As usual, the SAT Question of the Day below seems to be programming our youth. :-)
Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
The world, accustomed to ------- whenever governments change hands, expected rioting and bloodshed; but the transition of power was remarkably ------- .
A. turmoil . . chaotic
B. harmony . . orderly
C. ceremony . . solemn
D. violence . . uneventful
E. splendor . . unpopular
Monday, October 27, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Flattery and sycophants
The SAT Question of the Day below reminds us of one of our favorite words -- sycophant -- and two of our favorite TV sycophants, Smithers and Eddie Haskell (right).
His inclination to succumb to flattery made him ------- to the ------- of people who wished to take advantage of him.
A. immune . . predilection
B. prejudicial . . intentions
C. susceptible . . cajolery
D. resistant . . blandishments
E. amenable . . rejection
sycophant n. a servile, self-seeking flatterer; a suck-up; a brown-nose; an a**-kisser
From the Greek word sykophantes and Latin word sycophanta for an informer or swindler.
Interesting that these words come down to us virtually unchanged over thousands of years. Perhaps sycophants have pretty much remained the same in different ages and cultures, so the word has remained the same as well.
The character Mr. Burns in The Simpsons would be lost without his trusty sycophant, Smithers.
sycophantic adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of a sycophant: fawning, obsequious
"Is that a new vacuum cleaner, Mrs. Cleaver?" asked the ever-sycophantic Eddie Haskell, adding, "Isn't it wonderful what they're doing with modern conveniences these days?"
"Is that a new vacuum cleaner, Mrs. Cleaver?" asked the ever-sycophantic Eddie Haskell, adding, "Isn't it wonderful what they're doing with modern conveniences these days?"
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The pronunciation of "elided"
The other evening on The News Hour, New York Times columnist David Brooks used the word "elided."
Having only read the word in memos from lawyers and never heard it spoken aloud before, I was surprised to hear that it has a long "i" (like "eye") and so is pronounced ee-LIE-dead.
elide [from the Latin elidere -- to strike out]
1a: to suppress or alter (as a vowel or syllable) by elision
b: to strile out (as a written word or passage)
2a: to leave out of consideration: omit
b: curtail, abridge
David Brooks is best known for coining the Red State/Blue State shorthand to describe the cultural rift between the urban/suburban, coastal/heartland, Pier One/Wal-Mart Americas.
A couple of years ago, Brooks used the word "elided" in a column in which he roundly roasted the writing abilities of a certain public figure up for a job that required clear and persuasive elucidation of ideas.
Wrote Brooks, "...the quality of thought doesn't even rise to the pedestrian [commonplace, unimaginative -- as in traveling on foot rather than riding in style]. .... I don't know if by mere quotation I can fully convey the relentless march of vapid [insipid, lifeless, boring] abstractions that mark [this person]'s prose. Nearly every idea is vague and depersonalized. Nearly every debatable point is elided [omitted, curtailed or abridged]."
Many of us experience similar slams (in red pen, perhaps) in tough English classes. With luck, we lick our wounds and learn to write something approximating clear, concise, reasonably graceful English. The alternative is to risk the kind of humiliation that the public figure above endured in the op-ed pages of the Times.
Having only read the word in memos from lawyers and never heard it spoken aloud before, I was surprised to hear that it has a long "i" (like "eye") and so is pronounced ee-LIE-dead.
elide [from the Latin elidere -- to strike out]
1a: to suppress or alter (as a vowel or syllable) by elision
b: to strile out (as a written word or passage)
2a: to leave out of consideration: omit
b: curtail, abridge
David Brooks is best known for coining the Red State/Blue State shorthand to describe the cultural rift between the urban/suburban, coastal/heartland, Pier One/Wal-Mart Americas.
A couple of years ago, Brooks used the word "elided" in a column in which he roundly roasted the writing abilities of a certain public figure up for a job that required clear and persuasive elucidation of ideas.
Wrote Brooks, "...the quality of thought doesn't even rise to the pedestrian [commonplace, unimaginative -- as in traveling on foot rather than riding in style]. .... I don't know if by mere quotation I can fully convey the relentless march of vapid [insipid, lifeless, boring] abstractions that mark [this person]'s prose. Nearly every idea is vague and depersonalized. Nearly every debatable point is elided [omitted, curtailed or abridged]."
Many of us experience similar slams (in red pen, perhaps) in tough English classes. With luck, we lick our wounds and learn to write something approximating clear, concise, reasonably graceful English. The alternative is to risk the kind of humiliation that the public figure above endured in the op-ed pages of the Times.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tenderloin -- a district, not a cut of meat
from www.wordsmith.org
tenderloin (TEN-duhr-loin) noun
The part of a city notorious for vice and corruption.
[After a district in New York City known for vice, crime, corruption, extortion, graft, etc. It received its nickname from the choicest part of the meat, alluding to the luxurious diet of corrupt police members getting an easy income from bribes. Today, there are Tenderloin districts in other cities, particularly in San Francisco. Another metaphorical term with a similar connotation is"skid row," which has its origin in Seattle.]
"Forbidden from working, they moved in to a seedy residential hotel in the Tenderloin district as they waited for their application to be approved."
-- Joe Mullin; Refugees' Work; The Mercury News (San Jose, California); Jul 10, 2005.
tenderloin (TEN-duhr-loin) noun
The part of a city notorious for vice and corruption.
[After a district in New York City known for vice, crime, corruption, extortion, graft, etc. It received its nickname from the choicest part of the meat, alluding to the luxurious diet of corrupt police members getting an easy income from bribes. Today, there are Tenderloin districts in other cities, particularly in San Francisco. Another metaphorical term with a similar connotation is"skid row," which has its origin in Seattle.]
"Forbidden from working, they moved in to a seedy residential hotel in the Tenderloin district as they waited for their application to be approved."
-- Joe Mullin; Refugees' Work; The Mercury News (San Jose, California); Jul 10, 2005.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Veni, vidi, vici -- Latin says, "I came, I saw, I'm still around."
From today's New York Times:By WINNIE HU
The resurgence of a language once rejected as outdated and irrelevant is reflected across the country as Latin is embraced by a new generation of students.
Above right: Mark McWilliams instructs discipuli (students) of Latin, including Sabrina Torres, left, and Daniela Aguilar, at Isaac E. Young Middle School in New Rochelle, N.Y.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Handy words for performance reviews
The Official SAT Question of the Day below provides us with several excellent adjectives for describing not-so-great behavior (and some verbs describing how one might respond).
Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
The store manager was ------- when sales dropped for the third year in a row; that was why she ------- our department for its lack of effort.
A. indolent . . intimidated
B. indignant . . upbraided
C. insolent . . exonerated
D. indulgent . . castigated
E. intolerant . . condoned
Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
The store manager was ------- when sales dropped for the third year in a row; that was why she ------- our department for its lack of effort.
A. indolent . . intimidated
B. indignant . . upbraided
C. insolent . . exonerated
D. indulgent . . castigated
E. intolerant . . condoned
A tribute to a great copy editor
NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW
September 28, 2008\
Essay: What My Copy Editor Taught Me
By DOROTHY GALLAGHER
"Helene had no literary theories — she had literary values: clarity, transparency, the skillful use of style.
". . . In musical terms, she had perfect pitch.
"Helene had no literary theories — she had literary values. She valued clarity and transparency. She had nothing against style, if it didn’t distract from the material. Her blue pencil struck at redundancy, at confusion, at authorial vanity, at the wrong and the false word, at the unearned conclusion. She loved good writing, therefore she loved the reader: good writing did not cause the reader to stumble over meaning. By the time Helene was finished with me seven years later, I knew how to read a sent ence and how to fix one. I knew what a sentence was supposed to do. . . . "
September 28, 2008\
Essay: What My Copy Editor Taught Me
By DOROTHY GALLAGHER
"Helene had no literary theories — she had literary values: clarity, transparency, the skillful use of style.
". . . In musical terms, she had perfect pitch.
"Helene had no literary theories — she had literary values. She valued clarity and transparency. She had nothing against style, if it didn’t distract from the material. Her blue pencil struck at redundancy, at confusion, at authorial vanity, at the wrong and the false word, at the unearned conclusion. She loved good writing, therefore she loved the reader: good writing did not cause the reader to stumble over meaning. By the time Helene was finished with me seven years later, I knew how to read a sent ence and how to fix one. I knew what a sentence was supposed to do. . . . "
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