interest in the Greek and Latin cultures, the Affixes and roots of Latin and Greek seemed to be the perfect tools to meet this demand.
4767
4768• Let's close by exploring a powerful spelling pattern in the meaning layer. The following four words have the -uble suffix, but it is sometimes spelled a-b-l-e and sometimes spelled i-b-l-e: affordable, credible, visible, reasonable.
4769
4770• Notice that if we take the -uble off and are left with a standalone base word, as in affordable or reasonable, the spelling is probably a-b-l-e. If we take the -uble off and are left with a root that cannot stand alone, the spelling is probably i-b-l-e, as in credible and visible.
4771
4772• Further, standalone base words that end in e usually drop the e and add a-b-l-e, as in debate/debatable or dispose/disposable.
4773
4774• There are a few exceptions to this pattern, particularly with words that have soft /c/ and /g/ sounds, such as changeable.
4775
4776Resources for the English Spelling System
4777
4778• A wonderful resource for learning more about the English spelling system is Words Their Way by Donald Bear, Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, and Francine Johnston.
4779
4780• Another great resource is onelook.com, a comprehensive dictionary website. When you input a word, the site links you to a host of major, well-respected online dictionaries for more information. It also has an excellent reverse-dictionary function and allows you to search for words by specific affixes, roots, and spelling patterns.
4781
4782Review Questions
4783
47841. What are the characteristics of children's knowledge in the alphabetic layer of learning spelling? 
4785
47862. What are the characteristics of children's knowledge in the pattern layer of learning spelling? 
4787
47883. When did classical roots come into the meaning layer of our spelling system and why? 
4789
4790211
4791
4792A Medley of New Words
4793
4794Lecture 32
4795
4796In this lecture, we'll learn some additional words from the vocabulary grab bag-words that don't fit neatly into the themes of other lectures. As we did in an earlier grab-bag lecture, we'll also review some of the target words we've learned. Finally, we'll explore the importance of comparing and contrasting as a learning tool. As we'll see, when we compare concepts, ideas, or words, we're forced to identify the deep features that make two things similar or different. That type of thinking leads to longterm, meaningful learning.
4797
4798Truckle (verb)
4799
48001. To submit; to be servile and submissive.
4801
4802Lecture 32: A Medley of New Words
4803
48042. To fawn; to curry favor by flattering.
4805
4806• The word truckle originally meant "to sleep in a truckle (trundle) bed."
4807
4808And in times past, those who slept in trundle beds were often servants.
4809
4810Thus, people who slept on truckle beds occupied the lower position, from which they truckled—or submitted—to those above them.
4811
4812• Truckle is often followed by its collocate to in such phrases as "truckle to those in power" and "truckle to another country's demands."
4813
4814Tendentious (adjective)
4815
4816Marked by or favoring a particular point of view; showing a definite tendency, bias, or purpose; partisan.
4817
4818• 212
4819
4820Tendentious brings to mind a listener who is not really listening to you, someone who is waiting for you to stop talking in order to present his or her own pre-decided viewpoint. With tendentious, the viewpoint espoused by the person is often a controversial one.
4821
4822• We can use the related-word strategy to remember tendentious. This word is related to tendency, which comes from the Medieval Latin noun tendentia, meaning "inclination, leaning." When you lean too far toward one viewpoint, you may become biased and tendentious.
4823
4824• The ten in tendentious also reminds us of another word, tenet, which is a principle, belief, or doctrine held to be true, often by members of a group or profession. In fact, tenet comes from the Latin verb form tenet, which literally means "he holds." In your vocabulary notebook, you might write that a tendentious person has a tendency to hold to his or her bias or purpose.
4825
4826Tintinnabulation (noun)
4827
4828A ringing, tinkling, or jingling sound, particularly the sound of bells.
4829
4830Susurration (noun)
4831
4832An indistinct whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.
4833
4834Harrumph (verb)
4835
48361. To make a pretentious show of clearing one's throat.
4837
48382. To offer brief critical comments.
4839
4840• Tintinnabulation, susurration, and harrumph are all onomatopoeic; that is, they sound like the sounds they refer to: ringing bells, whispering, and ostentatious throat-clearing.
4841
4842Trenchant (adjective)
4843
4844Forceful and clear; penetrating, keen, and incisive.
4845
4846• You often see trenchant used to describe people and language, as in a trenchant argument, a trenchant analysis, or trenchant criticism.
4847
4848Trenchant can also imply caustic and cutting.
4849
4850213
4851
4852• Trenchant comes from an Old French word spelled the same way, which meant "cutting and sharp," both literally and figuratively.
4853
4854• Interestingly, trenchant is related to the word trench, which originally meant a track cut in wood and was later extended to mean a cut in the earth—what we think of as a trench. To remember trenchant, highlight the trench part in your vocabulary notebook and make the connection that a trench is a cut in the earth (a long, narrow ditch), and trenchant remarks are cutting, sharp, and incisive.
4855
4856Lecture 32: A Medley of New Words
4857
4858Target Word Review
4859
4860• Argot is the specialized language of a particular group, while jargon is language that generally can't be understood by outsiders of a group. Shibboleth is a noun referring to a word, phrase, or custom used to distinguish one group from another.
4861
4862214
4863
4864• A luddite is someone who opposes the introduction of technological change.
4865
4866• A philistine is a person who is not interested in intellectual pursuits and is indifferent or hostile to artistic and cultural values.
4867
4868• A quisling is a traitor who aids an invading and/or occupying enemy force, often serving later in the puppet government.
4869
4870• Draconian is an adjective used to describe a person who is exceedingly harsh, very severe, or cruel.
4871
4872• Avuncular literally means "like an uncle," but it can also mean kind, friendly, patient, and indulgent.
4873
4874• Quixotic is an adjective that means romantically idealistic.
4875
4876• Importune is a verb that means to harass with repeated requests or to demand of someone insistently.
4877
4878• Discursive is an adjective meaning rambling from topic to topic, aimless, or digressive.
4879
4880• Finally, turgid is an adjective meaning swollen or overly ornamented speech.
4881
4882Comparing and Contrasting
4883
4884• A 2003 study of college students in the field of management sheds light on the power of comparing and contrasting as a learning tool.
4885
4886• Researchers asked the management students to analyze a set of negotiation training scenarios. The first group analyzed the cases one by one, while the second group compared the cases.
4887
4888• Not surprisingly, the researchers found that the group that compared the cases learned significantly more.
4889
4890• When we compare concepts, ideas, or words, we're forced to identify the deep features that make two things similar or different.
4891
4892That type of thinking leads to long-term, meaningful learning.
4893
4894• Try out the following compare, contrast, and connect vocabulary strategy for yourself:
4895
4896• First, go back through your vocabulary notebook and pick three words that you find are connected in some way. Perhaps the words all describe different types of people, such as draconian, avuncular, and quixotic.
4897
4898• Second, write down a situation in which you can apply all three words, perhaps one involving people you know or circumstances in which you've found yourself. Visualize these people or circumstances alongside the three words you've chosen.
4899
4900• Third, using the review scenarios in this lecture as a model, compare and contrast the words by comparing and contrasting the people or circumstances.
4901
4902215
4903
4904Review Questions
4905
49061. Word set: equivocal and tendentious. Someone who is __________ is unlikely to give __________ answers.
4907
49082. Word set: truckle and truculent. Someone who is __________ is unlikely to __________ to the authority of others.
4909
49103. Word set: trenchant and nascent. The speaker's remarks were insightful and __________; they did not seem to be the __________ thoughts of someone who had not examined the subject.
4911
49124. Word set: venal and invidious. The politician was accused of __________ behavior in awarding lucrative government contracts to his cronies.
4913
49145. Word set: timorous and pernicious. The strict policy of "going through channels" was __________ to creativity in the company.
4915
49166. Name the three onomatopoetic words in this lecture and identify the sounds they imitate.
4917
4918Lecture 32: A Medley of New Words
4919
4920216
4921
4922Building Vocabulary through Games
4923
4924Lecture 33
4925
4926This lecture shares some ideas that will help you maintain and continue to improve your vocabulary knowledge after you finish this course. We'll start the lecture with some fun vocabulary games and activities.
4927
4928Then, we'll discuss how you can leverage the power of context to improve your reading and writing vocabulary, and we'll look at how you can make use of "golden lines" that you run across in your reading. Finally, we'll explore the concept of vocabulary banks to remind you of possible word choices in your writing for work or pleasure.
4929
4930vocabulary Games
4931
4932• vocabulary games can help ensure that your vocabulary knowledge is broad, meaning that you know many words and can make connections among them; deep, meaning that you have a good command of the wordsyou know; and flexible, meaning that you can apply words to new situations when you speak and write.
4933
4934Vocabulary play is particularly helpful with flexibility because games provide opportunities and challenges for you to use and think about words in novel and creative ways.
4935
4936• One fun vocabulary game is Hink Pinks, which involves word riddles with answers that rhyme. Each riddle also contains a clue to the number of syllables in the answer: If a player says "hink pink" after providing the initial riddle, the rhyming answer will consist of one-syllable words. If a player says,"hinky pinky," the answer will consist of two-syllable words, and if a player says,"hinkety pinkety," the answer will consist of three-syllable words.
4937
4938• The following are a few examples of Hink Pinks; the clue is shown first, followed by the answer: a mournful father/sad dad, ecstatic patriarch/happy pappy, evil preacher/sinister minister, pusillanimous blackbird/craven raven, fractious young person/ wild child, and indolent flower/lazy daisy.
4939
4940217
4941
4942Lecture 33: Building Vocabulary through Games
4943
4944• 218
4945
4946• To create your own Hink Pinks, first, think of a word pair that rhymes; often, it works to pair an adjective with a noun. Then, think of more sophisticated synonyms for both of the answer words; these synonyms make up your riddle. Finally, pose the riddle as a question with the syllable clue.
4947
4948• To use the Hink Pinks game to review target vocabulary words, it's usually easier to start with the target words as your riddle, not your answer.
4949
4950Another engaging way to review a number of vocabulary words quickly is a game called Clue Review; a similar commercially published game is Hedbanz.
4951
4952• To play Clue Review, write 20 to 30 target vocabulary words on index cards. One player will serve as the clue giver, and the other will be in the "hot seat."
4953
4954• If you're on the hot seat, shuffle the deck of vocabulary cards face down, randomly take one card from the deck, and place it on your forehead so that the clue giver can see the word, but you cannot.
4955
4956• The clue giver then provides clues for you to guess the word. The clues can be a definition, a related word, or a personal connection to the word. For example, for the word gemütlichkeit, the clue giver might say,"German loanword referring to a feeling of coziness and comfort," or the clue giver might say,"I think of Thanksgiving when I hear this word."
4957
4958• If you guess the right word, you put the card down and pull the next card in the deck. If you can't guess the word, you can pass, or the clue giver can pass if he or she can't come up with a good clue. The object of the game is for the pair of players to correctly identify all the cards from the deck without either one saying pass. Once you've gone through the deck, switch roles.
4959
4960The commercially published game Taboo is excellent for developing vocabulary flexibility, that is, using words in new and creative ways.
4961
4962• This game is similar to Clue Review in that one player gives his or her partner clues to a target word printed on a card.
4963
4964However, there are a number of taboo words that the clue giver is not allowed to use in giving clues, and these words are the ones that come to mind most readily as clues.
4965
4966• For example, imagine that you're the clue giver and you choose a card with the name John F.Kennedy. Of course, the first clue you think of might be "1960s president," but president would probably be one of the taboo words, as would assassination, Bay of Pigs, Jacqueline Kennedy, and grassy knoll. As the clue giver, you have to think flexibly and make personal connections to the target words to avoid using the taboo words.
4967
4968• Even if Taboo doesn't lend itself specifically to reviewing the target words in this course, it has a great deal in common with some of our strategies as lifelong vocabulary learners: thinking flexibly, making connections, and using synonyms, antonyms, and related words.
4969
4970© Stockbyte/Thinkstock.
4971
4972• You can increase your vocabulary knowledge by acting out target words in a game of charades, playing Scrabble or Words with Friends, or Going crossword puzzles.
4973
4974219
4975
4976Leveraging Context
4977
4978• As we've said, we pick up most of our new vocabulary knowledge incidentally, from reading in context. Thus, reading for meaning is one of the best things you can do to improve your vocabulary.
4979
4980• Imagine that you're reading a book, and you encounter the following sentence: "Miles disliked his job, primarily because of his bumptious boss."
4981
4982• If you didn't already know the meaning of bumptious, this context wouldn't be too supportive. You might get the idea that bumptious is negative, but you wouldn't know whether the word meant conniving, wishy-washy, or something else.
4983
4984Lecture 33: Building Vocabulary through Games
4985
4986• 220
4987
4988The sentence doesn't give you enough context to infer the specific meaning of bumptious, and in fact, research shows that a single contextual encounter with an unfamiliar word isn't always sufficient for readers toinfer its exact meaning.
4989
4990• But if that's true, how is it that we pick up most of our new vocabulary from reading in context? The answer is that we learn words incrementally; this is the dimmer switch phenomenon we discussed earlier. You may not be able to infer the meaning of bumptious after your first encounter, but each time you encounter the word in a new context, its meaning gradually grows brighter in your mental lexicon.
4991
4992• You can take several steps to speed up this incremental process.
4993
4994First, you can try to infer the meaning of the word from the contextual information that surrounds it, and you can put that information together with clues within the word, such as Latin and Greek Affixes and roots. The key here is to do what literacy experts Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey suggest: "Look inside the word and outside the word" for clues.
4995
4996• You might also mark unfamiliar words to look up later so that you don't lose the flow of your reading. Set aside some time to check a set of words in the dictionary; look at all the meanings of a particular word and see which one best fits the context. Write down all the important information about the word in your vocabulary notebook, including its definition, part of speech, and morphology.
4997
4998• Finally, take a few minutes more to examine a number of usage examples. Instead of waiting until the next time you happen to encounter the unfamiliar word, this step allows you to experience it several times in rich context. Webster's Third New International Dictionary is known for having a number of excellent usage examples, as is vocabulary.com, a free online dictionary.
4999
5000Golden Lines
5001
5002• This discussion of context brings up another critical aspect of vocabulary knowledge: knowing how to use words—even relatively simple words—effectively to communicate what you want. And there is no better way to get a feel for how to use words effectively than by examining great writing.
5003
5004• Consider this memorable quotation from the great Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi: "You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist." Some might argue that reading this line won't improve your vocabulary because you know all the words already. But it could also be argued that knowing how to craft a beautiful sentence with the precise word—even a simple one—is perhaps the ultimate goal of building a better vocabulary.
5005
5006• In your vocabulary notebook, create a section called "The Golden Line." As you come across a turn of phrase that stuns you with its beauty, or cuts right through you, or makes you laugh, record it in this section of your notebook to enjoy over and over. You might even try to memorize some of your golden lines; memorizing forces you to delve into the meaning of the words and allows you to develop a feel for the music and rhythm of the language.
5007
5008221
5009
5010vocabulary Banks
5011
5012• A vocabulary bank is a list of high-utility words and phrases that you create and keep handy while writing—whether for your job or for pleasure—to remind you of possible word choices.
5013
5014• For example, if you do a fair amount of informational writing in your job, you might want to create a vocabulary bank of summarizing words to ensure that you don't always rely on the phrase in conclusion.
5015
5016• This bank might include the following words and phrases:
5017
5018consequently, taken as a whole, in other words, in short, in summary, in simpler terms, on the whole, and therefore.2 
5019
5020• Lecture 33: Building Vocabulary through Games
5021
5022• Or you might have a bank of words that signal cause/effect relationships, such as thus, therefore, as a result, this led to, this gave rise to, in turn, for this reason, it follows, consequently, the ramifications of.
5023
5024You're probably familiar with all these words and phrases, but you may not necessarily be able to bring them to mind when you need them. A vocabulary bank serves as a repository of important words for you to keep as a handy reference and can help add precision and variety to your writing.
5025
5026Review Questions
5027
50281. Solve the following Hink Pinks: a timorous agent provocateur (hink pink), a less crooked quisling (hinky pinky), a religious man's claptrap (hink pink), a fomenter experiencing a diminuendo (hinkety pinkety)
5029
50302. Practice leveraging context with at least one new word you encounter this week.
5031
50322
5033
5034vocabulary -bank suggestions drawn from the work of researchers Jeff Zwiers and Dianna Townsend.
5035
5036222
5037
50383. Create a "Golden Lines" section in your vocabulary notebook and record some of your favorite lines from literature, speeches, or other sources.
5039
50404. Create a vocabulary bank of company buzzwords, report language, or words in another applicable category to use in your everyday writing.
5041
5042223
5043
5044Words English Borrowed and Never Returned
5045
5046Lecture 34
5047
5048Lecture 34: Words English Borrowed and Never Returned
5049
5050Unlike some languages, English is democratic in the sense that it has always been open to acquiring new words from other languages.
5051
5052In fact, substantially more than half of English vocabulary is from languages other than its Anglo-Saxon ancestor, Old English. This lecture is the first of two on words and phrases borrowed into English from other languages. We'll explore some words that are obviously from a different language, such as faux pas (an embarrassing social blunder), and words that have become so common in English you might not be aware they were ever borrowed, such as grenade, mustang, and shampoo.
5053
5054Loanwords from around the World
5055
5056• To get a sense of the breadth and diversity of the words English has borrowed from other languages, let's begin with a brief tour of global languages and the loanwords we have adopted from them.
5057
5058• From Italian, we get such musical words as a cappella, maestro, opera, and virtuoso; artistic words, including fresco, graffiti, stucco, and terra cotta; and of course, culinary words, such as pasta, al dente, and gusto.
5059
5060224
5061
5062• From French, we get quiche, salon, and a number of military terms, including lieutenant, bayonet, artillery, coup d'état, rendezvous, and esprit de corps.
5063
5064• Not surprisingly, Spanish has given us many words we associate with the American Southwest, including coyote, desperado, tortilla, lariat, and mustang.
5065
5066• We have German to thank German for kindergarten and sauerkraut, and Yiddish for bagels, schleps, schmucks, and mavens.
5067
5068• Gaelic has given us banshee, slogan, and whiskey, which was literally translated as "water of life." The Gaelic word for whiskey was probably itself a loan translation from Medieval Latin aqua vitae.
5069
5070• Banzai, karaoke, and tycoon come from Japanese, and Sanskrit gave us karma, nirvana, yoga, and shampoo.
5071
5072• Finally, high school students probably remain annoyed at Arabic for giving us algebra.
5073
5074This relatively short list gives us a sense of the sponge-like quality of English, soaking up words from just about everywhere. As a result, our language has an incredibly rich vocabulary and allows us to make finer shades of distinction among related concepts.
5075
5076Schadenfreude (noun)
5077
5078Satisfaction, pleasure, or malicious joy at someone else's misfortune.
5079
5080• Schadenfreude, a German word, came into English in the 19th century. In German, schaden means "damage, harm, injury," and freude means "joy." Thus, schadenfreude literally means "damage joy," which seems appropriate to describe the secret sense of pleasure we feel when someone else runs into difficulty.
5081
5082• Of course, English-speaking people have always felt schadenfreude, but we didn't have the right word for it. Although there were some rare English words that were close synonyms for this word, for some reason, they never caught on. The fact that schadenfreude was used on an episode of The Simpsons seems to attest to its arrival in mainstream American culture. Homer, the father in this cartoon, expresses joy at a rival's business failing, and his daughter Lisa uses the word and defines it for him.
5083
5084Zeitgeist (noun)
5085
5086The spirit, attitude, or general outlook of a specific period; the moral, cultural, and intellectual climate of an era.
5087
5088225
5089
5090• In German, zeit means "time," and geist means "ghost" or "spirit."
5091
5092Thus, zeitgeist literally means "time-spirit," or the "spirit of the times." The word might be used in context as follows: "Are we all primarily shaped by the zeitgeist in which we grow up? Or are there a few among us—the geniuses, the explorers, the forward thinkers—who can rise above their time in history and see the world in an entirely new way?"
5093
5094• To remember zeitgeist, pick a time period or decade that stands out to you and make a list of the cultural toucestones—the words, ideas, images, and events-that defined that period.
5095
5096Weltschmerz (noun)
5097Sadness over the evils of the world.
5098
5099• In German welt means "world," and schmerz means "pain." When you experience weltschmerz, you experience "world-pain" or "world weariness," pain at the evils and injustices in the world.
5100
5101© CobATISTA/iStock/Thinkstock.
5102
5103Lecture 34: Words English Borrowed and Never Returned
5104
5105Flappers, gangsters, Prohibition, and early automobiles were all part of the zeitgeist of the Roaring Twenties.
5106
5107226
5108
5109• Weltschmerz can also denote the depression caused by feeling the world's woes too sharply.
5110
5111Éminence grise (noun)
5112
51131. A powerful decision maker or advisor who operates behind the scenes.
5114
51152. An elder statesman or eminent senior member of a group.
5116
5117• The term éminence grise has an interesting history, recounted in The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories.
5118
5119• Born François-Joseph le Clerc du Tremblay in 1577, the priest later known as Father Joseph joined the Capuchin Order in 1599. In 1611, he met Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIII's politically ambitious chief minister, and was appointed the cardinal's personal secretary. The two made quite a powerful pair.
5120
5121• Father Joseph became far more than just Richelieu's secretary, also serving as his confidant, his personal confessor, and even his secret agent. Many believed that Father Joseph wielded much more influence behind the scenes than was publicly acknowledged.
5122
5123• The pair's rivals at court referred to them disparagingly behind their backs. Richelieu was called L'Éminence Rouge,"the red eminence," because of his scarlet cardinal's robes. Father Joseph, who wore the habit of the Capuchins, was referred to as L'Éminence Grise,"the gray eminence." 
5124
5125• However, éminence grise did not appear in general use in English until the 1920s. Aldous Huxley's 1941 study of Father Joseph, entitled Grey Eminence, helped further establish the term in English.
5126
5127• In the second half of the 20th century, authors who weren't aware of the original meaning of éminence grise ("a behind-the-scenes operator") started using it to in a positive sense to refer to an elder statesman.
5128
5129227
5130
5131As The Merriam-Webster account relates,"Doubtless the writers have mistakenly assumed that éminence grise derived from the notion that eminent senior figures are typically gray- haired." For this reason, today, the term has two contradictory meanings today.
5132
5133Mugwump (noun)
5134
51351. A person, especially a politician, who is unable to make up his or her mind on an issue.
5136
5137Lecture 34: Words English Borrowed and Never Returned
5138
51392. A person who remains neutral or independent on a controversial issue.
5140
5141228
5142
5143• Mugwump originally comes from a word in a Native American Algonquian dialect that meant "important person." By the 1830s, English speakers were using mugwump to mean "great man, boss, important person" in a jesting, chiding sense to poke fun at people who thought particularly highly of themselves.
5144
5145• Then, during the presidential election of 1884, the meaning of mugwump shifted.
5146
5147• James G. Blaine, the Republican candidate, was running against Grover Cleveland, the Democratic candidate. A faction of Republican political activists who were highly critical of the financial corruption associated with Blaine left the Resublican Party to support the Democratic candidate, Cleveland.
5148
5149• The Republicans who remained loyal to Blaine weren't happy and dubbed the Republican turncoats mugwumps, deriding their holier-than-thou, pompous attitudes and the supercilious way in which they tried to hold themselves above party politics.
5150
5151• From this, we get our current definition of mugwump as a person who is unable to make up his or her mind about an issue or someone who remains neutral over a controversial issue.
5152
5153Consider for example, this context sentence: "The senator was too much of a mugwump to take a stand on any hotly contested issue."
5154
5155• Interestingly, an apocryphal etymology of mugwump surfaced in the 1930s. In a speech delivered in 1936, Congressman Albert J. Engel explained that a mugwump was "a bird who sits with its mug on one side of the fence and its wump on the other." Although this etymology is false, it provides us with a humorous visual to remember the word.
5156
5157Bête noire (noun)
5158
5159A person or thing that is particularly disliked, dreaded, or avoided.
5160
5161• Bête noire came into English in the early 1800s from a French word that, literally translated, means "black beast." The modern definition is illustrated by the following context sentence: "Fidel Castro has been the bête noire of U.S. presidents for more than 50 years." 
5162
5163• Bête noire isn't restricted to people one dislikes or would like to avoid but can also be used for things that fall into the same category.
5164
5165For example: "High-fructose corn syrup has become the bête noire of nutritionists." 
5166
5167• Synonyms and related words for bête noire include archrival, nemesis, bugbear, and anathema.
5168
5169Doppelgänger (noun)
5170
51711. A ghostly double of a living person that haunts its living counterpart.
5172
51732. Someone who has a close, even eerily close, resemblance to another.
5174
5175• Edgar Allan Poe's short story "William Wilson," first published in 1839, is an exploration of the idea of a doppelgänger. In the story, 
5176
5177229
5178
5179Lecture 34: Words English Borrowed and Never Returned
5180
5181Poe uses the physical manifestation of the doppelgänger to explore the psychological alter ego of the narrator.
5182
5183• The story is narrated by the title character, William Wilson, who as a boy attended a strict boarding school in England.
5184
5185There, he felt superior to all his classmates except one, another boy who shared his name, William Wilson. This other William Wilson looked similar to (but not exactly like) William, dressed like William, and even imitated William's voice but only in a whisper.
5186
5187230
5188
5189• The other William becomes the narrator's competitor and rival.
5190
5191One night, the narrator sneaks into his rival's bedroom to play a practical joke, but he's horrified to discover that his rival's face has transformed and now looks exactly like his own.
5192
5193• For the rest of the story, William's lookalike rival haunts him, showing up at different points in his life, thwarting his attempts at vice and evil activity, and always whispering, "William Wilson" in his ear. In the last scene, William finally confronts his lookalike and stabs him with a sword. But then, to his horror, the scene changes, and William is no longer looking at his rival; instead, he is gazing into a mirror in which he sees himself, stabbed and bleeding. William has killed himself.
5194
5195• Although doppelgänger is still used to refer to such ghostly doubles, it has recently taken on a second meaning, referring to someone who closely resembles another person.
5196
5197• Literally translated from German, doppelgänger means "doublegoer" or "double-walker." The word didn't enter English until the 1830s, but the concept of spirit doubles and alter egos is found in myth and folklore from cultures around the world. In some traditions, if a friend or family member sees your doppelgänger, it's considered a harbinger of illness or danger. If you see your own doppelgänger, it's an omen of your death.
5198
5199Review Questions
5200
52011. Lindsay felt a thrill of _________ when the committee decided the case in her favor and against Jim; he had been her __________ in the department for months.
5202
52032. A sense of __________ was perhaps part of the __________ of the Depression era.
5204
52053. Henry Kissinger might be characterized as the __________ behind the foreign policy of Richard Nixon.
5206
52074. Steve is a lucky guy; his girlfriend is brilliant and could be Julia Roberts's __________.
5208
52095. Since his reelection by a very narrow margin, the senator had become a bit of a __________, reluctant to take decisive action in Congress.
5210
5211231
5212
5213More Foreign Loan Words
5214
5215Lecture 35
5216
5217As we saw in our last lecture, English has borrowed many words from many different languages. However, the hallmark of a powerful vocabulary is not simply knowing a bunch of fancy words; rather, it's knowing the exact word touse in a specific context or situation. That's why we've spent so much time in this course delving into the meanings of words and exploring how each word differs in meaning from closely related synonyms. As the first target word in this lecture implies, it's often not the longest or most sophisticated word that is the best choice but the word that is chosen to fit the situation most precisely.
5218
5219Mot juste (noun) 
5220
5221Lecture 35: More Foreign Loan Words
5222
5223The exact, appropriate word or expression for a situation.
5224
5225• Mark Twain once said,"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—'tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." Our first target term, mot juste, captures this idea of the "just right word." 
5226
5227• Consider, for example, this well-known line from President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
5228
5229• Changing just one word changes the feel of the entire sentence:
5230
5231"Request not what your country can do for you, request what you can do for your country." Ask, a shorter and some might say less sophisticated word than request, is actually the better choice in this instance.
5232
5233• 232
5234
5235The reason ask is the better choice here relates to the fact that there is no such thing as an exact synonym in English. Words may carry similar denotations (primary, literal meanings), but they generally have different connotations (secondary meanings that include the array of associations with a word).
5236
5237• Both ask and request share the same general denotation:
5238
5239to inquire of someone. However, request has the added connotation of being more formal and polite than ask. When you request something, it is often as a favor or courtesy.
5240
5241Clearly, request was not the "just right word" in the context of President Kennedy's speech.
5242
5243In French, mot means "word" and juste means "exact"; literally, mot juste is the "exact word." Mot juste is sometimes confused with bon mot,"good word," which is a witty comment or clever remark.
5244
5245Insouciant (adjective)
5246
5247Free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant.
5248
5249• Insouciant is another borrowing from French, used to describe a condition we seem to experience all too rarely—that of being lighthearted and carefree. Synonyms for insouciant include debonair, breezy, and jaunty.
5250
5251Gestalt (noun)
5252
5253A pattern possessing qualities as a whole that cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts.
5254
5255• In its most literal meaning, gestalt is a German word meaning "shape, form, appearance." The word is often used in English to mean the gist of something or its general qualities. It is the general outline that matters with gestalt, not the details.
5256
5257• You might hear gestalt used as an adjective, as in: "Rather than grade the students' essays by analyzing each component, such as style, voice, and word choice, the English teachers decided to take a gestalt approach, evaluating each essay as a whole."
5258
5259233
5260
5261• According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, gestalt came into English in 1922, but in Germany, the concept of gestalt had been used as the basis of a school of psychology that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the main beliefs of gestalt psychologists is that the mind perceives external stimuli as a whole, at least initially, rather than as individual parts.
5262
5263Cachet (noun) 
5264
5265Lecture 35: More Foreign Loan Words
5266
5267Superior status, privilege.
5268
5269• Cachet is often used in connection with fashion, as in: "On the university campus, wearing North Face jackets and UGG boots carries a certain cachet among college students." 
5270
5271• According to Joyn Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins, cachet came into English in the 1630s as a Scottish borrowing of the French word cachet, which meant "seal affixed to a letter or document." In the 19th century, this "seal" meaning was extended to the more figurative sense of "a personal stamp, a distinguishing characteristic." This meaning itself was later further extended to "prestige and status." 
5272
5273• Cachet is sometimes confused with cache. Although the two words are distantly related, cache is a noun referring to either a hiding place for storing for provisions, valuables, or weapons or the actual store of valuables itself. For example: "Thankfully, the army found the terrorists' cache of weapons before they could use them."
5274
5275Agent provocateur (noun)
5276
5277A secret agent hired to incite suspected persons to illegal action that will make them liable to punishment.
5278
5279Sangfroid (noun)
5280
5281Coolness and composure, especially in trying circumstances.
5282
5283234
5284
5285• The former professional quarterback Joe Montana serves as a great example of sangfroid. Montana had a Hall of Fame career, winning a national college championship at Notre Dame and four Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers.
5286
5287• Besides his athletic ability, what made Montana great was his calmness in high-pressure situations. In fact, he rallied his team to 31 comeback wins when the 49ers were behind in the fourth quarter.
5288
5289• His unflappable demeanor and ability to win under pressure earned Montana his two most famous nicknames, Joe Cool and the Comeback Kid.
5290
5291In French, sang means "blood," and froid means "cool." Thus, sangfroid literally means "cool blood." A synonym for sangfroid, also from French, is aplomb, meaning "grace under pressure."
5292
5293Lagniappe (noun) 
5294
5295A small gift given by a storeowner to a customer; any small extra gift or benefit.
5296
5297• The American Heritage Dictionary identifies lagniappe as a New Orleans creole word derived from the New World Spanish word la napa, meaning "the gift." It's not a surprise that this Spanish word acquired its current French spelling in New Orleans, a cosmopolitan city where both Spanish and French were spoken.
5298
5299According to Mark Twain in Life on the Mississippi, lagniappe was a word "worth travelling to New Orleans to get." 
5300
5301Some linguists speculate that the original Spanish word actually came from an indigenous Native American word that meant "to give more."
5302
5303Gemütlichkeit (noun)
5304
5305An atmosphere characterized by a cheerful mood; peace of mind, with the connotation of fellowship and coziness.
5306
5307235
5308
5309© Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-5513.
5310
5311• Gemütlichkeit is a loanword from German that brings to mind the atmosphere around the table for many families at Thanksgiving— warm, welcoming, cozy, and comfortable, with a dose of camaraderie and togetherness. Consider the word in context: "The impromptu gettogether created a sense of gemütlichkeit among the new neighbors." 
5312
5313• The German word at the root of gemütlichkeit is the noun gemüt, which means "soul, mind, feeling" and is a cognate with the English word mood.
5314
5315Review Questions
5316
53171. The aura of __________ emanated by Josh made him irresistible to most women.
5318
53192. The gang members suspected one in their midst of being an __________ employed by the police.
5320
53213. Many people experience a sense of __________ with family and friends during the holiday season.
5322
5323Lecture 35: More Foreign Loan Words
5324
53254. Offering a __________ is one way for storeowners to retain customers.
5326
53275. The writer was known for spending hours searching for the __________.
5328
53296. The craftsman believed that his expensive handmade jewelry would be purchased by those seeking social __________.
5330
53317. Having furiously scribbled parts of the solution on blackboards around the room, when the mathematician reviewed her equations, she immediately recognized the ________ of her work.
5332
53338. Maria's __________ attitude toward life made her a fun-loving travel companion.
5334
5335236
5336
5337Forgotten Words and Neologisms 
5338
5339Lecture 36
5340
5341In this lecture, we will meet some old words and some new ones.
5342
5343Specifically, we will look back and explore some words in English that we may have forgotten about or that may be a bit underused but that still have a lot of life left in them. We'll then look forward and explore some neologisms, or new words, that have made their way into English in the last 50 years or so. We'll end the course with a review of all we've accomplished and some tips for continuing to build your vocabulary into the future.
5344
5345Sockdolager (noun)
5346
53471. A strong, decisive, final blow; a finisher.
5348
53492. Something or someone outstanding or exceptional.
5350
5351• This target word may lay claim to being one of the last words heard by President Abraham Lincoln.
5352
5353• As you know, on the night of his assassination, President Lincoln was sitting in Ford's Theater, watching Tom Taylor's play Our American Cousin.
5354
5355• John Wilkes Booth knew the play well, and, he was waiting for the following line, which was sure to trigger a laugh: "Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sockdologising old man-trap." The audience burst into laughter and, amidst the noise, Booth fatally shot Lincoln.
5356
5357Sockdolager can be used literally, as in: "That was one sockdolager of a punch that knocked the heavyweight champion out cold." It can also be used figuratively, as in: "Her closing argument was a real sockdolager that won the debate for her team." In this figurative sense, sockdolager is a conclusive or decisive answer or remark that settles the matter.
5358
5359237
5360
5361• Sockdolager has also acquired a second sense of something or someone outstanding or exceptional, as in: "Boy, that snowstorm was a real sockdolager; we were hit with three feet at once!" 
5362
5363• Sockdolager's etymology is a bit uncertain, but it first showed up around 1830 and may be a playful corruption of the word doxology, which refers to a few lines of praise to God sung at the end of a hymn. Originally, sockdolager may have involved the humorous notion of a "righteous" blow that ends a fight.
5364
5365Peckish (adjective)
5366
53671. Somewhat hungry.
5368
5369Lecture 36: Forgotten Words and Neologisms
5370
53712. Irritable, touchy.
5372
5373• Peckish brings to mind the feeling we all get around 11:15 a.m., when it has been some hours since breakfast, and we're starting to feel a bit hungry. It also carries a second sense of slightly irritable, as in: "He's usually good-natured, but his illness has caused him to be peckish lately." 
5374
5375• Peckish literally means "disposed to peck." In your vocabulary notebook, highlight peck and write down that a peckish person will peck at food when feeling a bit hungry.
5376
5377Evanescent (adjective)
5378
53791. Fleeting, of short duration, vanishing or likely to vanish.
5380
53812. Fragile, diaphanous, and unsubstantial.
5382
5383238
5384
5385• Evanescent refers to all things temporary, such as rainbows or mirages. The word itself seems to have a delicate, almost ghostly quality, as if it could be whisked away by the slightest breeze.
5386
5387• Both vanish and evanescent are derived from the same Latin origin.
5388
5389The e- in evanescent is an assimilated prefix of ex-, meaning "out." 
5390
5391And the van comes from the Latin vanesco, meaning "to vanish."
5392
5393In your vocabulary notebook, make a note that evanescent things vanish quickly.
5394
5395Feckless (adjective)
5396
53971. Weak and ineffective.
5398
53992. Worthless, lazy, and irresponsible.
5400
5401• Feckless comes from a Scottish word, feck, which was a shortened form of effect and meant "effect, value, and vigor." If you add the suffix -less to feck, you get "without effect, value or vigor."
5402
5403Profligate (noun)
5404
5405Someone who is given to wildly extravagant and grossly self-indulgent behavior.
5406
5407Generating New Words
5408
5409• New words are introduced into English every day, although not all of them survive. When a new word is coined and is in the process of entering common use, it's called a neologism. This word comes from the Greek prefix neo-, meaning "new," and the Greek noun logos, meaning "word."
5410
5411• Nonce words are those invented for a particular occasion; they are typically used spontaneously and just once. One of the most famous of all nonce words came from the classic 1964 Disney musical Mary Poppins: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
5412
5413• A language might also expand its lexicon by borrowing words from another language. We discussed this phenomenon in the two lectures that explored such words as insouciant from French and gemütlichkeit from German.
5414
5415239
5416
5417• Finally, a language can generate new words by combining existing words and word parts. Examples of this type of word generation include combining Affixes and roots to create new words or combining parts from other words to form portmanteau words, as we saw with gerrymander.
5418
5419Meme (noun)
5420
5421An idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person in a culture.
5422
5423• Although it is now commonly used with regard to the Internet, meme was not originally an Internet term. It was coined in 1976 by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.
5424
5425• Dawkins's coinage deliberately drew on Greek and was purposely imitative, as he explains in his book The Selfish Gene:
5426
5427Lecture 36: forgotten Words and Neologisms
5428
5429• 240
5430
5431We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. "Mimeme" comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like "gene." I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme. If it is any consolation, it could alternatively be thought of as being related to "memory," or to the French word même. It should be pronounced to rhyme with "cream."
5432
5433• In this explanation of how he created a new word, Dawkins explicitly calls attention to its Greek root and meaning, its pronunciation, and its relationship to a known word, gene.
5434
5435• In fact, Dawkins based his idea of memes on the behavior of genes, in that they can replicate and mutate.
5436
5437Recently, meme has gained new life online as a descriptor of pictures, videos, phrases, and themes that "go viral"—that is, that get shared or modified, then reposted multiple times. Internet memes are often creative or humorous and are passed among friends through e-mails or social media posts.
5438
5439Quark (noun)
5440
5441An elementary subatomic particle proposed as the fundamental unit of matter.
5442
5443• Science and technology have always been areas that demand new words and new uses for old ones. Examples include boson, named after Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose; fermion, named for Enrico Fermi; and quark, coined by physicist Murray Gell-Mann.
5444
5445All three of these are types of subatomic particles.
5446
5447• According to The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories, Gell-Mann was looking for a name for a certain type of hypothetical subatomic particle. He was used to playing around with such names as squork for peculiar objects, and he had come up with the pronunciation /kwork/ (to rhyme with pork), but he had not come up with a spelling for the word.
5448
5449• Then, he came upon the word quark in the following lines from James Joyce's classic Finnegans Wake: "Three quarks for Muster Mark! / Sure he has not got much of a bark / And sure any he has it's all beside the mark."
5450
5451• Gell-Mann wasn't sure how to pronounce the word, but he said,"In any case, the number three fitted perfectly the way quarks occur in nature." He had theorized that quarks could only exist in threes in making up a proton.
5452
5453• Gell-Mann wanted to keep Joyce's spelling of quark, but he didn't want to pronounce it as Joyce had probably intended (/kwark/ to rhyme with lark). He decided to keep his original pronunciation of quark as rhyming with pork. Of course, in general use, many non-physicists pronounce the word the way it looks: /kwark/.
5454
5455241
5456
5457• And where did Joyce get quark from? Apparently, it came from a German word for a cheese that is in the early stages of manufacture. Thus, this quirky word went from being a German word for a dairy product, to a playful word in an experimental novel, to a neologism for a subatomic particle.
5458
5459Muggle (noun) 
5460
5461• Our last target word comes from one of the best-selling book series of all time, Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling. In Rowling's books, a muggle is a non-magical person, an ordinary human. Rowling coined muggle based on the British term mug, which is slang for "a gullible person or a dupe." 
5462
5463• Muggle has now made its way into common usage to mean a person who lacks knowledge of a subject or is inferior in some way.
5464
5465© Anna Berkut/iStock/Thinkstock.
5466
5467Lecture 36: forgotten Words and Neologisms
5468
5469A person who lacks a particular skill or knowledge of a subject; someone who is regarded as inferior in some way.
5470
5471Your vocabulary notebook is a powerful tool for learning that will continue to evolve as your vocabulary grows.
5472
5473242
5474
5475Looking Backward and Forward
5476
5477• Throughout this course, we have delved into the history and meaning of scores of powerful, lively, and beautiful words. But even beyond building a rich treasury of words, we've also acquired some valuable strategies for learning vocabulary, such as making personal connections, organizing by schema, looking for Affixes and roots, and keeping a vocabulary notebook.
5478
5479• As you move beyond this course, keep in mind these tips for continuing to build your vocabulary :
5480
5481• First, read, talk, and write! Find a subject that inspires you, such as yoga, politics, or jazz; read about it; and discuss it with others. Consider writing a blog to share your thoughts with others who have the same interests that you have.
5482
5483• Second, keep up with your vocabulary notebook. As you're reading, take note of unfamiliar and interesting words. Once a week, choose two or three of those words and record them in your vocabulary notebook, just as we've done throughout this course. Delve into them deeply.
5484
5485• Third, use it or lose it: Challenge yourself to try out one interesting word per day from your notebook. Choose a word that will add some spice, color, or precision to your conversation. Remember, each time you use a word is one more step toward owning that word.
5486
5487Review Questions
5488
54891. Even as a boy, the tyro physicist had been fascinated by the behavior of proton, electrons, and __________.
5490
54912. "Parents can be such __________," the teenage girl remarked to her friend. "They have no knowledge of Internet __________ or texting slang."
5492
5493243
5494
54953. A mid-morning snack is an excellent antidote when one starts feeling __________ around 11:00 a.m.
5496
54974. Blakely's presentation was a true __________; the executives were bowled over by her creative ideas.
5498
54995. With her endless shopping trips, spa visits, and restaurant meals, Bonita was considered a __________ by her relatives.
5500
55016. Pam's __________ son-in-law couldn't hold a job and wouldn't help out around the house.
5502
55037. Without continuing practice and effort, new vocabulary knowledge can be as __________ as the wind.
5504
5505Lecture 36: forgotten Words and Neologisms
5506
5507244
5508
5509Answers to review Questions 
5510
5511Lecture 1
5512
55131. Definitions, context, connections, morphology, semantic chunking.
5514
55152. According to schema theory, we organize and categorize knowledge by abstract mental frameworks (schema). Semantic chunking takes advantage of this approach to organizing knowledge by grouping related words into categories according to their meaning.
5516
55173. procrustean 
55184. factotum 
5519
5520Lecture 2
5521
55221. Words that are related in spelling are often related in meaning, despite changes in sound.
5523
55242. Definitions, context sentences, personal connections, and notes on morphology and etymology.
5525
55263. circumspect 
55274. factitious 
5528
5529Lecture 3
5530
55311. apocryphal 
55322. mountebank 
5533
5534245
5535
55363. hornswoggle 
55374. sophist 
55385. ersatz 
55396. specious 
55407. spurious 
55418. skulduggery/machinations 
5542
5543Lecture 4
5544
55451. noisome 
55462. gadfly 
55473. mawkish 
55484. querulous 
55495. maudlin
5550
5551Answers to Review Questions
5552
55536. treacle 
55547. Fulsome can mean either "excessively or insincerely lavish" or "abundant." Depending on which meaning is intended, fulsome praise could be interpreted negatively or positively.
5555
55568. scabrous 
5557
5558Lecture 5
5559
55601. bellicose 
5561246
5562
55632. rapacious 
55643. halcyon 
55654. imbroglio 
55665. propitiate 
55676. truculent 
55687. mollycoddle/contumacious 
55698. donnybrook 
55709. quiescent 
5571
5572Lecture 6
5573
55741. reparable -> repair -> "capable of being repaired"
5575
55762.
5577
5578abysmal Definition, Part of Speech:
5579
5580Synonyms:
5581
5582adjective
5583
5584wretched, atrocious, awful, execrable
5585
5586extremely poor or bad Examples:
5587
5588Non-Examples, Antonyms:
5589
5590Abysmal papers handed in by students in a freshman composition class
5591
5592Work of a Nobel Prize–winning author excellent, exceptional, superior, first-rate
5593
55943. toothsome 
55954. castigated 
5596
5597247
5598
55995. circumlocution 
56006. captious 
5601
5602Lecture 7
5603
56041. malfeasance 
56052. venal 
56063. malediction 
56074. malinger 
56085. turpitude 
56096. malaise 
56107. maladroit 
56118. malefactor 
56129. invidious
5613
5614Answers to review Questions
5615
561610. malcontent 
561711. insidious 
5618
5619Lecture 8
5620
56211. puerile 
56222. Inchoate sometimes emphasizes what is not present in the beginning stages, focusing on the more "lacking" aspects of a beginning. 
5623
5624248
5625
5626In contrast, nascent stresses the more developing, growing, positive aspects of the beginning stage.
5627
56283. moribund 
56294. tyro 
56305. ingénue 
56316. dilettante 
56327. callow 
5633
5634Lecture 9
5635
56361. oenophile 
56372. misanthrope 
56383. philatelist 
56394. agoraphobia, glossophobia, acrophobia 
56405. execrate 
56416. canoodling 
56427. xenophobia 
5643
5644Lecture 10
5645
56461. No. The hoi polloi are the common people, who are not generally thought of as having the refined manners andtastes of patricians.
5647
56482. bromides 
5649
5650249
5651
56523. nonpareil 
56534. quotidian 
56545. banal 
56556. insipid/vapid 
56567. prosaic 
5657
5658Lecture 11
5659
56601. saturnine 
56612. Sisyphean 
56623. Sword of Damocles/Gordian knot 
56634. mercurial 
56645. Promethean
5665
5666Answers to review Questions
5667
56686. saturnalia 
5669
5670Lecture 12
5671
56721. sycophants/obsequious 
56732. blandishments 
56743. unctuous 
56754. bloviate
5676
5677250
5678
56795. bumptious 
56806. hubris 
56817. wheedling 
56828. bombast 
56839. supercilious 
5684
5685Lecture 13
5686
56871. The root umbr, meaning "shade, shadow," is found in the middle of adumbrate, a word that means "to give a sketchy or shadowy outline of."
5688
56892. emancipation 
56903. dishabille 
56914. prescient 
5692
5693Lecture 14
5694
56951. pontificates 
56962. dissembled 
56973. perfidious 
56984. agitprop 
56995. equivocal 
57006. dogmatic 
5701
5702251
5703
57047. apostate 
5705
5706Lecture 15
5707
57081. philippic 
57092. Falumny/vilified 
57103. fulminated 
57114. obloquy 
57125. bowdlerize 
57136. pithy 
57147. foment 
57158. laconic 
5716
5717Lecture 16
5718
5719Answers to review Questions
5720
57211. badinage 
57222. palaver 
57233. claptrap/bunk 
57244. jeremiad 
57255. paean 
57266. maundering 
57277. panegyric 
5728
5729252
5730
57318. pilloried 
57329. pablum 
5733
5734Lecture 17
5735
57361. gerrymandering 
57372. luddite 
57383. malapropism 
57394. billingsgate 
57405. quisling 
57416. draconian/bedlam 
57427. quixotic 
5743
5744Lecture 18
5745
57461. philistine 
57472. perspicacious 
57483. didactic 
57494. exegesis 
57505. erudite means "learned or scholarly"; recondite means "difficult to understand"; esoteric means "understood by only a select group."
5751
5752253
5753
57546. Induction is the process of inferring general principles from individual facts; deduction is the process of reasoning in which a conclusion necessarily follows from the stated premises.
5755
5756Lecture 19
5757
57581. facile 
57592. torpor/torpid 
57603. sedulous/indolent 
57614. turbid/turgid 
57625. alacrity 
5763
5764Lecture 20
5765
57661. concatenation 
57672. lacuna
5768
5769Answers to review Questions
5770
57713. schism 
57724. maw 
57735. to split or divide by cutting; to cling to 
57746. A cabal is a secret group, often meeting for the purposes of treachery.
5775
5776A coterie is a small group of people who share a common interest or purpose; coterie doesn't carry the negative connotations of cabal.
5777
57787. Diaspora
5779
5780254 
5781
5782Lecture 21
5783
57841. Both words can mean "to relinquish power," but abdicate is usually reserved for offices of higher power, such as a kingship.
5785
57862. antediluvian 
57873. solipsism 
57884. ablution 
57895. denuded 
57906. absquatulate 
57917. nihilism 
57928. protean 
5793
5794Lecture 22
5795
57961. asperity 
57972. importuning/fractious 
57983. inured 
57994. splenetic 
58005. Phlegmatic means "showing little emotion"; stoic means "seemingly indifferent to pleasure or pain; stolid means "having or expressing little or no sensibility."
5801
5802255 
5803
5804Lecture 23
5805
58061. bravado 
58072. braggadocio 
58083. chutzpah/moxie 
58094. temerity 
58105. intrepid 
58116. pusillanimous 
58127. craven 
58138. fortitude 
58149. timorous 
5815
5816Lecture 24
5817
58181. maudlin
5819
5820Answers to review Questions
5821
58222. callow 
58233. supercilious 
58244. Didactic means "overly preachy and instructive"; pedantic means "characterized by a narrow, ostentatious concern for book learning."
5825
58265. a pattern or scheme into which someone or something is forced
5827
5828256 
5829
5830Lecture 25
5831
58321. perdition/extirpate 
58332. Regicide is the murder of a ruler (king or queen); patricide is the murder of one's father; and parricide is the murder of a parent or close relative.
5834
58353. desuetude 
58364. caesura 
58375. fin de siècle 
58386. abrogated 
58397. vivisection 
5840
5841Lecture 26
5842
58431. bumptious 
58442. dissembling 
58453. stultifying 
58464. frisson 
58475. detritus 
58486. a choice between what is available and nothing 
5849
5850Lecture 27
5851
58521. sesquipedalian
5853
5854257
5855
58562. argot 
58573. lingua franca 
58584. discursive 
58595. sobriquet 
58606. jargon 
58617. The vernacular is the language of the common people; a dialect is the language of a specific region or social class.
5862
58638. shibboleth 
58649. somniloquy 
5865
5866Lecture 28
5867
58681. Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently
5869
5870Answers to review Questions
5871
5872and have different meanings. Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings. Homonyms are words that are spelled and pronounced the same but have different meanings.
5873
58742. Toponyms are place-names or words derived from place names; eponyms are words derived from the names of people.
5875
58763. portmanteau words/clipped words 
58774. spoonerism 
58785. acronyms
5879
5880258 
5881
5882Lecture 29
5883
58841. Both salubrious and salutary can describe something that's good for your health, but salutary can also describe something that's beneficial or promotes improvement in a more general sense.
5885
58862. officious 
58873. avuncular 
58884. mordant 
58895. virulent 
58906. piquant 
58917. pernicious 
5892
5893Lecture 30
5894
58951. Brobdingnagian and lilliputian 
58962. diminuendo 
58973. magnum opus 
58984. exiguous 
58995. juggernaut 
59006. commodious/capacious
5901
5902259 
5903
5904Lecture 31
5905
59061. Children in the alphabetic layer have a tacit logic underlying their spelling; they operate under the principle that every letter makes a sound and that we read and spell in a left-to-right, linear fashion; they have the same basic spelling logic as the Anglo-Saxons.
5907
59082. Children in the pattern layer know that every letter does not make a sound in English, that silent letters provide important information, and that the "one letter at a time" strategy won't work for all words.
5909
59103. Many of the classical roots in the meaning layer came into our spelling system during the Renaissance, when an explosion of new knowledge and ideas created a demand for new vocabulary.
5911
5912Lecture 32
5913
59141. tendentious/equivocal 
59152. truculent/truckle 
59163. trenchant/nascent
5917
5918Answers to review Questions
5919
59204. venal 
59215. pernicious 
59226. tintinnabulation (ringing), susurration (whispering), and harrumph (throat-clearing) 
5923
5924Lecture 33
5925
59261. shy spy, straighter traitor, monk's bunk, quieter rioter
5927
5928260 
5929
5930Lecture 34
5931
59321. schadenfreude/bête noire 
59332. weltschmerz/zeitgeist 
59343. éminence grise 
59354. doppelgänger 
59365. mugwump 
5937
5938Lecture 35
5939
59401. sangfroid 
59412. agent provocateur 
59423. gemütlichkeit 
59434. lagniappe 
59445. mot juste 
59456. cachet 
59467. gestalt 
59478. insouciant 
5948
5949Lecture 36
5950
59511. quarks 
59522. muggles/memes 
5953
5954261
5955
59563. peckish 
59574. sockdolager 
59585. profligate 
59596. feckless
5960
5961Answers to review Questions
5962
59637. evanescent
5964
5965262
5966
5967Glossary of Target Words
5968
5969Target Word and Part of Speech
5970
5971Definition
5972
5973Lecture No.
5974
5975abdicate (verb)
5976
5977to renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, or responsibility
5978
597921
5980
5981ablution (noun)
5982
5983the washing of one's body, or part of it, especially as a religious ritual
5984
598521
5986
5987abnegate (verb)
5988
59891. to deny or renounce
5990
599121
5992
59932. to relinquish power abrogate (verb)
5994
59951. to abolish by formal, authoritative action; to annul, repeal
5996
599725
5998
59992. to treat as nonexistent; to do away with, set aside 
6000
6001absquatulate (verb)
6002
6003acronym (noun)
6004
6005acrophobia (noun)
6006
6007adumbrate (verb)
6008
6009toflee, abscond
6010
601121
6012
6013a word or abbreviation formed from the initial letters of each of the successive or major parts of a compound term
6014
601528
6016
6017abnormal fear of heights
6018
60199
6020
60211. to give a sketchy outline of; to suggest, disclose, or outline partially
6022
602313
6024
60252. to foreshadow vaguely; to intimate agent provocateur (noun)
6026
6027agitprop (noun)
6028
6029agoraphobia (noun)
6030
6031alacrity (noun)
6032
6033antediluvian (adjective)
6034
6035a secret agent hired to incite suspected persons to illegal action that will make them liable to punishment
6036
603735
6038
6039political propaganda delivered through art, music, drama, or literature
6040
604114
6042
6043abnormal fear of open or public spaces
6044
60459
6046
6047a quick and cheerful readiness and eagerness to do something
6048
604919
6050
60511. of or relating to the period before the biblical flood
6052
605321
6054
60552. very old-fashioned, out of date, antiquated, or primitive apocryphal (adjective)
6056
6057of doubtful or dubious authenticity; false
6058
60593
6060
6061263
6062
6063Target Word and Part of Speech apostate (noun)
6064
6065argot (noun)
6066
6067asperity (noun)
6068
6069avuncular (adjective)
6070
6071Definition
6072
6073Lecture No.
6074
6075a person who abandons his or her religion, political beliefs, principles, or cause
6076
607714
6078
6079a specialized language characteristic of a particular group of people
6080
608127
6082
6083roughness or harshness of surface, sound, climate, condition, manner, or temper
6084
608522
6086
60871. of or having to do with an uncle
6088
608929
6090
60912. resembling an uncle; friendly; helpful; kind, patient, and indulgent badinage (noun)
6092
6093light, playful banter; raillery
6094
609516
6096
6097banal (adjective)
6098
6099lacking freshness and originality; trite; commonplace; so ordinary as to have become tedious
6100
610110
6102
6103a place or situation of noisy uproar and confusion
6104
610517
6106
6107bedlam (noun)
6108
6109bellicose (adjective)
6110
6111bête noire (noun)
6112
6113billingsgate (noun)
6114
6115blandishment (noun)
6116
6117bloviate (verb)
6118
6119bombast (noun)
6120
6121Glossary of Target Words
6122
6123bowdlerize (verb)
6124
6125braggadocio (noun)
6126
6127warlike, pugnacious, aggressively hostile
6128
61295
6130
6131a person or thing that is particularly disliked, dreaded, or avoided
6132
613334
6134
6135foul, coarse, abusive language
6136
613717
6138
6139flattery that is designed to persuade a listener
6140
614112
6142
6143to talk pompously; to talk at great length in a pompous and boastful manner
6144
614512
6146
6147pretentious, pompous, grandiloquent speech or writing
6148
614912
6150
6151to change a text by removing or modifying parts that could offend people
6152
615315
6154
61551. a braggart
6156
615723
6158
61592. empty, arrogant boasting bravado (noun)
6160
6161Brobdingnagian (adjective)
6162
6163bromide (noun)
6164
6165bumptious (adjective)
6166
6167264
6168
6169a pretentious, swaggering display of courage intended to impress others
6170
617123
6172
6173immense, enormous
6174
617530
6176
6177a platitude or trite saying
6178
617910
6180
6181pushy; offensively or loudly self-assertive; cocky
6182
618312
6184
6185Target Word and Part of Speech
6186
6187Definition
6188
6189Lecture No.
6190
6191bunk (noun)
6192
6193foolish, untrue talk; nonsense
6194
619516
6196
6197cabal (noun)
6198
61991. a small group of people secretly working together
6200
620120
6202
62032. a secret plot cachet (noun)
6204
6205superior status, privilege
6206
620735
6208
6209a break or pause
6210
621125
6212
6213immature or inexperienced; lacking adult sophistication
6214
62158
6216
6217calumny (noun)
6218
6219a false accusation maliciously intended to destroy someone's reputation
6220
622115
6222
6223canoodle (verb)
6224
62251. to kiss and cuddle; pet, caress; fondle
6226
62279
6228
6229caesura (noun)
6230
6231callow (adjective)
6232
62332. to coax, persuade, cajole, wheedle capacious (adjective)
6234
6235captious (adjective)
6236
6237castigate (verb)
6238
6239chutzpah (noun)
6240
6241circumlocution (noun)
6242
6243circumspect (adjective)
6244
6245claptrap (noun)
6246
6247cleave (verb)
6248
6249capable of containing a great deal; spacious and roomy
6250
625130
6252
6253faultfinding; hypercritical; difficult to please
6254
62556
6256
6257to punish, rebuke, or criticize severely
6258
62596
6260
6261personal confidence or courage; shameless audacity; impudence
6262
626323
6264
6265evasive, long-winded rambling or indirect speech
6266
62676
6268
6269cautious, prudent
6270
62712
6272
6273pretentious nonsense; insincere speech
6274
627516
6276
62771. to split or divide by cutting
6278
627920
6280
62812. to stick closely to; to cling to clipped word (noun)
6282
6283commodious (adjective)
6284
6285concatenation (noun)
6286
6287contumacious (adjective)
6288
6289a word that has been shortened with no change in meaning
6290
629128
6292
6293comfortably or conveniently spacious; roomy
6294
629530
6296
6297a series of things that are linked together
6298
629920
6300
6301stubbornly disobedient and rebellious to authority; willfully obstinate
6302
63035
6304
6305265
6306
6307Target Word and Part of Speech coterie (noun)
6308
6309a small, often select group of people who associate with one another frequently and share a common interest, background, or purpose
6310
6311Lecture No.
6312
631320
6314
6315craven (adjective)
6316
6317very cowardly; abjectly afraid
6318
631923
6320
6321deduction (noun)
6322
6323process of reasoning in which a conclusion necessarily follows from the stated premises
6324
632518
6326
6327to lay bare; to strip; to make nude
6328
632921
6330
6331denude (verb)
6332
6333desuetude (noun)
6334
6335a state of disuse or inactivity
6336
633725
6338
6339disintegrated or eroded matter; debris
6340
634126
6342
6343a variety of a language often associated with a certain region or social class
6344
634527
6346
6347the movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland
6348
634920
6350
6351inclined to teach or moralize excessively
6352
635318
6354
6355a dabbler in the arts or some field of knowledge; often used in a pejorative sense
6356
63578
6358
6359a decrease in loudness or intensity
6360
636130
6362
6363rambling from topic to topic, aimless, digressive
6364
636527
6366
6367dishabille (noun)
6368
6369a state of being dressed in a very casual or even careless, disheveled, and disorderly style
6370
637113
6372
6373dissemble (verb)
6374
6375to disguise or conceal behind a false appearance
6376
637714
6378
6379characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproven ideas
6380
638114
6382
6383a free-for-all; a brawl; a scene of disorder and uproar
6384
63855
6386
63871. a ghostly double of a living person that haunts its living counterpart
6388
638934
6390
6391detritus (noun)
6392
6393dialect (noun)
6394
6395diaspora (noun)
6396
6397didactic (adjective)
6398
6399dilettante (noun)
6400
6401diminuendo (noun)
6402
6403discursive (adjective)
6404
6405dogmatic (adjective)
6406
6407Glossary of Target Words
6408
6409Definition
6410
6411donnybrook (noun)
6412
6413doppelgänger (noun)
6414
64152. someone who has a close, even eerily close, resemblance to another draconian (adjective)
6416
6417266
6418
6419exceedingly harsh; very severe; cruel
6420
642117
6422
6423Target Word and Part of Speech éPinence Jrise (noun)
6424
6425Definition 1. a powerful decision maker or advisor who operates behind the scenes
6426
6427Lecture No.
6428
642934
6430
64312. an elder statesman or eminent senior member of a group esonym (noun)
6432
6433equivocal (adjective)
6434
6435ersatz (adjective)
6436
6437a word derived from a person's name
6438
643928
6440
6441open to two or more interpretations, often with an intent to mislead or be purposely vague
6442
644314
6444
6445describes an inferior substitute
6446
64473
6448
6449erudite (adjective)
6450
6451learned or scholarly; characterized by deep and extensive knowledge
6452
645318
6454
6455esoteric (adjective)
6456
6457understood by only a select group
6458
645918
6460
64611. fleeting, or short duration, Yanishing or likely to vanish
6462
646336
6464
6465evanescent (adjective)
6466
64672. fragile, diaphanous, and unsubstantial exHcrate (verb)
6468
64691. to damn or denounce scathingly; curse
6470
64719
6472
64732. to detest utterly, abhor, abominate, loathe exegesiV (noun)
6474
6475exiguous (adjective)
6476
6477extirpate (verb)
6478
6479facile (adjective)
6480
6481factitious (adjective)
6482
6483an explanation or critical interpretation, especially of the Bible or another religious text
6484
648518
6486
6487excessively scanty, inadequate, and meager
6488
648930
6490
6491to pull up by the roots; to root out and destroy completely; to wipe out
6492
649325
6494
6495done or achieved with little effort or difficulty; easy; performed with effortless ease and fluency
6496
649719
6498
64991. made or manufactured; not natural
6500
65012
6502
65032. made up in the sense of contrived; a sham, fake, or phony factotum (noun)
6504
6505feckless (adjective)
6506
6507someone hired to do a variety of jobs; a jack-of-all-trades
6508
65091
6510
65111. weak and ineffective
6512
651336
6514
65152. worthless, lazy, and irresponsible fin de siècle (noun phrase)
6516
6517end of the century
6518
651925
6520
6521267
6522
6523Target Word and Part of Speech foment (verb)
6524
6525fortitude (noun)
6526
6527fractious (adjective)
6528
6529frisson (noun)
6530
6531fulminate (verb)
6532
6533Definition
6534
6535Lecture No.
6536
6537tostir up, incite, rouse, provoke, inflame, encourage, or instigate
6538
653915
6540
6541mental and emotional strength infacing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously
6542
654323
6544
6545unruly; hard to manage; rebellious
6546
654722
6548
6549an almost pleasurable sensation of fright
6550
655126
6552
65531. to issue a thunderous verbal attack; to vehemently denounce
6554
655515
6556
65572. to explode with sudden violence; to detonate fulsome (adjective)
6558
65591. excessively or insincerely lavish
6560
65614
6562
65632. abundant gadfly (noun)
6564
65651. a persistently annoying person who questions, critiques, and pesters
6566
65674
6568
65692. an insect that annoys livestock by biting and sucking their blood gemütlichkeit gemütlichkeit (noun)
6570
6571gerrymander (noun/verb)
6572
6573an atmosphere characterized by a cheerful mood; peace of mind, with the connotation of fellowship and coziness
6574
657535
6576
6577noun: the act of dividing election districts to give one party an unfair advantage
6578
657917
6580
6581verb: to divide election districts unfairly
6582
6583Glossary of Target Words
6584
6585gestalt (noun)
6586
6587glossophobia (noun)
6588
6589Gordian knot (noun phrase)
6590
6591halcyon (adjective)
6592
6593harrumph (verb)
6594
6595a pattern possessing qualities as a whole that cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts unreasonable fear of speaking in public
6596
65979
6598
6599an exceedingly complicated and intricate problem or deadlock; an intractable problem
6600
660111
6602
6603tranquil, calm, and peaceful; may refer to happy, joyful, and prosperous times
6604
66055
6606
66071. to make a pretentious show of clearing one's throat
6608
660932
6610
66112. to offer brief critical comments
6612
6613268
6614
661535
6616
6617Target Word and Part of Speech
6618
6619Definition
6620
6621Lecture No.
6622
6623Hobson's choice (noun phrase)
6624
6625a choice between what is available and nothing; the absence of a real alternative
6626
662726
6628
6629hoi polloi (noun)
6630
6631the ordinary masses; the common people
6632
663310
6634
6635one of two or more words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings
6636
663728
6638
6639one of two or more words that are spelled and pronounced the same but carry different meanings
6640
664128
6642
6643one of two or more words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings
6644
664528
6646
6647homograph (noun)
6648
6649homonym (noun)
6650
6651homophone (noun)
6652
6653hornswoggle (verb)
6654
6655hubris (noun)
6656
6657imbroglio (noun)
6658
6659to swindle, cheat, or dupe
6660
66613
6662
6663excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance
6664
666512
6666
66671. a state of great confusion and entanglement; a complicated, difficult, or embarrassing situation 
6668
66695
6670
66712. a complex misunderstanding, disagreement, or dispute— sometimes of a bitter nature importune (verb)
6672
6673inchoate (adjective)
6674
6675to harass with repeated requests; to demand of someone insistently
6676
667722
6678
66791. not completely formed or developed; only partly in existence
6680
66818
6682
66832. not organized; lacking order indolent (adjective)
6684
6685induction (noun)
6686
6687ingénue (noun)
6688
6689habitually lazy and slow; tending to avoid exertion
6690
669119
6692
6693process of inferring general principles from individual facts or instances
6694
669518
6696
66971. an innocent, naïve girl or young woman
6698
66998
6700
67012. a stock innocent character in a movie or play or the actress playing such a character insidious (adjective)
6702
6703insipid (adjective)
6704
6705intended to entrap, ensnare, or beguile; stealthily treacherous or deceitful
6706
67077
6708
6709bland and lacking inflavor; lacking in interesting, exciting, or stimulating qualities
6710
671110
6712
6713269
6714
6715Target Word and Part of Speech insouciant (adjective)
6716
6717Definition
6718
6719Lecture No.
6720
6721free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant
6722
672335
6724
6725resolutely fearless, dauntless
6726
672723
6728
6729to become accustomed to hardship, difficulty, or pain; to toughen or harden; to habituate
6730
673122
6732
6733creating ill will, envy; causing resentment; unfairly or offensively discriminating
6734
67357
6736
6737unintelligible or meaningless speech
6738
673927
6740
6741a long lamentation or complaint; a bitter lament; a scolding speech or sermon
6742
674316
6744
6745juggernaut (noun)
6746
6747an overwhelming or unstoppable force that smashes everything in its path
6748
674930
6750
6751laconic (adjective)
6752
6753using few words, terse, brief, succinct, taciturn, concise
6754
675515
6756
6757intrepid (adjective)
6758
6759inure (verb)
6760
6761invidious (adjective)
6762
6763jargon (noun)
6764
6765jeremiad (noun)
6766
6767lacuna (noun)
6768
6769lagniappe (noun)
6770
6771lilliputian (adjective)
6772
6773a gap or hole where something should be
6774
677520
6776
6777a small gift given by a storeowner to a customer; any smallextra gift or benefit
6778
677935
6780
67811. very small, diminutive
6782
678330
6784
67852. trivial, petty lingua franca (noun)
6786
6787luddite (noun)
6788
6789machinations (noun)
6790
6791magnum opus (noun)
6792
6793Glossary of Target Words
6794
6795maladroit (adjective)
6796
6797malaise (noun)
6798
6799malapropism (noun)
6800
6801270
6802
6803a common language used by speakers of different languages to communicate
6804
680527
6806
6807anyone who opposes the introduction of technological change
6808
680917
6810
6811intrigues, plots, crafty schemes, or the act of plotting
6812
68133
6814
6815an artist's greatest work
6816
681730
6818
6819awkward, clumsy, tactless, or bungling
6820
68217
6822
6823a vague or indefinite feeling of unease or discomfort
6824
68257
6826
6827a ridiculous and often humorous misuse of words, particularly words that sound similar but are different in meaning
6828
682917
6830
6831malcontent (noun)
6832
6833a person who is chronically dissatisfied 
6834
68357
6836
6837malediction (noun)
6838
6839a curse; evil talk about someone; slander
6840
68417
6842
6843malefactor (noun)
6844
6845a criminal; a person who violates the law
6846
68477
6848
6849Target Word and Part of Speech 
6850
6851malfeasance (noun)
6852
6853Definition
6854
6855Lecture No.
6856
6857an illegal or harmful act, usually committed by a public official, that violates the public trust
6858
68597
6860
6861malinger (verb)
6862
6863to fake or exaggerate illness, usually to avoid work
6864
68657
6866
6867manumit (verb)
6868
6869to release from slavery or servitude
6870
687113
6872
6873foolishly, tearfully, and weakly sentimental; overly emotional
6874
68754
6876
6877to talk aimlessly and incoherently
6878
687916
6880
6881the mouth, throat, or gullet of an animal, particularly a carnivorous animal
6882
688320
6884
6885maudlin (adjective)
6886
6887maunder (verb)
6888
6889maw (noun)
6890
6891mawkish (adjective)
6892
6893excessively and objectionably sentimental
6894
68954
6896
6897meme (noun)
6898
6899an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person in a culture
6900
690136
6902
6903Percurial (adjective)
6904
69051. liable to sudden and unpredictable change; volatile; erratic
6906
690711
6908
6909misanthrope (noun)
6910
6911someone who hates and distrusts all people
6912
69139
6914
6915mollycoddle (verb)
6916
6917to overindulge; to treat with excessive attention to the point of spoiling someone
6918
69195
6920
6921mordant (adjective)
6922
6923bitingly sarcastic
6924
692529
6926
69271. approaching death; coming to an end
6928
69298
6930
69312. animated, lively, quick-witted
6932
6933moribund (adjective)
6934
69352. no longer effective or active; stagnant; not progressing or advancing 
6936
6937mot juste (noun)
6938
6939mountebank (noun)
6940
6941moxie (noun)
6942
6943the exact, appropriate word or expression for a situation
6944
694535
6946
6947a flamboyant swindler; a flimflammer; someone who claims to be an expert but isn't
6948
69493
6950
69511. the ability toface difficulty with spirit and courage
6952
695323
6954
69552. aggressive energy, vigor, verge, and pep or skill and know-how 
6956
6957muggle (noun)
6958
6959a person who lacks a particular skill or knowledge of a subject; someone who is regarded as inferior in some way
6960
696136
6962
6963271
6964
6965Target Word and Part of Speech 
6966
6967mugwump (noun)
6968
6969Definition 1. a person, especially a politician, who is unable to make up his or her mind on an issue
6970
6971Lecture No.
6972
697334
6974
69752. a person who remains neutral or independent on a controversial issue nascent (adjective)
6976
6977nihilism (noun)
6978
6979noisome (adjective)
6980
6981nonpareil (adjective)
6982
6983obloquy (noun)
6984
6985emerging, developing, coming into existence, forming
6986
69878
6988
6989a belief in nothing
6990
699121
6992
6993offensive to the point of arousing disgust; foul, particularly in reference to an odor
6994
69954
6996
6997without peer; having no equal
6998
699910
7000
70011. harshly critical speech or verbal abuse
7002
700315
7004
70052. the disgrace that results from such abuse obsequious (adjective)
7006
7007oenophile (noun)
7008
7009officious (adjective)
7010
7011pablum (noun)
7012
7013paean (noun)
7014
7015servile and fawning; overly deferential
7016
701712
7018
7019a connoisseur or lover of wine
7020
70219
7022
7023marked by excessive, often aggressive eagerness in offering unwanted advice, service, or help to others; meddlesome
7024
702529
7026
7027trite, insipid, or simplistic writing, speech, or conceptualization
7028
702916
7030
70311. joyous song or hymn of praise, thanksgiving, or triumph
7032
703316
7034
70352. speech or writing that expresses enthusiastic praise
7036
7037Glossary of Target Words
7038
7039palaver (noun)
7040
70411. profuse and idle chit-chat; chatter; empty talk; nonsense
7042
704316
7044
70452. flattery and sweet Walk used topersuade panegyric (noun)
7046
7047parricide (noun)
7048
7049272
7050
7051formal or elaborate praise; specifically, a formal speech or writing that praises
7052
705316
7054
7055the murder of a parent or close relative
7056
705725
7058
7059Target Word and Part of Speech patrician (noun/adjective)
7060
7061Definition noun: 1. someone of refined upbringing, manners, and taste
7062
7063Lecture No.
7064
706510
7066
70672. an aristocrat; a person of high rank or social class adjective: people or things that have the characteristics of the upper class peckish (adjective)
7068
70691. somewhat hungry
7070
707136
7072
70732. irritable, touchy perdition (noun)
7074
7075loss of the soul; eternal damnation; hell; utter ruin
7076
707725
7078
7079perfidious (adjective)
7080
7081treacherous, disloyal, and deceitful
7082
708314
7084
7085pernicious (adjective)
7086
7087exceedingly harmful or destructive; deadly
7088
708929
7090
7091perspicacious (adjective)
7092
7093having or showing keen mental perception
7094
709518
7096
7097philatelist (noun)
7098
7099a person who studies or collects stamps
7100
71019
7102
7103philippic (noun)
7104
7105a bitter verbal attack; a rant filled with harsh, cruel language
7106
710715
7108
7109philistine (noun)
7110
7111a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits and indifferent or hostile to artistic and cultural values
7112
711318
7114
7115showing little emotion; not easily excited to action
7116
711722
7118
7119to expose to (often public) ridicule, abuse, and scorn; to criticize harshly
7120
712116
7122
71231. agreeably pungent or sharp in taste or flavor; pleasantly biting or tart; spicy
7124
712529
7126
7127phlegmatic (adjective)
7128
7129pillory (verb)
7130
7131piquant (adjective)
7132
71332. agreeably stimulating and engagingly provocative 3. interesting, charming attractive pithy (adjective)
7134
7135refers to language that is short and terse but meaningful
7136
713715
7138
7139pontificate (verb)
7140
7141to speak or express opinions in a pompous or dogmatic way
7142
714314
7144
7145273
7146
7147Target Word and Part of Speech 
7148
7149portmanteau word (noun)
7150
7151Definition
7152
7153Lecture No.
7154
7155a new word that is blended together from parts of existing words
7156
715728
7158
7159perceiving the significance of events before they happen
7160
716113
7162
7163tending to produce conformity by arbitrary, ruthless, or violent means
7164
71651
7166
7167profligate (noun)
7168
7169someone who is given to wildly extravagant and grossly self-indulgent behavior
7170
717136
7172
7173Promethean (adjective)
7174
7175daringly original or creative; boldly inventive
7176
717711
7178
7179to appease; to make favorably inclined; to regain the favor of someone
7180
71815
7182
71831. dull, lacking in imagination, matter-of-fact
7184
718510
7186
7187prescient (adjective)
7188
7189procrustean (adjective)
7190
7191propitiate (verb)
7192
7193prosaic (adjective)
7194
71952. commonplace, everyday, ordinary
7196
7197protean (adjective)
7198
7199puerile (adjective)
7200
7201juvenile, childishly silly, foolish
7202
72038 23
7204
7205an elementary subatomic particle proposed as the fundamental unit of matter
7206
720736
7208
7209querulous (adjective)
7210
7211full of complaints; complaining in an annoyed way
7212
72134
7214
7215quiescent (adjective)
7216
7217tranquilly at rest, inactive, still, quiet, or motionless
7218
72195
7220
7221a traitor who aids an invading and/or occupying enemy force, often serving later in the puppet government
7222
722317
7224
7225romantically impractical or impulsive
7226
722717
7228
7229quotidian (adjective)
7230
7231daily, customary, ordinary, usual
7232
723310
7234
7235rapacious (adjective)
7236
7237aggressively and excessively greedy or grasping; predatory
7238
72395
7240
7241quark (noun)
7242
7243quisling (noun)
7244
7245Glossary of Target Words
7246
724721
7248
7249cowardly; lacking courage or resolution; faint hearted
7250
7251Susillanimous (adjective)
7252
7253quixotic (adjective)
7254
7255recondite (adjective)
7256
7257salubrious (adjective)
7258
7259salutary (adjective)
7260
7261274
7262
7263able to take many forms or do many different things; versatile
7264
7265difficult tounderstand
7266
726718
7268
7269conducive or favorable to health or well-being; wholesome
7270
727129
7272
7273producing a beneficial effect; remedial
7274
727529
7276
7277Target Word and Part of Speech
7278
7279Definition
7280
7281Lecture No.
7282
7283sangfroid (noun)
7284
7285coolness and composure, especially in trying circumstances
7286
728735
7288
7289saturnalia (noun)
7290
7291a celebration marked by unrestrained revelry and, often, promiscuity and excessive drinking
7292
729311
7294
7295saturnine (adjective)
7296
7297melancholy, sluggish, gloomy
7298
729911
7300
7301scabrous (adjective)
7302
73031. scabby, blotchy, and scaly
7304
73054
7306
73072. rough to the touch 3. indecent, shocking, scandalous schadenfreude (noun)
7308
7309satisfaction, pleasure, or malicious joy at someone else's misfortune
7310
731134
7312
7313a division among the members of a group into opposing factions because of a disagreement
7314
731520
7316
7317diligent in application or in the pursuit of something; persevering; constant in effort
7318
731919
7320
7321sesquipedalian (adjective)
7322
73231. given to the overuse of long words
7324
732527
7326
7327shibboleth (noun)
7328
7329a test word, phrase, or custom used to distinguish one group from another
7330
733127
7332
7333endlessly laborious and futile
7334
733511
7336
7337devious, deceitful behavior; underhanded dealings
7338
73393
7340
7341a nickname, usually a humorous or affectionate one
7342
734327
7344
73451. a strong, decisive, final blow; a finisher
7346
734736
7348
7349schism (noun)
7350
7351sedulous (adjective)
7352
7353Sisyphean (adjective)
7354
7355skulduggery (noun)
7356
7357sobriquet (noun)
7358
7359sockdolager (noun)
7360
73612. long and ponderous, polysyllabic
7362
73632. something or someone outstanding or exceptional solipsism (noun)
7364
73651. the philosophy that one has no valid reason for believing that anything exists except oneself
7366
736721
7368
73692. an extreme preoccupation with one's own feelings and thoughts somniloquy (noun)
7370
7371sophist (noun)
7372
7373sleep talking
7374
737527
7376
7377one skilled in elaborate and devious argumentation
7378
73793
7380
7381275
7382
7383Target Word and Part of Speech
7384
7385Definition
7386
7387Lecture No.
7388
7389specious (adjective)
7390
7391having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious
7392
73933
7394
7395splenetic (adjective)
7396
7397bad-tempered, irritable, or spiteful
7398
739922
7400
7401spoonerism (noun)
7402
7403the transposition of the (usually)
7404
7405initial sounds of two or more words, often creating a humorous effect
7406
740728
7408
7409spurious (adjective)
7410
7411not genuine, authentic, or true; false
7412
74133
7414
7415seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure, or pain
7416
741722
7418
7419having or expressing little or no sensibility; unemotional
7420
742122
7422
7423stultify (verb)
7424
74251. to cause to lose interest; to cause to feel dull and not alert
7426
742726
7428
7429supercilious (adjective)
7430
7431feeling or showing haughty disdain; displaying arrogant pride, even scorn
7432
743312
7434
7435supercilious (adjective)
7436
7437having a holier-than-thou attitude
7438
743924
7440
7441an indistinct whispering or rustling sound; a murmur
7442
744332
7444
7445sword of Damocles (noun phrase)
7446
7447a constant and imminent peril; an impending disaster
7448
744911
7450
7451sycophant (noun)
7452
7453a servile, self-seening flatterer
7454
745512
7456
7457temerity (noun)
7458
7459reckless boldness; rashness; foolhardy disregard of danger
7460
746123
7462
7463marked by or favoring a particular point of view; showing a definite tendency, bias, or purpose; partisan
7464
746532
7466
7467fearful or timid
7468
746923
7470
7471a ringing, tinkling, or jingling sound, particularly the sound of bells
7472
747332
7474
7475delicious; sexually attractive
7476
74776
7478
74791. a place-name
7480
748128
7482
7483stoic (adjective)
7484
7485stolid (adjective)
7486
74872. to render useless or ineffectual
7488
7489susurration (noun)
7490
7491Glossary of Target Words
7492
7493tendentious (adjective)
7494
7495timorous (adjective)
7496
7497tintinnabulation (noun)
7498
7499toothsome (adjective)
7500
7501toponym (noun)
7502
75032. a word named after a place 
7504
7505torpid (adjective)
7506
7507276
7508
7509slow, sluggish, lethargic, dull, benumbed
7510
751119
7512
7513Target Word and Part of Speech
7514
7515Definition
7516
7517Lecture No.
7518
7519torpor (noun)
7520
7521sluggishness; a state of mental or physical inactivity; lethargy, apathy
7522
752319
7524
7525treacle (noun)
7526
7527cloying, sickly-sweet speech or sentiment
7528
75294
7530
7531forceful and clear; penetrating, keen, and incisive
7532
753332
7534
75351. to submit; to be servile and submissive
7536
753732
7538
7539trenchant (adjective)
7540
7541truckle (verb)
7542
75432. to fawn; to curry favor by flattering 
7544
7545truculent (adjective)
7546
7547cruel, savage, brutal, and fierce; disposed to fighting; scathing and brutally harsh, often referring to verbal criticism
7548
75495
7550
7551turbid (adjective)
7552
75531. muddy, thick, or opaque with sediment; obscured; clouded
7554
755519
7556
75572. confused, muddled, disordered 
7558
7559turgid (adjective)
7560
7561turpitude (noun)
7562
7563swollen, distended, puffy
7564
756519
7566
7567baseness, depravity, or debauchery
7568
75697
7570
7571a beginner or novice
7572
75738
7574
7575characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness
7576
757712
7578
7579vapid (adjective)
7580
7581completely lacking in zest, spirit, animation, and liveliness
7582
758310
7584
7585venal (adjective)
7586
7587open to corruption; capable of being bought through bribery
7588
75897
7590
7591form of a language spoken by the common people, as opposed to the learned and literary
7592
759327
7594
7595to attack someone's reputation with strong or abusive criticism; to malign
7596
759715
7598
75991. extremely infectious, malignant, poisonous, or deadly
7600
760129
7602
7603tyro (noun)
7604
7605unctuous (adjective)
7606
7607vernacular (noun)
7608
7609vilify (verb)
7610
7611virulent (adjective)
7612
76132. bitterly hostile, antagonistic, or spiteful; hateful 
7614
7615vivisection (noun)
7616
7617weltschmerz (noun)
7618
7619the cutting of, or operation on, a living animal, usually for scientific research
7620
762125
7622
7623sadness over the evils of the world
7624
762534
7626
7627277
7628
7629Target Word and Part of Speech 
7630
7631wheedle (verb)
7632
7633xenophobia (noun)
7634
7635Glossary of Target Words
7636
7637zeitgeist (noun)
7638
7639278
7640
7641Definition
7642
7643Lecture No.
7644
7645to attempt to persuade with beguiling flattery and smooth talking
7646
764712
7648
7649unreasonable hatred or fear of foreigners or strangers; fear of that which is foreign or strange
7650
76519
7652
7653the spirit, attitude, or general outlook of a specific period; the moral, cultural, and intellectual climate of an era
7654
765534
7656
7657Bibliography
7658
7659General References Ayers, Donald M. English Words from Latin and Greek Elements. 2nd ed., revised by Thomas Worthen. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1986.
7660
7661Outstanding resource that shows readers how to "crack the code" of Latin and Greek Affixes and roots that underlies English vocabulary. This book clearly explains the word formation processes of English vocabulary through a series of lessons.
7662
7663Ayto, John. Dictionary of Word Origins: The Histories of More Than 8,000 English Language Words. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2011. A valuable etymological resource. Clearly details the origin and development of words and makes historical connections between words, including "unlikely relatives" such as espouse and sponsor.
7664
7665Barnhart, Robert K., ed. Chambers Dictionary of Etymology: The Origins and 'evelopment of over 30,000 English Words. London: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2010. Previously published as the Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, this extensive reference work takes us back to the roots of thousands of English vocabulary words, including their Latin, Greek, and Indo-European sources.
7666
7667Bear, Donald R., Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, and Francine Johnston. Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction. 5th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Targeted for educators, this is the book that put developmental word study on the map in literacy education. If you're interested in exploring the three layers of the English spelling system, this is your book.
7668
7669Beck, Isabel L., Margaret G. Mcheown, and Linda Kucan. Bringing Words to Life: Robust vocabulary Instruction. New York: Guilford, 2002. Targeted for K–12 educators, this is one of the best books explaining how to teach 
7670
7671279
7672
7673vocabulary effectively I've ever read. Drawing on their own research and experience, the authors present a practical, research-based plan for vocabulary instruction.
7674
7675Blachowicz, Camille, and Peter J. Fisher. Teaching vocabulary in All Classrooms. Boston: Pearson, 2010. Excellent resource for K–12 educators that provides a comprehensive framework for vocabulary instruction and many practical, research-based strategies.
7676
7677Crutchfield, Roger 6. English Vocabulary Quick Reference: A Comprehensive Dictionary Arranged by Word Roots. Leesburg, VA: LexaDyne Publishing, 2009. A straightforward, handy reference to the meanings of roots and their derived words in English. The words are organized by both root and key word.
7678
7679Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language.
7680
7681Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Crystal covers a vast amount of information about numerous aspects of the English language.
7682
7683Dale, Edgar, and Joseph O'Rourke. vocabulary Building. Columbus, OH:
7684
7685Zaner-Bloser, 1986. The source for the authors' oft-cited four levels of word knowledge.
7686
7687Bibliography
7688
7689Green, Tamara M. The Greek and Latin Roots of English. 4th ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008. Organized thematically by such topics as psychology and medicine, this fine resource helps build vocabulary knowledge through the study of Latin and Greek roots.
7690
7691Mcheown, Margaret G., Isabel L. Beck, Richard C. Omanson, and Martha T. Pople. "Some Effects of the Nature and Frequency of vocabulary Instruction on the Knowledge and Use of Words." Reading Research Quarterly 20 (1985): 522–535. This seminal study of school-age children found evidence for the effectiveness of rich and extended vocabulary instruction, including the finding that it takes 12 encounters with a target word to improve comprehension of a passage containing that word.
7692
7693280
7694
7695Merriam-Webster. The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories: Fascinating Stories about Our Living, Growing Language. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1991. Of all the etymological sources I consulted, this one provides the most in-depth treatment of word histories, some entries taking a full page or two. At turns fascinating and enlightening, it takes you down the twists and turns of the semantic biography of each word. An invaluable resource for many of the word histories explored in this course.
7696
7697———. Merriam Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1984. A must have for any writer grasping for that "just right" word. Considers clusters of closely related words, such as fortitude, grit, backbone, and pluck; discusses the common meaning they all share; clearly explains the nuances of meaning that differentiate them; and illustrates them with both classic and contemporary usage examples.
7698
7699Immediately cracked my top-five desk references and has become a go-to gift for fellow word lovers.
7700
7701Miller, George A., and Patricia M. Gildea. "How Children Learn Words."
7702
7703Scientific American 257, no. 3 (1987): 94–99. An important study of schoolage children demonstrating that there is much more to knowing a word than just definition-level knowledge. Nagy, William E., and Richard C. Anderson. "How Many Words Are There in Printed School English"? Reading Research Quarterly 19 (1984): 304– 330. Seminal study referenced in Lecture 2. The authors estimate the number of distinct words in printed school English, estimate the vocabulary of a high school graduate, and hypothesize that the amount one reads accounts for the majority of vocabulary growth from approximately third grade on. This classic article is still regularly cited today.
7704
7705Read, Charles. "Pre-School Children's Knowledge of English Phonology."
7706
7707Harvard Educational Review 41, no. 1 (1971): 1–34. Read's groundbreaking work provided the key to unlocking the tacit logic underlying young children's invented spellings.
7708
7709Schleifer, Robert. Grow Your vocabulary by Learning the Roots of English Words. New York: Random House, 1995. An excellent vocabulary -building 
7710
7711281
7712
7713resource that leverages the power of high-utility roots to increase vocabulary knowledge. Part IV,"How English Words Are Created: A Short Course," is worth the price of the book for those interested in how Latin and Greek roots combine to form English words.
7714
7715Stahl, Steven A., and William E. Nagy. Teaching Word Meanings. Mawhah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2006. An essential book in any vocabulary educator's library and one I'm constantly referencing. Does a masterful job explaining the complex nature of vocabulary knowledge, how we learn vocabulary, and how to best teach vocabulary. Top-notch synthesis of vocabulary research and its implications for teaching and learning.
7716
7717Templeton, Shane, Donald R. Bear, Marcia Invernizzi, Francine Johnston, Kevin Flanigan, Dianna R. Townsend, Lori Helman, and Latisha Hayes.
7718
7719vocabulary Their Way: Word Study with Middle and Secondary Students. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2015. Targeted for middle and high school teachers, this book focuses on three major aspects of vocabulary instruction: context based, word specific, and generative morphology. This was a major source for many of the central concepts and teaching ideas in this course, including the spelling-meaning connection, the related words strategy, and the treatment and selection of Affixes and roots. 
7720
7721Willingham, Daniel T. Why Don't Students Like School" A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions about How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2009. The best text I've read that clearly explains the findings of cognitive science and translates them into implications for all levels of instruction. If you're interested in exploring the research base underlying many of the learning principles in this course, such as making knew-to-known connections and the power of stories, this is the book.
7722
7723Bibliography
7724
7725Dictionaries American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. Boston:
7726
7727Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. An excellent dictionary with rich etymological information. Includes appendices of Indo-European and Semitic roots for those interested in delving deeply into word histories.
7728
7729282
7730
7731Unlike some dictionaries, which list a word's different meanings in historical order, this dictionary orders them by the central or most commonly sought meaning first, which is useful information for writers and students. An online version is available.
7732
7733Dictionary.com. Extremely useful online dictionary that identifies each word's Affixes and roots.
7734
7735Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2014. A valuable and handy desk reference. An online version is available.
7736
7737onelook.com. This comprehensive dictionary website provides links to many well-respected online dictionaries. Includes a reverse dictionary and a search tool that allows you to find words that contain specific spelling patterns, affixes, and roots. Online Etymology Dictionary etymonline.com. This is often my first stop when exploring the history of a word. Provides clear, succinct etymological information.
7738
7739Oxford English Dictionary (online version). Considered by many the definitive dictionary of the English language. The best source for tracing the history of a word from its first known usage in English to the present. You may be able to access the OED online free through your public library.
7740
7741vocabulary.com. An excellent dictionary website that provides accessible, clear definitions using engaging and often humorous contexts and examples. Provides multiple usage examples for vocabulary words, which is invaluable for getting a sense of how to actually use a word in context.
7742
7743283