Saturday, February 7, 2009

words i don't know and should know.

mellifluous | me-ˈli-flə-wəs, mə- | adj.
1. filled with something (as honey) that sweetens
2. having a smooth rich flow
I want to try to remember this by thinking that they french word for honey is mel. I can use this word to describe the mellifluous driving in Taiwan (to some extent).

gregarious | gri-ˈger-ē-əs | adj.
1. tending to associate with others of one's kind: social. Marked by or indicating a liking for companionship: sociable, of or relating to a social group
2. of a plant : growing in a cluster or a colony, living in contiguous nests but not forming a true colony —used especially of wasps and bees
I want to try to remember this by thinking about Greg. He's very gregarious. I wish I were more gregarious.

empirical
| em·pir·i·cal | adj.
1. originating in or based on observation or experience <empirical data>
2
. relying on experience or observation alone often without due regard for system and theory empirical basis for the theory>
3
. capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment <empirical laws>
4
. of or relating to empiricism.
I will remember this word because Alex was using it to describe a book where he could easily point out flaws in the biased judgments being made. It was empirically biased.

right brain | ˈrīt-ˈbrān | n.
1. visual
2. processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous way, looking first at the whole picture then the details.
3.
the right cerebral hemisphere of the human brain especially when viewed in terms of its predominant thought processes (as creativity and intuitive thinking)
I personally am right brained and right-handed.

left brain |
ˈleft-ˈbrān | n.
1. verbal
2. processes information in an analytical and sequential way, looking first at the pieces then putting them together to get the whole.
3.
the left cerebral hemisphere of the human brain especially when viewed in terms of its predominant thought processes (as analytic and logical thinking)
I got left out from being left brained.

salacious | sa·la·cious
| adj.
1. arousing or appealing to sexual desire or imagination, lascivious
2
. lecherous, lustful
Salacious sounds like it would mean arousing. Hmm. I can't think of a way to remember this other than that.

obdurate | ob·du·rate | adj.
1. stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing, hardened in feelings
2
.
resistant to persuasion or softening influences
I can be very obdurate once I've set my mind to doing something. Once I've made up my mind, I have a lot of trouble changing it.

invidious | in·vid·i·ous | adj.
1. tending to cause discontent, animosity, or envy
2
.
envious
3.
of an unpleasant or objectionable nature, obnoxious, "invidious remarks,"of a kind to cause harm or resentment
I read the word invidious in Benjamin Button when his father said he was going to name him Methuselah (after the oldest person mentioned in the Bible). This was an invidious remark because it was a shot at Benjamin's curious condition.

truculent | trŭk'yə-lənt | adj.
1. feeling or displaying ferocity
2. aggressively self-assertive
Russell Brand used this word describing how he wasn't acting during an interview. I am not truculent at all.

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