Source: "On the Violent Life and Death of Osama bin Laden: A Psychological Post-Mortem" by Dr. Stephen A. Diamond, Ph.D in Evil Deeds, 2 May 2011.
Definition: —adjective 1. done, occuring, or collected after death. 2. following the event.
Showing posts with label Word of the Week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Word of the Week. Show all posts
Word of the week: "duped"
Source: "Retired Bus Drivers Lose Everything in Ponzi Scheme" by Blake Ellis, 23 April 2011.
Sentence: "Bobby Bradley, a 70-year-old retired bus driver, was duped out of $215,000 -- his entire life savings."
Definition: —verb (used with object) 1. to make a dupe of; deceive; delude; trick. —noun (dupe) 2. a person who is easily deceived or fooled; gull. 3. a person who unquestioningly or unwittingly serves a cause or another person.
Bobby Bradley and about 150 other retired bus and train operators lost approximately $7 million after transferring their retirement savings into investment accounts run by Thomas Mitchell, an investment adviser who had gained the trust of the Los Angeles area retirees. Mitchell had been running a 15-year Ponzi scheme that collected $15 million from the retirees, and is now being charged by the Department of Justice for his criminal acts.
Sentence: "Bobby Bradley, a 70-year-old retired bus driver, was duped out of $215,000 -- his entire life savings."
Definition: —verb (used with object) 1. to make a dupe of; deceive; delude; trick. —noun (dupe) 2. a person who is easily deceived or fooled; gull. 3. a person who unquestioningly or unwittingly serves a cause or another person.
Bobby Bradley and about 150 other retired bus and train operators lost approximately $7 million after transferring their retirement savings into investment accounts run by Thomas Mitchell, an investment adviser who had gained the trust of the Los Angeles area retirees. Mitchell had been running a 15-year Ponzi scheme that collected $15 million from the retirees, and is now being charged by the Department of Justice for his criminal acts.
Word of the week: "truancy"
Source: Behavior Disorders of Childhood by Annenberg Learner (video).
Sentence: "The behaviors [of conduct disorder] include: fighting, stealing, destroying property, truancy, and running away."
Definition: —noun (plural) the act or condition of being absent without permission.
It makes complete sense that children with conduct disorder tend to display a behavior like truancy, since the behavior disorder is characterized by a pattern of repetitive behaviors wherein the rights of others or social norms, such as attending school, are violated.
Sentence: "The behaviors [of conduct disorder] include: fighting, stealing, destroying property, truancy, and running away."
Definition: —noun (plural) the act or condition of being absent without permission.
It makes complete sense that children with conduct disorder tend to display a behavior like truancy, since the behavior disorder is characterized by a pattern of repetitive behaviors wherein the rights of others or social norms, such as attending school, are violated.
Word of the week: "buzzword"
Source: "The Fast Fix: What's Obama's new buzz word?" by Chris Cillizza, 18 April 2011.
Definition: —noun a word or phrase, often sounding authoritative or technical, that is a vogue term in a particular profession, field of study, popular culture, etc.
In Cillizza's headline, "buzz word" (or "buzzword") refers to President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign in which he talks so much about compassion that it seems as though "compassion" is the new "change."
Definition: —noun a word or phrase, often sounding authoritative or technical, that is a vogue term in a particular profession, field of study, popular culture, etc.
In Cillizza's headline, "buzz word" (or "buzzword") refers to President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign in which he talks so much about compassion that it seems as though "compassion" is the new "change."
Word of the week: "prosecution"
Source: "Ex-NY mob boss makes history with trial testimony" by Tony Hays, 12 April 2011.
Sentence: "He testified his cooperation spared his wife from prosecution, allowed her to keep their home and gave him a shot at a reduced sentence."
Definition: —noun 1. Law. a) the institution and carrying on of legal proceedings against a person. b) the body of officials by whom such proceedings are instituted and carried on. 2. the following up of something undertaken or begun, usually to its completion.
The term "prosecution" is used in the Yahoo! story about ex-mob boss, Joseph Massino to mean "the institution and carrying on of legal proceedings against a person" ("prosecution") since Massino's cooperation with authorities spared Massino and his wife from legal proceedings that would ordinarily result from a criminal case such as this.
Sentence: "He testified his cooperation spared his wife from prosecution, allowed her to keep their home and gave him a shot at a reduced sentence."
Definition: —noun 1. Law. a) the institution and carrying on of legal proceedings against a person. b) the body of officials by whom such proceedings are instituted and carried on. 2. the following up of something undertaken or begun, usually to its completion.
The term "prosecution" is used in the Yahoo! story about ex-mob boss, Joseph Massino to mean "the institution and carrying on of legal proceedings against a person" ("prosecution") since Massino's cooperation with authorities spared Massino and his wife from legal proceedings that would ordinarily result from a criminal case such as this.
Word of the week: "gaffe"
Source: "Stamp gaffe tears Kate and William apart" by Emma Kemp, 4 April 2011.
Definition: —noun 1. a clumsy social error; a faux pas. 2. a blatant mistake or misjudgment.
The "clumsy social error" in this case was an "embarrassing" double stamp with Prince William on one side and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton on the other with "a perforated line down the middle" (Kemp). What makes the commemorative stamp a "gaffe" is the fact that the couple can effectively be torn apart, which some find humorous considering how the couple is to be married in less than one month.
Definition: —noun 1. a clumsy social error; a faux pas. 2. a blatant mistake or misjudgment.
The "clumsy social error" in this case was an "embarrassing" double stamp with Prince William on one side and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton on the other with "a perforated line down the middle" (Kemp). What makes the commemorative stamp a "gaffe" is the fact that the couple can effectively be torn apart, which some find humorous considering how the couple is to be married in less than one month.
Word of the week: "deplorable"
Source: "Billboard, new law, highlight racial turn for abortion debate" by Zachary Roth, 30 March 2011.
Sentence(s): "The Chicago Abortion Fund, a pro-choice group, denounced the billboard. "The ongoing anti-choice movement to target women of color in cities across the country is both despicable and deplorable," it said in a statement."
Definition: —adjective 1. causing or being a subject for grief or regret; lamentable. 2. causing or being a subject for censure, reproach, or disapproval; wretched; very bad.
Roth's article is about a controversial billboard in the Englewood, Chicago. Being that Englewood is a prodominently black neighborhood, the community's response to the anti-abortion billboard on display is not so welcoming since it targets the African-American community, "shame[s] black women" (Roth), and is cynical and misleading by having a picture of President Obama on it. In this article, "deplorabe" is obviously used to describe something that is "causing or being a subject for censure, reproach, or disapproval; wretched; very bad" ("deplorable").
Sentence(s): "The Chicago Abortion Fund, a pro-choice group, denounced the billboard. "The ongoing anti-choice movement to target women of color in cities across the country is both despicable and deplorable," it said in a statement."
Definition: —adjective 1. causing or being a subject for grief or regret; lamentable. 2. causing or being a subject for censure, reproach, or disapproval; wretched; very bad.
Roth's article is about a controversial billboard in the Englewood, Chicago. Being that Englewood is a prodominently black neighborhood, the community's response to the anti-abortion billboard on display is not so welcoming since it targets the African-American community, "shame[s] black women" (Roth), and is cynical and misleading by having a picture of President Obama on it. In this article, "deplorabe" is obviously used to describe something that is "causing or being a subject for censure, reproach, or disapproval; wretched; very bad" ("deplorable").
Word of the week: "crematorium"
Source: "Tide of bodies overwhelms quake-hit Japan" by Jay Alabaster and Todd Pitman, 14 March 2011.
Sentence: "A tide of bodies washed up along Japans' coastline Monday, overwhelming crematoriums, exhausting supplies of body bags and adding to the spiraling humanitarian, economic and nuclear crisis after the massive earthquake and tsunami."
Definition(s): —noun a crematory → "crematory" —noun a place, as a funeral establishment, at which cremation is done. → "cremate" —verb (used with object) to reduce (a dead body) to ashes by fire, especially as a funeral right.
Sentence: "A tide of bodies washed up along Japans' coastline Monday, overwhelming crematoriums, exhausting supplies of body bags and adding to the spiraling humanitarian, economic and nuclear crisis after the massive earthquake and tsunami."
Definition(s): —noun a crematory → "crematory" —noun a place, as a funeral establishment, at which cremation is done. → "cremate" —verb (used with object) to reduce (a dead body) to ashes by fire, especially as a funeral right.
Word of the week: "zeitgeist"
Source: "The Sad Romance of Cutting and Burning" by David Leibow, 15 Oct. 2010.
Sentence: "There are a whole bunch of self-injurious behaviors that young people pick up from their friends or from the cultural zeitgeist."
Definition: —noun the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time.
Leibow's article is about observational learning that youths do nowadays in which they pick up unhealthy and self-damaging behaviors that are glamorized in the media and by musicians, actors, writers, and other celebrities many of them idolize. The term "zeitgeist" in Leibow's opening sentence refers to this current trend of observational learning that is occurring throughout our nation in this day and age, something that was not as prominent and/or of much concern to people in earlier times as it is today.
Sentence: "There are a whole bunch of self-injurious behaviors that young people pick up from their friends or from the cultural zeitgeist."
Definition: —noun the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time.
Leibow's article is about observational learning that youths do nowadays in which they pick up unhealthy and self-damaging behaviors that are glamorized in the media and by musicians, actors, writers, and other celebrities many of them idolize. The term "zeitgeist" in Leibow's opening sentence refers to this current trend of observational learning that is occurring throughout our nation in this day and age, something that was not as prominent and/or of much concern to people in earlier times as it is today.
Word of the week: "procure"
Source: "With Russia's $650 billion rearmament plan, the bear sharpens its teeth" by Fred Weir, 28 Feb. 2011.
Sentence: "Russia's military is launching its biggest rearmament effort since Soviet times, including a $650 billion program to procure 1,000 new helicopters, 600 combat planes, 100 warships, and 8 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines."
Definition: —verb (used with object) 1. to obtain or get by care, effort, or the use of special means. 2. to bring about, especially by unscrupulous and indirect means. 3. to obtain (a person) for the purpose of prostitution.
In this article, "procure" is used in reference to the obtainment of aircrafts and submarines by the use of special means and effort—the $650 billion program.
Sentence: "Russia's military is launching its biggest rearmament effort since Soviet times, including a $650 billion program to procure 1,000 new helicopters, 600 combat planes, 100 warships, and 8 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines."
Definition: —verb (used with object) 1. to obtain or get by care, effort, or the use of special means. 2. to bring about, especially by unscrupulous and indirect means. 3. to obtain (a person) for the purpose of prostitution.
In this article, "procure" is used in reference to the obtainment of aircrafts and submarines by the use of special means and effort—the $650 billion program.
Word of the week: "contingent"
Source: "Tiger Woods spits on green, golf world splits in prissy fits" by Jay Busbee, 14 Feb. 2011.
Sentence: "But this is going to be turned into another one of those "Tiger doesn't respect the game" rants by the anti-Tiger contingent, and that's unfortunate."
Sentence: "But this is going to be turned into another one of those "Tiger doesn't respect the game" rants by the anti-Tiger contingent, and that's unfortunate."
Definition: —adjective (when post-positive, often foll by on or upon) 1. dependent on events, conditions, etc, not yet known; conditional. 2. logic (of proposition) true under certain conditions, false under others; not necessary. 3. (in systemic grammar) denoting contingency. 4. metaphysics (of some being) existing only as a matter of fact; not necessarily existing. 5. happening by chance or without known cause; accidental. 6. that may or may not happen; uncertain. — noun 7. a part of a military force, parade, etc. 8. a representative group distinguished by common origin, interest, etc, that is part of a larger group or gathering. 9. a possible or chance occurrence ("contingent").
Although I've heard this word many times, I never really stopped to think about its various meanings, and as you can see from the definitions above, "contingent" has up to nine meanings and can be used as an adjective or a noun. In the sentence from Busbee's article, the word is clearly used as a noun to mean "a representative group distinguished by a common origin, interest, etc," and that interest is not liking Tiger Woods.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)