outre

outre
Definition:
(adjective) Conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual.
Synonyms:
bizarre, eccentric, flaky, freakish, gonzo, off-the-wall, outlandish
Usage:
The more outre and grotesque an incident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined.

otiose

otiose \OH-shee-ohss\ adjective
1 : producing no useful result : futile
2 : being at leisure : idle
*3 : lacking use or effect : functionless

Example sentence: "Half the streets are cobbled and half wide, empty, modern highways at whose pretentious crossings an occasional rickshaw waits for the otiose traffic lights to change to green." (Ian Fleming, Thrilling Cities)

Did you know? "Otiose" was first used in English in the late-18th century to describe things producing no useful result. By mid-19th century, it was being used in keeping with its Latin source "otiosus," meaning "at leisure." There is also the noun form "otiosity," which predates "otiose" by approximately three centuries. That noun is rarely found in writing today, but it makes an appearance on the occasional spelling bee word list.

corrigible

corrigible
PRONUNCIATION:(KOR-i-juh-buhl)

MEANING:adjective: Capable of being corrected.

ETYMOLOGY:From Latin corrigere (to correct). Ultimately from the Indo-European reg- (to move in a straight line, to lead or rule) that is also the source of regent, regime, direct, rectangle, erect, rectum, alert, source, and surge.

USAGE:"[The regulator] should guide corrigible companies through their weaknesses to become more useful corporate citizens."Patience Wheatcroft; FSA Should At Least Seek City's Respect; The Times (London, UK); Mar 4, 2005.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:A man's name is not like a mantle which merely hangs about him, and which one perchance may safely twitch and pull, but a perfectly fitting garment, which, like the skin, has grown over and over him, at which one cannot rake and scrape without injuring the man himself. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (1749-1832)

embonpoint

embonpoint \ahng-bohng-PWANG (the "ng" is never pronounced, but the vowels are nasalized)\
noun : plumpness of person : stoutness

Example sentence: The judge was a man of stately embonpoint who walked with a heavy step as he entered the courtroom.

Did you know? "Embonpoint" is most often used to describe people of heavy, but not unattractive, girth. It derives from "en bon point," a phrase from Middle French that means "in good condition." The word was first used as a noun in English in the 17th century. It has subsequently appeared in works by Charlotte Bronte ("a form decidedly inclined to embonpoint" -- Shirley), James Fenimore Cooper ("an embonpoint that was just sufficient to distinguish her from most of her companions" -- Home as Found), and George Eliot ("as erect in her comely embonpoint as a statue of Ceres" -- Adam Bede), among others.

动词+y=adj

wield+y=wieldy
MEANING:adjective: Easily handled or managed.

ETYMOLOGY:From Old English wealdan (to rule). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wal- (to be strong) that gave us the words valiant, avail, valor, and value.

USAGE:"What Lotus means, of course, is that the Exige [car] is small and wieldy; that it can out-corner a mosquito."Michael Booth; On Wheels: Lotus Exige S; The Independent (London, UK); Sep 3, 2006.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:Although a democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it nonetheless has the upper hand. -Aharon Barak, law professor, former President of the Supreme Court of Israel (b.1936)

bombast

bombast \BAHM-bast\ noun
: pretentious inflated speech or writing

Example sentence: Laura complained that the editorial columns in her local newspaper were full of bombast and offered little in the way of intelligent opinion.

Did you know? The original meaning of "bombast" (now obsolete) is "cotton or any soft fibrous material used as padding or stuffing." It is derived through Middle French "bombace," from Medieval Latin "bombax," which means "cotton." "Bombax" in turn comes from "bombyx," a Latin and ultimately Greek word that means "silkworm" or "silk." Etymologists aren't certain why the shift from silk to cotton occurred, though one source attributes it to an error going back to the Roman scholar Pliny, who had reported that cotton was produced by an insect analogous to the silkworm. "Bombast" has been retained in modern English because it took on a figurative sense used in reference to speech or writing. Thus the basic sense of "stuffing or padding" has survived, but now the stuffing consists of words rather than cotton.

May 2: problem saturation

May 2: problem saturation
A process by which Mainstream Media addresses an issue incessantly, building up to a sense of pending doom. Of course, the problem, while worrisome, does not pose the grave threat they would like you to believe. Finally, MSM abandons coverage of the problem completely, moving on to another problem.


"Honey, why don't we hear any news about the drug cartels anymore?"
"That was last month's problem saturation, dear."

SANDBAG是沙包吗？

sandbag \SAND-bag\ verb
1 : to bank, stop up, or weight with sandbags
2 : to hit or stun with or as if with a sandbag b : to treat unfairly or harshly
*3 : to conceal or misrepresent one's true position, potential, or intent especially in order to take advantage of

Example sentence: Shortly after agreeing to place a wager on the match, I realized I had been sandbagged and was clearly outmatched by my opponent.

Did you know? In the 19th century, the verb "sandbag" began to be used to describe the act of bludgeoning someone with a small, sand-filled bag -- a tactic employed by ruffians, usually as a prelude to robbing their victims. The verb went on to develop metaphorical extensions, such as "to coerce by crude means." By the 1940s, it was being used of a strategy in which a poker player with a good hand bets weakly, in order to draw other players into holding on to their hands and raising the bet. The use of "sandbag" has since evolved to refer to a general strategy of playing down one's position in order to gain some sort of advantage.

dilatory

dilatory \DILL-uh-tor-ee\ adjective
*1 : tending or intended to cause delay
2 : characterized by procrastination : tardy

Example sentence: The Senator's seemingly endless motions to adjourn were clearly dilatory.


Did you know? Slow down. Set a leisurely pace. What's the hurry? If procrastination is your style, "dilatory" is the word for you. That term has been used in English to describe things that cause delay since at least the 15th century, and its ancestors were hanging around with similar meanings long before that. If you take the time to trace the roots of "dilatory," you will discover that it derives from "dilatus," the past participle of the Latin verb "differre," which meant either "to postpone" or "to differ." If you think "differre" looks like several English words, you have a discerning eye. That verb is also an ancestor of the words "different" and "defer."

apathy \AP-uh-thee\ noun

apathy \AP-uh-thee\ noun
1 : lack of feeling or emotion : impassiveness
*2 : lack of interest or concern : indifference

Example sentence: Every electoral season, editorials in the local newspaper complain about voter apathy and cynicism.

Did you know? There's no reason to be uncaring about the origins of "apathy" -- though there is a clue to the word's beginnings in that sentence. "Apathy" was borrowed into English in the late 16th century from Greek "apatheia," which itself comes from the adjective "apathes," meaning "without feeling." "Apathes," in turn, was formed by combining the negating prefix "a-" with "pathos," meaning "emotion." Incidentally, if you've guessed that "pathos" is the source of the identically spelled noun in English (meaning either "an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion" or "an emotion of sympathetic pity"), you are correct. "Pathos" also gave us such words as "antipathy," "empathy," "sympathy," "pathetic," and even the archaic word "pathematic" ("emotional").

多姿多彩的chirography

chirography \kye-RAH-gruh-fee\ noun
*1 : handwriting, penmanship
2 : calligraphy

Example sentence: As she leafed through her father's old book, Sheila noted that its margins were filled with annotations made in his distinct chirography.

Did you know? Some might argue that handwriting is a dying art in this age of electronic communication. Nevertheless, we have a fancy word for it. The root "graph" means "writing" and appears in many common English words such as "autograph" and "graphite." The lesser-known root "chir," or "chiro-," comes from a Greek word meaning "hand" and occurs in words such as "chiromancy" ("the art of palm reading") and "enchiridion" ("a handbook or manual"), as well as "chiropractic." "Chirography" first appeared in English in the 17th century and probably derived from "chirograph," a now rare word referring to a legal document or indenture. "Chirography" should not be confused with "choreography," which refers to the composition and arrangement of dances.

SC：提到个有中国味的书法这个词，大家心中可以想出多少个英语单词呢，看到如今网络盛行的时代，提到书法不免有怀旧和心动的感觉，你也一样吗？

inveterate

inveterate \in-VET-uh-rut\ adjective
1 : firmly established by long persistence
*2 : confirmed in a habit : habitual

Example sentence: Since Ernie is an inveterate liar, we naturally didn't believe him when he told us he'd met the movie star.

Did you know? Like "veteran," "inveterate" ultimately comes from Latin "vetus," which means "old," and which led to the Latin verb "inveterare" ("to age"). That verb in turn gave rise eventually to the adjective "inveteratus," the direct source of our adjective "inveterate" (in use since the 14th century). In the past, "inveterate" has meant "long-standing" or simply "old." For example, one 16th-century writer warned of "Those great Flyes which in the springe time of the yeare creepe out of inveterate walls." Today, "inveterate" most often applies to a habit, attitude, or feeling of such long existence that it is practically ineradicable or unalterable.

somnolent

somnolent \SOM-nuh-luhnt\, adjective:
1. Sleepy; drowsy; inclined to sleep.
2. Tending to cause sleepiness or drowsiness.

In his case, restrained ultimately meant boring, as the audience was lulled into a somnolent state.-- Teresa Wiltz, "The Hip, the Flip, the Flop", Washington Post, March 3, 2000

Meanwhile, many a somnolent local authority has been stirred into action by Davidson's blunt approach.-- John Lucas, "Memorials are made of these on the eve of Remembrance Sunday", Daily Telegraph, November 7, 1998

Back in the somnolent heat of Bangalore he wrote a revealing novel entitled Savrola.-- David Stafford, Churchill and Secret Service


Somnolent is from Latin somnolentus, from somnus, "sleep." A related word is insomnia (in-, "not" + somnus).

sanative

sanative
Definition:
(adjective) Having the power to cure; healing or restorative.

Synonyms:
alterative, curative, healing, remedial, therapeutic

Usage:
The doctor suggested that his asthmatic patient relocate to the sanative environment of the countryside, where the fresh mountain air is free of smog and pollution.

矫揉造作的sententious

sententious \sen-TEN-shus\ adjective
*1 : given to or abounding in aphoristic expression or excessive moralizing
2 : terse, aphoristic, or moralistic in expression

Example sentence: The paper that Jed handed in to his teacher was not so much a research paper as a sententious manifesto denouncing globalization.

Did you know?
Nowadays, "sententious" is usually uncomplimentary, implying banality, oversimplification, and excessive moralizing. But that hasn't always been the case, nor is it universally so even now. The original Middle English sense of "sententious" was "full of meaning," a meaning adopted from Latin "sententiosus" (from "sententia," meaning "sentence" or "maxim"). In Modern English, too, "sententious" has sometimes referred to what is full of significance and expressed tersely. Or sometimes "sententious" simply suggests an affinity for aphorisms, as when it refers to the likes of Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard (of almanac fame), the homespun philosopher given to such statements as "early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

SC：单看这个词的外表，我肯定你会猜错她的意思哦，SENTENCE+TEDIOUS

argosy

argosy
\AHR-guh-see\ noun
1 : a large ship; especially : a large merchant ship
*2 : a rich supply

Example sentence: Uncle Ken is always armed with an argosy of jokes, and he keeps the family entertained for hours.

Did you know? Looking at the first sense of "argosy," you might assume that this word is a close relative of "argonaut," but that isn't the case. Although both words have a nautical sense, they have different etymologies.

The original argonauts sailed on a ship called the Argo to seek the Golden Fleece; their moniker combines the name of their ship and the Greek word "nautes," meaning "sailor." "Argosy" comes from "Ragusa," the Italian name for the city that is now Dubrovnik, Croatia. Over time, "Ragusa" was modified into "ragusea," a noun for the laden merchant ships that sailed from that port in medieval days. A broadening of meaning and another shift in spelling gave us "argosy," denoting any merchant vessel or rich store.

paladin

paladin \PAL-uh-din\, noun:
1. A knight-errant; a distinguished champion of a medieval king or prince; as, the paladins of Charlemagne.
2. A champion of a cause.


Once in power, though, Clinton stumbled repeatedly over obstacles created by the schizoid campaign he had conducted, in which he had cast himself simultaneously as the champion of a more conservative Democratic credo and as a paladin of the party's traditional activism.
-- Robert Shogan, The Fate of the Union

Even Columbia University economist Jagdisch Baghwati, the paladin of free trade, calls for controls on capital flow.
-- "Terrors in the Sun", The Nation, June 29, 1998

Matisse, paladin of modernism, is a long way from us now.
-- Robert Hughes, "The Color of Genius", Time, September 28, 1992

. . .the celebrated but distrusted paladin of imperialism and the romantic conception of life, the swashbuckling militarist, the vehement orator and journalist, the most public of public personalities in a world dedicated to the cultivation of private virtues, the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Conservative Government then in power, Mr. Winston Churchill.
-- Isaiah Berlin, "Mr. Churchill", The Atlantic, September 1949

Paladin derives from Late Latin palatinus, "an officer of the palace," from Latin palatium, "royal residence, palace," from Palatium, one of the seven hills of Rome, on which Augustus had his residence.

eidetic

eidetic 爱的体客
\eye-DET-ik\ adjective
: marked by or involving extraordinarily accurate and vivid recall especially of visual images

Example sentence:
Thanks to her eidetic memory, Kirsten was able to recall every last detail of what happened that night, including what color dress she was wearing.

Did you know? "Eidetic" is the technical adjective used to describe what we more commonly call a photographic memory. The word ultimately derives from the Greek noun "eidos," meaning "form." The ability of certain individuals to recall images, sounds, or events with uncanny accuracy is a subject of fascination for researchers in the field of psychology. Among notable people who were reputed to have eidetic memories is the late television comic Jackie Gleason, who reportedly was able to memorize an entire half-hour script in a single read-through.

SC:看到她的第一眼就喜欢上她了，也许这就是一见钟情，爱的体客

boilerplate

boilerplate \BOY-ler-playt\ noun
1 : syndicated material supplied especially to weekly newspapers in matrix or plate form
2 *a : standardized text b : formulaic or hackneyed language
3 : tightly packed icy snow

Example sentence: Most of the real estate contract was legal boilerplate.

Did you know? In the days before computers, small, local newspapers around the U.S. relied heavily on feature stories, editorials, and other printed material supplied by large publishing syndicates. The syndicates delivered that copy on metal plates with the type already in place so the local papers wouldn't have to set it. Printers apparently dubbed those syndicated plates "boiler plates" because of their resemblance to the plating used in making steam boilers. Soon "boilerplate" came to refer to the printed material on the plates as well as to the plates themselves. Because boilerplate stories were more often filler than hard news, the word acquired negative connotations and gained another sense widely used today: "hackneyed or unoriginal writing."

How – When – Where
By John Oxenham


It is not so much WHERE you live,
As HOW, and WHY, and WHEN you live,
That answers in the affirmative,
Or maybe in the negative,
The question- Are you fit to live?

It is not so much WHERE you live,
As HOW you live,
and whether good
Flows from you through your neighbourhood.

And WHY you live,
and whether you Aim high and noblest ends pursue,
And keep Life brimming full and true.

And WHEN you live,
and whether TimeIs at its nadir or its prime,
And whether you descend or climb.

It is not so much WHERE you live,
As whether while you live you live
And to the world your highest give,
And so make answer positive
That you are truly fit to live.

SC：谷歌邮箱中收到的一陌生邮件，一眼瞧到了这个，觉得不错就拿来和大家分享了