week 38

The word glib might be used to describe the slick car salesman who uses his polished sales pitch to talk his customers into buying lemons. In fact, the word comes from old German and Dutch words for "slippery," another word that could be used to describe the very same salesman. In addition to meaning "smooth" and "persuasive" glib can be applied to kind of thoughtless comment that could get you into big trouble. Telling your boss that you had a "hot time" with his daughter is kind of glib remark

Fatal means something that is capable of causing death. Certain cleaning products, for instance, are labeled, “Could be Fatal if Swallowed.” Here's a helpful suggestion: don't swallow them. Today the term is used more loosely. If your friend makes a fatal mistake on the tennis court, it doesn't mean that he'll literally die, just that he'll lose the game.

Capitulate means to give in to something. "The teachers didn't want to have class outside, but the students begged so hard, she capitulated."
Because capitulate relates to the military, and Romans were all about their military, Latin has a lot to say about this word. In Latin, caput means head, capitulum little head. Think with this word how, at the end of a battle, someone bows their head in defeat, and often that is when heads roll.

Have you ever gotten the sense that politicians or corporate leaders will say anything to turn public opinion their way? This tricky kind of deceit and manipulation is called chicanery.
Besides chicanery, another funny-sounding word for trickery is shenanigans. Whereas the former is always used in the singular and involves deceptive language, the latter is usually used in the plural and refers to the actions of a person. Your crazy neighbor is up to his old shenanigans if he has begun doing weir

A trend is what's hip or popular at a certain point in time. While a trend usually refers to a certain style in fashion or entertainment, there could be a trend toward warmer temperatures (if people are following trends associated with global warming).

Passé describes something that's out of style or "so yesterday!" What your parents think is cool is usually very passé, but sometimes their old stuff is stylish again, like the Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt you borrow from your mom. the adjective passé is a classier way to call something outdated, unfashionable, and so out of touch with trends. Your floppy pop-star haircut may be passé if a crew-cut band becomes all the rage, but even saying "all the rage" is itself probably passé. If it's current and

If you stigmatize someone, you have given that person a label — and it's usually a label that is limiting in some way.

In Ancient Greece, a stigma was a brand burned into a slave or a criminal's skin to symbolize disgrace. In the 1500s, the word stigmatize meant literally "to brand or tattoo." Nowadays, to stigmatize is to shame or brand a person in a more symbolic way

If someone is docile, he is easily taught or handled. If you suddenly became a trouble-maker in class, your teachers would long for the days when you were sweet and docile.A docile student is willing to be taught. A docile animal is easy to handle. If you behave well and do what people tell you to do, you're a docile person. Docile might be a word of praise, but it can also be a criticism of someone for being overly submissive.

When a magician waves his hands over a hat and pulls out a rabbit, he is performing an act of legerdemain or trickery.

Legerdemain can be used literally to describe a magic trick, or figuratively to describe some other kind of trickery or deceit. If you and some friends cook up a scheme that involves telling complicated lies so that you can stay out all night, you are guilty of legerdemain. The word comes from the French léger de main which means dexterous, or light of hand.

A facet is one side or aspect of something. If you’re thinking about quitting your day job to become a circus performer, you should first consider every facet of what your new life would be like

If you have audacity then you're one daring — and perhaps reckless — character. Running a red light with three previous tickets under your belt certainly shows audacity. And stupidity. But as former British Prime Minister and novelist Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Success is the child of audacity.”

Something tacit is implied or understood without question. Holding hands might be a tacit acknowledgment that a boy and girl are dating.

The adjective tacit refers to information that is understood without needing to acknowledge it. For example, since we know that the sky is blue, that kind of assumption is tacit. Lawyers talk about "tacit agreements," where parties give their silent consent and raise no objections.

A malleable personality is capable of being changed or trained, and a malleable metal is able to be pounded or pressed into various shapes. It's easier to learn when you're young and malleable.

Procrastinates means putting off doing something until a future time. When people sit down to write term papers, they can find all kinds of clever ways to procrastinate: reorganizing the paperclips, calling everyone they know, typing "I am bored" fifty times in a row.Some synonyms are defer, postpone, and delay, though these words often apply to more positive reasons for inaction. The reason for procrastination is often assumed to be laziness, or just that the task or action is unpleasant and di

Did your parents foist your baby sister on you when they went out? It means they forced her on you. Anything — a person or object or idea — can be foisted if it's done by force upon an unwilling party.

Reticent means either quiet or restrained. If you're reticent about your feelings, you like to keep them to yourself, and you're probably quiet in rowdy groups where everyone is talking over each other.The original meaning of reticent describes someone who doesn’t like to talk. Be careful in your context, however. Reticent can refer to someone who is restrained and formal, but it can also refer to someone who doesn’t want to draw attention to herself or who prefers seclusion to other people. Don

If a group of things are homogeneous, they're all the same or similar, like a room full of identically dressed Elvis impersonators.

There is a tone to the word stagnant that sounds like what it is: lacking movement, stale, and inactive, especially with exaggerated pronunciation, "staaaagnant."

Stagnant came into use in the 17th century as a description for water or air that wasn't moving or circulating, like in a scum-covered pond or a closed-off room. Often things that are stagnant also have a smell from sitting too long in one place. Not that this happens to everyone, but sitting in front of a TV playing video games witho

When you tantalize people, you torment them in a specific way — by showing them something they want but can’t have. You could tantalize people with cavities and nut allergies by eating pecan pie in front of them.So, it only makes sense that to tantalize someone is to torture them with what they cannot have.

What's a retort? It's a reply that's short. "Why did the monkey fall out of the tree; please give me a report?" I said "The monkey's dead," with a dry retort.A retort is a comeback or a quick and clever answer or remark. It can be a form of payback when someone tries to insult or tease another person, and often, a perfect retort doesn't occur to you till later, when you think "Oh! I wish I had said that earlier!