The Wonderful World of Words

63 64 bucolic simony

2010-01-19T18:53:00.001+09:00

61 62 conciliatory equanimity

2010-01-18T19:25:00.001+09:00

59 60 celerity flout

2010-01-15T17:43:00.002+09:00

57 58 Sibylline puerile

2010-01-13T18:49:00.003+09:00

55 56 dolorous bugbear

2010-01-11T19:45:00.002+09:00

53 54 derisive penitently

2010-01-08T16:44:00.002+09:00

51 52 purgatory chortle

2010-01-07T19:35:00.002+09:00

49 50 triumvirate aught

2010-01-06T19:52:00.003+09:00

47 48 wont elegiac

2010-01-05T18:36:00.004+09:00

46 redolent

2009-12-18T16:44:00.002+09:00

42 to 45 kudzu terse balk talisman

2009-12-17T20:33:00.003+09:00

Hello everyone and welcome to tonight’s Wonderful World of Words post! Whether I am reading for pleasure or for research, I sometimes come across words that well, make me go, ‘Hmmm, I wonder what that could mean?’, and so I’ve decided to post those words here online as a sort of notebook to remind me of such words. I would also be interested to know how many of you out there in cyberspace know these particular words, or if you, too, scratch your head sometimes in your explorations of the wonderful world of words!

Word 42 – kudzu
Word 43 – terse
Word 44 – balk
Word 45 - talisman

From the mysterious photograph of a kudzu-covered train station on the jacket to the intriguingly off-kilter music within, Murmur quietly broke with the status quo and mapped out an enigmatic but rewarding new agenda.

Elliptical language occasionally jumps out in terse phrases such as "conversation fear" (from "9-9") as Murmur bypasses logic and goes straight for the subconscious — a state of altered awareness not unlike the rapid-eye-movement stage of dreaming from which the band took its name.

The group balked at recording elsewhere.

The band members also had talismans, of sorts, to which they became attached: Two plastic dinosaurs purchased by Buck at a Salvation Army thrift shop across the street, marked L for left and R for right, were placed atop the studio speakers.

“The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties.” Rolling Stone. 16 Nov. 1989. 17 Dec. 2009
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/31233821/the_100_best_albums_of_the_eighties/93.

So, that’s it for this evening. Do you know what these words mean? Let me know if you do or don’t.

Until next time, take care and thank you for listening to a Wonderful World of Words. Good night!

35 to 41 unbriddled fritter marzipan sherbert magnum opus crescendo strident

2009-12-16T16:14:00.004+09:00

Hello everyone and welcome to tonight’s Wonderful World of Words post! Whether I am reading for pleasure or for research, I sometimes come across words that well, make me go, ‘Hmmm, I wonder what that could mean?’, and so I’ve decided to post those words here online as a sort of notebook to remind me of such words. I would also be interested to know how many of you out there in cyberspace know these particular words, or if you, too, scratch your head sometimes in your explorations of the wonderful world of words!

Word 35 - unbridled
Word 36 - fritter
Word 37 - marzipan
Word 38 - sherbet
Word 39 - magnum opus
Word 40 – crescendo
Word 41 - strident

Before you get stuck into the unbridled gluttony of the Christmas feast, there's the annual round of parties to attend.

You're not going to make any friends if you're the one who bought the ¥700 bottle of paint thinner from the convenience store, but you also don't want to fritter away your budget on finer wine when all that is really required is something that slips down easily without leaving a noxious after-taste.

The 1998 vintage has a faint delicate aroma of marzipan that mingles in the palate with a wonderful fizz of sherbet.

Here comes the magnum opus of the Christmas drinking experience: the serious reds that dramatically flow once the carving knife gets stuck into the meat.

Hermitage La Chapelle Rouge, Paul Jaboulet Aine 2003 has a muted scent of cherries that slowly crescendos into a symphonic delight on the palate.

Again the scent of cherries but this time it's more strident and accompanied by the faintest magical hint of musty leaves, the oral equivalent to wandering into a mysterious forest glade.

Hughes, Felicity. “Make merry with top festive wines.” The Japan Times Online. 11 Dec. 2009. 15 Dec. 2009 http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fg20091211fh.html

So, that’s it for this evening. Do you know what these words mean? Let me know if you do or don’t.

Until next time, take care and thank you for listening to a Wonderful World of Words. Good night!

32 to 34 infallible blithe populist

2009-12-14T18:51:00.004+09:00

Hello everyone and welcome to tonight’s Wonderful World of Words post! Whether I am reading for pleasure or for research, I sometimes come across words that well, make me go, ‘Hmmm, I wonder what that could mean?’, and so I’ve decided to post those words here online as a sort of notebook to remind me of such words. I would also be interested to know how many of you out there in cyberspace know these particular words, or if you, too, scratch your head sometimes in your explorations of the wonderful world of words!

Word 32 – infallible
Word 33 – blithe
Word 34 – populist

It is also hardly either infallible or ideal; committee group-think has produced many flops over the years, while filtering originality out of even successful films.

Another is Mika Ninagawa, a photographer-turned-director whose 2006 debut "Sakuran," a period drama set in the world of oiran (feudal-era courtesans) was a hit among young women for its flamboyant sense of design and color and its blithe disregard for period-drama conventions, exemplified by Sheena Ringo's jazz/pop/cabaret soundtrack.

Finally, the drift of audiences away from the traditional art-house film has forced the once thriving "mini theater" (i.e., art house) sector to program more populist fare, from the sort of cult and genre items once found only in video bins to commercial films starring dogs and cats.

Schilling, Mark. “A decade when Japan’s cinema stood up to Hollywood menace.” The Japan Times Online. 11 Dec. 2009. 14 Dec. 2009 http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20091211r1.html

So, that’s it for this evening. Do you know what these words mean? Let me know if you do or don’t.

Until next time, take care and thank you for listening to a Wonderful World of Words. Good night!

31 overture

2009-12-11T17:05:00.003+09:00

28 to 30 reverent field trill

2009-12-09T19:14:00.003+09:00

23 to 27 rumination ruefully glib fatuous carapace

2009-12-09T00:08:00.003+09:00

22 bullish

2009-12-07T18:02:00.000+09:00

15 to 21 nonplussed timbre Quixotic verboten hubris viscerally riposte

2009-12-04T19:14:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone and welcome to tonight’s Wonderful World of Words post! Whether I am reading for pleasure or for research, I sometimes come across words that well, make me go, ‘Hmmm, I wonder what that could mean?’, and so I’ve decided to post those words here online as a sort of notebook to remind me of such words. I would also be interested to know how many of you out there in cyberspace know these particular words, or if you, too, scratch your head sometimes in your explorations of the wonderful world of words!

Word 15 - nonplussed
Word 16 - timbre
Word 17 - Quixotic
Word 18 - verboten
Word 19 - hubris
Word 20 - viscerally
Word 21 - riposte

Actually, I thought that this type of situation (the nonplussed parking garage attendant in my case) was a little too well-established and standardized, even hackneyed, for the article- but it certainly seems to have hit home for many.

But what this also means is not just that people are sticking to the tired old formulas first hashed out in the 70's but making new, challenging music with an eclectic spirit of complexity, a rich musical tonal palette, and timbres and textures that both stimulate the cerebral cortex and stir the heart.

'Fighting the system' is now quite Quixotic precisely because it's so mainstream.

I've talked about how tiresome Global Warming is as an EFL subject here before (so much so that it is pretty much verboten as an entrance exam topic at universities since it has been done to death and is pretty much the default practice essay at jukus and the like).

What I find most objectionable is the manner of talking down to students in many of these texts, assuming (often with great prejudice and hubris IMO) that students have never encountered these topics or views before and need to be told 'the truth'.

It has all the hallmarks of indoctrination, except for the fact that the arguments presented are often so simplistic and viscerally self-righteous that they are actually more likely to backfire.

Both Trevor and I threw out some strongly worded ripostes to this issue which in turn drew some caustic attempts at rebuttal.

Guest, Mike. “My attraction to alt.alt and students who don't say the 'right' thing.” ELT News. 3 Dec. 2009. 4 Dec. 2009 http://www.eltnews.com/columns/uni_files/.

So, that’s it for this evening. Do you know what these words mean? Let me know if you do or don’t.

Until next time, take care and thank you for listening to a Wonderful World of Words. Good night!

12 13 14 poignant portentous pathos

2009-12-03T18:49:00.000+09:00

11 augur

2009-12-02T18:56:00.000+09:00

05 - 10 despot, toady, browbeaten, harridan, status quo, misbegotten

2009-12-01T18:43:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the Wonderful World of Words! Whether I am reading for pleasure or for research, I sometimes come across words that well, make me go, ‘Hmmm, I wonder what that could mean?’, and so I’ve decided to post those words here online as a sort of notebook to remind me of such words. I would also be interested to know how many of you out there in cyberspace know this particular word, or if you, too, scratch your head sometimes in your explorations of the wonderful world of words!

Word 5 – despot
Word 6 – toady
Word 7 – browbeaten
Word 8 – harridan
Word 9 – status quo
Word 10 – misbegotten

His boss (Hiroshi Shinagawa), however, is a loud, abusive petty despot who "trains" Masao by tossing him a pile of work and telling him to figure it out himself.

Among his coworkers is an anime otaku (obsessive animation fan), played by Tetsuhiro Ikeda, who toadies to the boss and slacks off whenever possible, a browbeaten nerd (Yasushi Nakamura) who lives at his desk, sleeping under it at night, and a harridan of an accountant/programmer (Masako Chiba) who sneeringly rejects all expense requests — and knows where all the corporate bodies are buried.

The arrival of Miss Nakanishi (Maiko), a cute, leggy, air-headed temp, stirs male libidos, Masao's included, but does little to change the wretched status quo.

The TV-trained Sato, whose previous film was the misbegotten salaryman comedy "Shugo Tenshi" ("Guardian Angel"), stages many of the film's comic scenes like goofy skits for a late-night variety show, but he also knows the world of his "black company" inside and out.

Schilling, Mark. “Working at an office in Japan can seriously damage your health.” The Japan Times Online. 27 Nov. 2009. 1 Dec. 2009 http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20091127a2.html.

So, that’s it for this evening. Do you know what these words mean? Let me know if you do or don’t.

Until next time, take care and thank you for listening to a Wonderful World of Words. Good night!

04 eutrophication

2009-11-30T18:49:00.000+09:00

03 flit

2009-11-20T18:35:00.000+09:00

02 exult

2009-11-19T19:35:00.000+09:00

01 genuflect

2009-11-18T19:47:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the first Wonderful World of Words post! Whether I am reading for pleasure or for research, I sometimes come across words that well, make me go, ‘Hmmm, I wonder what that could mean?’, and so I’ve decided to post those words here online as a sort of notebook to remind me of such words. I would also be interested to know how many of you out there in cyberspace know this particular word, or if you, too, scratch your head sometimes in your explorations of the wonderful world of words!

Word 1 - genuflect

Obama's awkward encounter with the Emperor — bows are not meant to accompany physical contact — is not even the first time the president, a Democrat in office less than a year, has been criticized for his greeting of a foreign leader: Critics accused him of genuflecting to Saudi King Abdullah at a world economic summit this year.

“U.S. conservatives: Obama bowed too deeply to Emperor.” The Japan Times Online 18 Nov. 2009. 18 Nov. 2009 http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091118a1.html.

So, do you know what ‘genuflect’ means? Let me know if you do or don’t.

Until next time, take care and thank you for listening to a Wonderful World of Words. Good night!