Category: Glossary

Contemporary

adjective

  • : happening or beginning now or in recent times

  • : existing or happening in the same time period : from the same time period

Source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contemporary

I came across this word in an article my fellow peer posted in response to the article about Emmett Till (click here聽for the link).聽It can be found in the sentence “Chris Metress, the editor of “The Lynching of Emmett Till,” a book that includes contemporary news accounts of the killing and trial”. I thought this word meant in a short amount of time. Contemporary to me felt like a word I would know since I’ve heard it a lot of times but I was wrong. From learning what contemporary means, it now makes sense that the book The Lynching of Emmett聽Till is talking about today’s news about the tragedy that happened in the past.

indulgence

noun

the behavior or attitude of people who allow themselves to do what they want or who allow other people to do what they want

(source-Merriam-Webster)

I meet this word in the reading called聽The virtue of idleness. This word is found in the sentence “The lie-in – by which I mean lying in bed awake – is not a selfish indulgence but something essential to the art of living.” By knowing the meaning of the word, I can image the situation the author is describing.

anathema

noun

someone or something intensely disliked or loathed 鈥攗sually used as a predicate nominative

(source-Merriam-Webster)

I encounter this word in the reading “Fatal addiction: the story of Scott Douglas”. I found it in the sentence, “Although Mr Douglas concedes that legalisation would be “anathema” to many fellow parents, he would like to see heroin supplied by the health service to addicts and a “clean and controlled environment” for it to be taken with free needles and medical advice.” Without knowing the anathema聽means聽someone or something intensely disliked, I wouldn’y understand what the autor wants to express.

cognitive

adjective cog路ni路tive \藞k盲g-n蓹-tiv\
: of, relating to, or involving conscious mental activities (such as thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering)
source :- http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive
i was reading the article ‘lecture me. really’ and in that aritcle there was a sentence ” listening continuously and taking notes for an hour is an unusual cognitive experience for most young people.” Now I know that it’s saying that the task of taking note is something kids from this generation have to be focused in or else they can’t do it.

Saboteur

noun

a person who engages in sabotage.

The word was encounter while I was reading the article “Lecture Me. Really.” where it says “Technology can be a saboteur.” I think this word聽in the sentence means technology always engages when the situation wasn’t so good. A example for this word is, someone聽will go down as the chief saboteur of the monarchy.

verbatim

verbatim

adverb

in the exact words :聽 word for word

http://beta.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verbatim

i found that word while i was reading the article ‘lecture me. really’ in a sentence “..most find it impossible to take verbatim notes…”.

Ombudsman

om路buds路man

藞盲mb蓹dzm蓹n/

noun

  1. an official appointed to investigate individuals’ complaints against maladministration, especially that of public authorities.

 

I came across this word during my reading of the Boston Photograph. I never even heard of this word before but basically this is just a person that is appointed to investigate complaints like a police officer.

Billow

藞bil艒/

verb

past tense:聽billowed; past participle:聽billowed

  1. (of fabric) fill with air and swell outward.

“her dress聽billowed out聽around her”

synonyms: puff up/out,聽balloon (out),聽swell,聽fill (out),聽belly out

“her dress billowed around her”
  • (of smoke, cloud, or steam) move or flow outward with an undulating motion.

“smoke was billowing from the chimney”

 

I found this word during my reading of the Boston Photograph. I had no idea of what this word was or meant until I looked up the definition. This word basically means to move outward and fill up. For example like that picture of Marilyn Monroe when she鈥檚 holding her dress down while air fills up her dress.

Morbid

藞m么rb蓹d/

adjective

  1. 1.

characterized by or appealing to an abnormal and unhealthy interest in disturbing and unpleasant subjects, especially death and disease.

“he had long held a morbid fascination with the horrors of contemporary warfare”

synonyms: ghoulish,聽macabre,聽unhealthy,聽gruesome,聽unwholesome;

 

I came across this word during my reading of the Boston Photograph. I had no idea what this word meant when I read this until I looked up the word. But even after reading the definition of the word I still don’t have an idea of what this word means. So if anybody can explain it to me that would be of help.

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