A Quick Current Events Vocab Quiz: "Bemuse"/"Amuse" + "Integrity" in Numbers

President François Hollande challenges protocols by attending a lavish State dinner without a date, Olympian skiers tie for the gold amid abundant sunshine, and, after a night of mulling, House Speaker John A. Boehner abandons of another debt-ceiling debate.

Follow this week's news coverage from a vocabularian's perspective by learning 10 words from this week's New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post coverage.

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. protocol
    forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by officials
    In the end, the White House solved the most delicate protocol issue of Tuesday’s state dinner for President François Hollande of France in a dignified but creative way.
    --State Dinner Guest List for Hollande Is Impressive, if Minus One, The New York Times, Feb. 11, 2014
    Protocol refers to rules or systems of doing things. Visits of state, such as the one President François Hollande paid the United States this week, are governed by scripted protocols, which boil down to ways to show respect, one nation to another.
  2. lavish
    characterized by extravagance and profusion
    The seating riddle thus solved, the Obamas and their 350 guests set about honoring Mr. Hollande at a lavish event that featured quail eggs, Hawaiian chocolate-malted ganache, and purple irises and free-flowing vines meant to evoke Monet.
    --State Dinner Guest List for Hollande Is Impressive, if Minus One, The New York Times, Feb. 11, 2014
    When a party like the one held in President Hollande's honor is described as lavish it means no expense was spared--it was fancy and opulent.
  3. conspicuous
    without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious
    If President John F. Kennedy, after visiting France in 1961 with his immensely popular wife, famously described himself as “the man who had accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris,” Mr. Hollande has been most conspicuous on this state visit for traveling alone.
    --State Dinner Guest List for Hollande Is Impressive, if Minus One, The New York Times, Feb. 11, 2014
    Conspicuous means "noticeable." Did anyone notice the piece of spinach stuck in your teeth? "No," your friend will lie. "It wasn't conspicuous at all."
  4. fete
    have a celebration in someone's honor
    At midday, under twinkling chandeliers at the State Department, Mr. Hollande was feted over a New Orleans-style lunch in a gathering that included three former secretaries of state: Henry A. Kissinger, Colin L. Powell and Madeleine K. Albright.
    --State Dinner Guest List for Hollande Is Impressive, if Minus One, The New York Times, Feb. 11, 2014
    It's appropriate that this word for "party" (which, like party, works as both a noun and a verb), comes to us from the French fête, as it's being used here to describe a party for a French president.(Remember fête by thinking "festival" whenever you see it.)
  5. abundant
    present in great quantity
    In a first for alpine skiing at the Winter Games Maze, from Slovenia, and Gisin tied for the gold medal in a race marked by warm temperatures, abundant sunshine and one nasty 90-degree turn at the top of the tricky course.
    --Tie for Gold in Women's Downhill in Olympic First, The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 12, 2014
    Abundant means "in good supply," and refers to something you have an abundance or "more than enough" of. Abundant cake suggests you'll have enough cake for everyone and likely a little leftover. Applied to sunshine, it means, simply, "really sunny."
  6. integrity
    an undivided or unbroken completeness with nothing wanting
    When asked why F.I.S. would not use the more comprehensive or complete number that is available to break the tie, Jenny Wiedeke, the organization’s communications manager, said: “When you start getting into such small numbers you cannot guarantee the integrity of that number. It’s an outdoor sport in a winter climate, a piece of flesh could be the difference.”
    --In Women’s Downhill, a Nice Round Historic Tie, The New York Times, Feb. 12, 2014
    In math, an integer is a whole number. Integrity derives from the same "whole" idea, but in a moral sense--a person with integrity will stick to principles such as "right versus wrong" or "truth." In the case of the skiers' tying scores, we're back to numbers, with integrity referring not to their mathematical wholeness but to their truthfulness or completeness.
  7. angst
    an acute but unspecific feeling of anxiety
    He was going to do what he thought was best for the GOP, in spite of the widespread angst.
    --How John Boehner decided to give up on the debt limit fight, The Washington Post, Feb. 11, 2014
    Angst, a restless sense of anxiety or fear often attributed to college sophomores and philosophy majors, is used here to describe Congressional Republicans confronting another drawn-out debate on the debt ceiling vote.
  8. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
    For the past week, Boehner said, he had gone through all of the possible options with the conference, had mulled a variety of scenarios, all with the hope of getting 200-plus Republicans united.
    --How John Boehner decided to give up on the debt limit fight, The Washington Post, Feb. 11, 2014
    Wondering what led House Speaker John A. Boehner to change his mind about the debt ceiling debate? You'll need to know that mull means to "think something over." You can also use the word to apply to the crushing of flavors into sugar, as in mojito mixing or wine/cider spicing.
  9. balk
    refuse to proceed or comply
    Boehner, in response, said Harris's preferred option was given ample consideration, then pulled after conservatives balked.
    --How John Boehner decided to give up on the debt limit fight, The Washington Post, Feb. 11, 2014
    A dog on a leash who suddenly won't take another step is balking. The word means to resist a direction you're being led in and it works in both a literal (dog on leash), or a figurative (GOP balking on debt ceiling debate) way.
  10. bemused
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    Members of the press and a handful of aides watching the speaker leave were bemused by his dark, singsong humor.
    --How John Boehner decided to give up on the debt limit fight, The Washington Post, Feb. 11, 2014
    It's easy to confuse amuse and bemuse. Amused would mean listeners' thought Speaker Boehner's jokes were funny. Bemused is more akin to perplexed amusement, a shrugging of shoulders in an "okaaay, then" or "guess you had to be there" kind of way. (More on the "skunking" of bemuse/amuse here.)
Created on Wed Feb 12 09:14:18 EST 2014 (updated Wed Feb 12 12:21:12 EST 2014)

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