Achilles' heel

We learned yesterday "Kryptonite" is the weakness of Superman.   Here is another expression for weakness:

Achilles' heel

an expression meaning area of weakness or vulnerable spot in spite of overall strength. 

Origin:   In Greek mythology, Achilles was a great Greek warrior who has only one vulnerable spot, his heel.  He was killed when Paris wound him in his heel with a poisonous arrow. 

"She is trying to lose weight, but ice cream is her Achilles' heel."

"Women, as everyone knows, are his Achilles' heel."

"Manufacturing is Singapore’s Achilles' heel.  The sector has been in a bleak situation for years, owing to a slowing China and soft developed country demand."

Kryptonite

Kryptonite 

noun. 1). a mineral from the planet Krypton that ultimately defeats Superman 2). someone's ultimate weakness or anything that causes someone's ultimate weakness

"Superman had his Kryptonite, Achilles had his heel, and the Patriots have the Tom Coughlin-Eli Manning Giants."

"Fear of failure is an athlete’s kryptonite."

"Supergirl's personal kryptonite is her tendency to apologize for herself."

turducken

Happy Thanksgiving! Let's learn a Thanksgiving word:

turducken [tur-Duhk-uh n]

noun. 1) an American Thanksgiving dish: consists of a chicken, stuffed into a duck, stuffed into a turkey 2) Any plan that is unnecessarily complicated or futile

"It is so so complicated, are we baking up a turducken?"

knee jerk reaction

knee jerk reaction 

idiom.  reacting according to a certain habit, without careful consideration

"It is important that we are not drawn into knee jerk reactions to the tragedy in Paris. Any action taken must be carefully considered and states cannot act rashly and alone."

"The knee jerk reaction of many of us upon seeing an obese person is we believe that person lacks self-control. It's more complicated."

"The knee jerk reaction to the release of Amazon's  Echo, a connected speaker with voice command integration, is -- why would I want an Amazon controlled listening device."

through thick and thin

through thick and thin

idiom.  through good and bad times; under all circumstances

"Thanksgiving Thought:  I am thankful for my family who put up with me and I am thankful for my friends who support me. I know that I can always rely on them to be there for me through thick and thin.”

"The sisters promised they would stick together through thick and thin."

"Despite all obstacles or adversities, she promised to stand by him through thick and thin."

succumb

succumb     [suh-Kuhm] 

verb.  1)  give in or yield to something (temptation, fear, pressure, etc.).   2)  die from effects of disease or injury. 

"We do not succumb to fear." — President Obama on our fight against ISIL.

"Scientists do not succumb easily to superstition."

"Children are especially at risk of succumbing to the extreme cold."

shambles

shambles     [sham-buh l z]

noun.  a total disorder or great mess

"It was hard to find a job in architecture, when the housing market was in shambles."

"There were melons and milk spilled all over the floor of the supermarket, which was in a shambles."

"The Jets have dropped four of their last five games, triggering a full-blown crisis. Their once-promising season is now in shambles."

wintry

wintry

adjective.  characteristic of winter

"See the snowflakes falling, falling. Through the frosty air we go. The wind is biting, so exciting. What a wintry day!" - Lyrics of "Winter Troika Ride"

"On Saturday, more than a foot of snow fell on parts of the Midwest in the first significant wintry storm of the season."

"Photograph of a snow-covered Christmas tree farm shows a wintry scene."

coup

coup    [koo]

*** pronounced as /koo/ and don't confuse it with chicken coop /koo p/

noun.  1) taking over a government by force;  2) a notable success

"Marissa Mayer's hiring as the CEO of Yahoo in July 2012 was hailed as a coup."

"Kim Jong Un vanished from North Korean state media for 40 days last year, prompting rumors of ill health or even a coup."

"Cyprus was split along ethnic lines in 1974 after a coup by supporters of union  and Turkey's invasion."

relic

relic    [Rel-ik] 

noun.   a thing of the past

"The idea of an Internet portal, like Yahoo or AOL, is a relic of a Web era 15 years ago. That model doesn’t compute in the mobile era, where apps and social networks dominate."

"A crumbling Roman wall is a relic of a once-great civilization."

"The food pyramid that we were taught  growing up is now a relic of the past. The US dumped its pyramid for the MyPlate guide in 2011."

edgy

edgy    [ej-ee] 

adjective.  tense, nervous and irritable 

"Germany’s exhibition soccer match against the Netherlands was canceled on Tuesday, becoming the second marquee game called off in two days in increasingly edgy Europe."

"Drinking many cups of high-caffeine cappuccinos a day over the long term might make you edgy."

"She was getting nervous and edgy right before a difficult test."

yaaas

yaaas -- one of the 150 new words added to Dictionary.com

adverb. yes with strong approval or excitement, yes!

"‘I’ve bought a new shed for the garden.’ ‘Yaaas!’"

http://nypost.com/2015/11/10/yaaas-is-the-latest-addition-to-the-dictionary/

upend

upend    [uhp-End]

verb.  set or turn (something) on its end or upside down

"The Apple car project has made  traditional automakers nervous, knowing how the company upended the mobile phone market after it introduced the iPhone."

"Oklahoma's win over Baylor upended the Big 12 race in American College Football."

"Russia's decision to enter the conflict with air strikes has upended the strategy of the United States and its European allies."

blasphemy

blasphemy    [Blas-fuh-mee] 

noun.  insulting God or religion 

"The path of violence and hatred does not solve the problems of humanity, and using the name of God to justify this path is blasphemy." - Pope Francis

"A meal without wine is akin to blasphemy in France.  French officials have reportedly canceled plans for a formal dinner with Iranian President over an alcohol-free meal."

  

"A senator, professors and popular journalists were all recently accused of blasphemy."

ringleader

ringleader     [Ring-lee-der] 

noun.  a person who leads an illegal activity

"Who is the ringleader of the Paris terror attack?"

"The ringleader of the IRS phone scam was put behind bars for 14 years."

"The drug ringleader pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison."

raucous

raucous     [Raw-kuh s] 

adjective.  unpleasantly loud and harsh 

"The Friday night concert in Paris had simply taken a particularly raucous turn."

"The students had a brief but raucous debate among themselves."

"The player has a good idea what it will be like with 100,000-plus raucous fans packed into the football stadium."

quell

quell     [kwel]

verb. suppress; put an end to

"The quarterbacks of Giants and Patriots quell the rivalry talk. They would rather prefer the spotlight shines elsewhere."

"Raising interest rates to quell inflation might push the economy deeper into recession; lowering them to foster growth might send inflation spiralling out of control."

"A mom is quelling her kid's temper tantrum."

nix

nix

verb.  put an end to; cancel

"American seafood restaurant, Joe's Crab Shack, is first major American restaurant chain to nix tipping. Their servers now start at $14 per hour."

"Companies are to nix year-end performance ratings, moving away from conventional, ratings-based performance management."

"The new CEO nixed the deal just before it was to be signed."

bandana

bandana      [ban-Dan-uh]

noun.  a large handkerchief, typically having a colorful pattern, worn tied around the head or neck. 

incognito

incognito 

adjective.  hiding one's identity 

"You can browse the web with Google Chrome in incognito mode for private browsing, without leaving your browsing and download history."

"NBA superstar Stephen Curry attempted to go incognito by wearing Zebra mask to keep his true identity hidden as he enjoyed the day with his wife and kids."

"She is now navigating America in a new life as an incognito boarding school student."

lurch

lurch    [lurch]

verb.  make an abrupt, uncontrolled, unsteady movement 

"In order to invest in the stock market, you have to be prepared for sudden losses and gains as the stock market can lurch up or down on a whim."

"Just past the midpoint of their schedule, as the NFL season lurches toward the drive for playoff berths, the Giants have held their grasp on the first place in the NFC East."

"Honeybees are being threatened by tiny flies that lead them to lurch and stagger around like zombies."

throw in the towel

throw in the towel 

verb.  quit; accept as being defeated

Origin:  In boxing matches, throwing the towel into the ring is a token of defeat, as the tower is no longer needed for wiping off sweat. 

"The new Blackberry phone Priv will hit the markets this week and if not successful, could be the company’s last phone. Will Blackberry throw in the towel?"

"She is going to throw in the towel and quit hairdressing school because it is too difficult for her."

"The company threw in the towel after losing all of its major customers."

shawl

shawl    [shawl]

noun.   a piece of fabric worn by women over the shoulders or head or wrapped around a baby

double whammy

double whammy

noun. a twofold misfortune at the same time 

"For Twitter, the double whammy-the weak forecast and lackluster user growth- dampened the excitement surrounding the new CEO Jack Dorsey."

"Traffic can be a double whammy from belching air pollution to increasing the noise quotient of modern life."

"With the cold weather and the high cost of heating fuel, homeowners were hit with a double whammy last winter."

bode

bode    [bohd] 

verb.  forecast, indicate by signs

"bode well": implies favorable outcome 

"bode ill": implies disasters 

"Record Siberian snow now could bode ill for Northeast in the coming Winter."

"A revival of these small businesses bodes well for the overall economy in the city of Los Angeles."

"When we get everybody healthy and everybody playing, I think that’s going to bode very well for our team.” - Coach of Cleveland Cavaliers 

blip

blip

noun.  an unexpected, minor, and typically temporary deviation from a general trend.

"The US October job report shows strong growth.  271,000 jobs were added. It confirms that the weakness in August and September was just a temporary blip. "

"Stocks rose the most they have in three weeks on Sept. 30. However, it’s unclear whether the rally was the beginning of a trend reversal or a one-day blip on a continued decline."

"The performance of England at this year's World Cup was not a blip."

haywire

haywire     [hey-wahyuh r] 

adjective.  out of control; completely chaotic

"Self-driving cars are relatively safe so far. No accidents have been reported from self-driving cars going haywire and a human is always on board in case something goes wrong."

"With leukemia, the immune system goes haywire, churning out flawed, immature B cells at a prodigious rate and crowding out healthy blood cells."

"Things had gone haywire at a birthday party when suddenly the young guests were having a crazed water gun fight indoors."

nuts and bolts

nuts and bolts

noun. the basics of something; practical details 

"These are lofty goals without specifying the nuts and bolts of how they are to be achieved."

"Stop fooling around. Let's stop wasting time. We have to get down to the nuts and bolts."

"Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' campaign is struggling. Now it is time to focus on the nuts and bolts."

contrite

contrite    [kuh n-Trahyt]

adjective.   feeling remorseful, regretful, or even guilty 

"The Pope told priests that they can forgive contrite women who have gotten abortions."

"The athlete was arrested due to a weekend drunken driving.  Later, he said he was contrite, embarrassed and remorseful."

"The company finally issued a contrite statement, saying that it accepted the court’s verdict."

crimson

crimson    

noun.  deep rich red 

"crimson songbird"

"crimson foliage"

"Alabama Crimson Tide football team"

take with a grain / pinch of salt

take with a grain / pinch of salt

verb. not completely believe something, with skepticism about its truth

"World Health Organization having issued a warning on the consumption of red meat, linking this to increased cancer rates. Please take this news with a grain of salt."

"We might want to take the information we find on the internet with a grain of salt."

"You have to take everything she says with a pinch of salt. She has a tendency to exaggerate."

pundit

pundit    [Puhn-dit]

noun.  an expert (the word has a mocking sense)

"The pundits say that socializing makes us happier?  Do you agree?"

"After each presidential debate, pundits and politicos rush to judgment: who has won or lost."

"Many pundits picked Belgium as the dark horse to win the World Cup."