Jemini

Jemini [Jem-uh-nahy]

noun.

1) the Twins
2) the third sign in the Zodiac
3) a person born between May 21 and June 20

cling

cling    [kling] 

verb.  to adhere closely; hold tight

"If you lose a garment to a damaging drying cycle, the shirt or pants that once fit perfectly now cling to your body a little too much. You may be able to restore it with your hair conditioner."

"Survivors had clung to fishing buoys for hours."

"I cling to my family members for support in difficult times."

surefire

surefire    [Shoo r-fahyuh r] 

adjective.  sure to be successful 

"The movie -- Star Wars: The Force Awakens -- is a surefire hit with teenagers."


"If you really want to save more money in the new year, here are some surefire ways to get it done."

"There is no surefire way to predict the outcome. You got to try and find out."

Taurus

Taurus [Tawr-uh s]

noun.
1) the Bull
2) the second sign in the Zodiac
3) a person born between April 20 and May 20

"Taurus is Tough, Affectionate, Unlimited love, Reliable, Underestimated and Stubborn."

Aries

Aries [Air-eez]

noun.

1) the Ram

2) the first sign in the Zodiac

3) a person born between March 21 and April 19

"Aries, one of the best people you can be friends with, loyal, honest and trustworthy. They will always have your back in any situation."

befall

befall    [bih-Fawl] 

verb.  (of something bad) happen to someone 

"A common accident that befalls to bird owners is that a fully flighted bird escape through an open door or window."

"There is no greater tragedy that can befall a parent than having to bury one's own child."

"A bolt of lightning befell a very unlucky person during the storm."

corny

corny    [Kawr-nee] 

adjective. 1) full of corns.  2) dull and tiresome; overly sentimental 

"Not to get corny, but it's the human spirit: You can do more for other people than you can necessarily do for yourself."

"It might sound corny, but they fell in love with each other at first sight."

"It seems like such an antiquated, almost corny, idea: an American in trouble heard his president and felt inspired to take action."

budgerigar

budgerigar    [Buhj-uh-ree-gahr] 

noun.  another name for parakeet

viburnum

viburnum    [vahy-Bur-nuh m] 

noun.  viburnums are a vast group of large, deciduous shrubs that are relatively trouble-free to care and attractive for their flowers, fruits, fall foliage, and shape. Common names include American cranberry bush, hobblebush, and European cranberry bush.

"Across the region, this uncharacteristically warm winter has flower beds springing to life.  It’s unusual to smell the fragrance of a viburnum in December.”

grotesque

grotesque     [groh-Tesk] 

adjective.  very strange or ugly in an unusual way

"Mark Dawson needed 18 stitches in his forehead to seal a grotesque cut, the first of his career."

"Albert Speer, Adolf Hitler's architect, likewise merged art, industry and technology — but to grotesque ends."

"The actors wore dark capes and grotesque masks."

Noel

Noel    [noh-El]

noun.  another name for Christmas 

Joyeux Noel -  Merry Christmas

caribou

It's Christmas Eve. We all know Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, and other reindeers help to pull Santa’s sleigh to deliver presents to children all over the world. 

In North America, reindeer is also called caribou.  

caribou     [kar-uh-boo] 

noun.  North American reindeer

freakish

freakish     [Free-kish] 

adjective.  very odd or abnormal 

"The freakishly warm December in the eastern U.S., setting thousands of record temperatures, is also confusing trees, plants, flowers and bugs."

"This college football player is a freakish talent, possessing extraordinary raw speed."

"I had a freakish roommate in college who once decided to drive all the way to Canada from Florida on the spur of the moment."

scrap

scrap

verb.  to cancel

"NASA has scrapped a key Mars mission after engineers found leaks in the lander’s sensors."

"We might have to scrap the flight due to the strong winds."

"Russia scrapped talks with Turkey on building a pipeline to export Russian natural gas to Europe."

balmy

balm - ointment for soothing & healing

balmy    [Bah-mee] 

adjective.  mild, pleasant, soothing

"There will be no white Christmas with the unusually balmy weather."

"The balmy start of the ski season has ski hill operators in Wisconsin worried."

"Lower prices and balmier temperatures could add up to a huge saving for every household this winter."

stupendous

stupendous    [stoo-Pen-duh s]


adjective.  amazingly great in size; causing amazement


"Uber's stupendous growth has made it a household word throughout the industrialized world.  The startup's nominal valuation is more than $40 billion, higher than about 70% of the publicly traded companies in the Fortune 500."

"On the whole, Himalayas continue to grow to stupendous heights. Some parts of the mountain chain are rising about 0.4 inches every year, due to the ongoing collision between the Indian and Eurasia tectonic plates."

"Disney animation movie Frozen had a stupendous success in Japan.   The fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time made more than $250 million of its total in Japan alone, nearly a third of its overseas numbers and more than five times what it made in France, according to Box Office Mojo."

Millennial

Millennials [mil-Len-ee-uh l] are people born after 1980 and reach young adulthood in the new millennium, approximately born between 1980 and 1998, giving an age range between 17 and 35 as of 2015. 

Baby boomers are people born post–World War II, approximately between the years 1946 and 1964, giving an age range between 51 and 69 as of 2015. 

"The Baby Boomers and the Millennials are both worthy of special attention. They are large groups: there are 77 million Boomers and 82 million Millennials in the U.S."

"Millennials are digital natives who grew up in a world of constant connectivity."

"Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who turned 31 years old in 2015, is a celebrity Millennial."

casserole

casserole    [Kas-uh-rohl] 

A casseroles is one pot meal consisting of pieces of meat (e.g. chicken, fish), various chopped vegetables, a starchy binder such as flour, rice, potato or pasta, and, often, a crunchy or cheesy topping, usually cooked slowly in an oven, often uncovered. 

Potato Casserole is a popular Thanksgiving side dish in the USA. 

A casserole also means the large baking dish used in an oven or as the serving vessel.

illustrious

illustrious     [ih-Luhs-tree-uh s] 

adjective.  famous, renowned

An illustrious career - a career full of achievements and contributions in the field  

"After more than 30 years and 6,000 shows, TV talk show host David Letterman is bringing down the curtain on his illustrious career."

"Last Sunday, Eli Manning had one of the most memorable nights of his illustrious career."

"Frauenthal Theater has undergone several renovations throughout its illustrious history."

dog

We all know dogs are man's best friend.  But dog has other meanings too - 

dog

verb.  cause continual trouble for

"Apple lost 160 billion dollars in the stock market in one day last Friday.  Signs of weakening demand for smartphones continues to dog the stock."

"Technical problems dogged our trip from the outset."

"The finance committee has been dogged by controversy."

aviary

aviary    [Ey-vee-er-ee] 

a large bird cage or house

bicker

We have learned smart words about argument: 1) contentious - causing argument. 2) altercation - noisy argument in public.  Here is another one:

bicker

verb.  argue over petty, trivial, unimportant things 

"Jeb Bush and Donald Trump bickered again at the GOP debate. Bush: You're never going to be President of the United States by insulting your way to presidency."

"The governments have bickered and quarreled, failing to agree on coherent policies."

"My two sons are bickering over who should use the bathroom first every morning."

forte

forte     [Fawr-tey]

noun. a thing at which someone excels; strength, talent

"In basketball, a shooting guard is typically the best shooter of the team. Three point shots are their forte."

"Making complex ideas understandable and entertaining is Randall Munroe’s forte, who is the author of his new book - Thing Explainer."

"I tell you the truth:  music is not my forte."

mumble jumble

mumbo jumbo

noun. confusing or meaningless words or activity

"Positive psychology may sound too quirky. It’s not just mumbo jumbo, but like mindfulness can both make your day go better and bring you better results."

"We were confused by all the legal mumbo jumbo in the book."


"His explanation was just a lot of mumbo jumbo."

emancipate

emancipate     [ih-Man-suh-peyt] 

verb. to set free from (social, legal, or political) restriction or influence  

"The American Revolution was about colonists emancipating themselves from British rule."

"It is estimated that he emancipated 8,000 slaves."

"France was once the center of Jewish learning, and was the first country to emancipate Jews, during the French revolution."

nitty-gritty

We learned 'nuts and bolts' meaning practical details, there is another smart word with the similar meaning:

nitty-gritty     [nit-ee-grit-ee]

noun.  the most important aspects or practical details

"The world has reached a historic international climate agreement in Paris. Now the nations must focus on the nitty-gritty details to implement the plan to limit the rise of global warming this century."

"Donald Trump throws out ridiculous statements like confetti, but declines to get into the nitty-gritty."

"Let's skip the chitchat and get down to the nitty-gritty."

usher

usher     [Uhsh-er] 

verb.  cause or mark the start of something new

"The grand alliance of the Second World War was far from a cozy gathering; Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt represented fervently opposing views of the world. They joined forces to stave off Hitler, who rose to power in a Europe weakened by prolonged war, political vacillation, and economic uncertainty. In the end, they prevailed, ushering in the world order in which, with all its flaws, we have lived with ever since."

"The new Samsung CEO helped usher in Knox, the security service intended for business users, and Samsung Pay, which lets people pay at the register with their smartphone."

"The railroads ushered in an era of cheap mass travel."

sulk

sulk    [suhlk] 

verb.  to remain silent, gloomy and bad-tempered out of annoyance or disappointment. 

"Minnesota Vikings gave a miserable performance and lost at home to the Packers. However, there’s no time to sulk, with games against the Falcons, Seahawks and Cardinals the next three weeks."

“New study concluded that happiness does not have a direct link on mortality.  So go ahead and sulk, unhappiness won't kill you."

"The opposition is in a state of frustration/sulk/defeat because it does not know where to turn."

moxie

Grit and fortitude are smart words to describe the character of determination, courage and resilience in facing difficulty.  Moxie is another one. 

moxie   [Mok-see] 

noun.  determination and fortitude; nerve

"He’s got the moxie not to be overwhelmed by the difficult situation."

"Spieth has the talent, the moxie and the nerve to win the big prizes."

"Confidence, though, can easily morph into hubris. So make sure that moxie comes with a big dose of humility. Be humble enough to know what you don’t know."

telltale

telltale    [tel-teyl] 

adjective.  revealing, disclosing important information unintentionally 

"A telltale patch of oil on the water marked where the boat went down."

Scientists have just found a new star, LkCa 15, in formation. It is similar to the sun, but only 2 million years old. This discovery demonstrates a technique to find other baby planets by searching for the telltale hydrogen gas emissions.

"In a telltale quote, the owner said - It’s fair to say quarterback position is open.” 

melancholy

melancholy    [Mel-uh n-kol-ee] 

noun.  a gloomy state of mind, beyond sadness; depression.

"There is no better way to lift a melancholy mood than to take a walk outside."

"If you have heard the melancholy cry of the mourning dove, you might wonder: Do birds grieve for their loved ones?"

"The bleakness of winter sometimes gives me cause for melancholy."

gazillion

We learned bazillion and zillion last time.  Two other -illion words for extremely large and unspecified numbers are:  gazillion and jillion.  Now we learned four such words:

zillion, bazillion, gazillion, jillion

They are all interchangeable.  

"I have a gazillion of problems to solve at work."

"There are a zillion of reasons not giving up your dream."

"There are 50 jillion of similar posts on Facebook."

bajillion

If you want to describe an extremely large, unspecified number, you can use bajillion or zillion. It is an analogy to names of large numbers such as million, billion and trillion.

bajillion [buh-Jil-yuh n]

noun. a very large number; infinite

"This toy car costs 580 bajillion dollars, really???"

"There are, of course, eight bajillion wonderful things about social media: you can land your next job on LinkedIn, follow your favorite singers on Twitter, or simply watch a youtube video..."

"There are a bajillion Android smartphones in the market."