1647
Words | Idioms | Quotes. 💰₹Premium Content₹💰 I Become a Word Czar | Ch 2 : 👉 @Grammarian Ch3 : https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAFhMj8JKj4vSJIZkFA
"Penny-wise and pound-foolish" is an idiom that means being overly careful with small amounts of money while being wasteful with larger amounts.
It's often used to describe something that saves a small amount of money now but costs a lot more in the future.
For example,
"The plans to cut funding are penny-wise and pound-foolish"Читать полностью…
Rambling:
The adjective rambling means confused and long-winded, the way you could describe your grandfather's endless rambling stories of his childhood.
Rambling always means indirect and a little confusing, which can be a negative quality in a classroom lecture or movie plot — but when you're talking about a path through the woods, rambling is a charming way to describe it.
You might love to hike through the woods on rambling trails that twist and turn.
Rambling comes from the verb ramble, "walk or stroll," which is a variant on the older verb romen, "to walk, or to go," and related to "roam."
Brusque:
If you ask a salesperson for help finding something and all you get in response is a brusque
"Everything's out on the shelves,"
unfriendly, rude, and very brief.
Jettison
means to push to the side or toss away.
If a boat is leaking or an airplane is running out of fuel, you can buy more time by jettisoning cargo, or throwing it overboard.
The word jettison — dating, in its nautical meaning, from the 15th century in English — is commonly used figuratively as well as literally.
You can jettison a friendship or an attitude.
During the month that the Winter Olympics are aired on TV, figure-skating fans across the country jettison homework and other responsibilities in order to watch.
If someone calls you loco, it means they think you're nutty or eccentric.
Your friends will think your dog is completely loco if she spends hours every day chasing her own tail.
You can use the slang term loco when you're commenting on the craziness or irrationality of a person or situation.
You might say, for example: "This meeting is totally loco — everyone's talking at the same time!"
Loco comes from American English, which borrowed it from the Spanish
loco, "insane."
Its roots are uncertain, but it may stem from the Arabic lauqa, "fool."
wake up and smell the coffee
become aware of the realities of a situation, however unpleasant.
"keep an eye on your friends, who may be using you—wake up and smell the coffee!"Читать полностью…
Touch base is an idiom often seen in business contexts meaning to make contact or reconnect with someone briefly, as in
"let's touch base next week."
Germane means relevant; it fits in.
If you are giving a speech on dog training, stick to the germane, canine stuff.
Topics that would not be germane? Catnip toys, hamster wheels, and the use of a saddle.
You can thank Shakespeare for the modern meaning of the adjective germane.
The word originally referred to people who have the same parents.
Shakespeare added the word's figurative meaning of objects being closely related or relevant when he used it in the play Hamlet.
You might want to bring up all sorts of complaints during an argument with your best friend, but she says the two of you should only discuss issues that are germane to the current fight.
Platitude
If an executive gives a speech that begins,
"This business is all about survival of the fittest. You need to burn the midnight oil and take one for the team,"
ants in your pants
"as American as apple pie"
Beatific
That blissful grin on your face? It could be described as beatific, meaning it projects a peaceful sense of joy.
If you have a beatific smile on your face, then the happiness it shows is the real thing.
This word doesn’t describe phony smiles or quick grins that show a little amusement.
Use beatific to describe something characterized by complete and perfect joy. @WordCzar
state of bliss.
Читать полностью…
People who gallivant are out to have a good time as they wander.
You might decide to take a year off between high school and college so you can gallivant around the country for a while. @WordCzar
Something that is iniquitous is extremely immoral or wicked, such as an iniquitous political regime that assassinates its enemies.
Use the adjective iniquitous to describe something that is truly bad, morally wrong, extremely wicked, or completely unfair. @Grammarfy
The Latin phrase quid pro quo means making a certain kind of deal: you do this for me, and I'll do that for you.
Ever hear the expression
, "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"?
A parsimonious person is unwilling to spend a lot of money.
You know those people who count up every penny when it's time to split a restaurant bill? You can call them parsimonious. Or cheap.
Stingy is the most common and general synonym of parsimonious, but there are many other near synonyms, including thrifty, frugal, penurious, niggardly, penny-pinching, miserly, tight-fisted, tight.
The adjective parsimonious was formed in English from the noun parsimony, "the quality of being careful in spending." It is a combination of the Latin verb parcere, "to spare," plus an Old French suffix –ous, "having the quality of."
insinuation
An insinuation is a sly way of saying something, usually something insulting. It can also be a way of worming your way into a group or situation.
"You're dumb!" is an insult. An insinuation is different: it's a way of indirectly saying something. Insinuation evolved from the Latin insinuationem, meaning "entrance through a narrow way.” So an insinuation is like an insult that sneaks in the back door. Mentioning that your cousin could try harder in school could be an insinuation that your cousin’s lazy. Another kind of insinuation is when someone, often through flattery, gets herself accepted by others. Both kinds of insinuations are sneaky.
Why do they call it a swan song?
A final accomplishment or performance, one's last work. For example, I'm resigning tomorrow; this project was my swan song .
This term alludes to the old belief that swans normally are mute but burst into beautiful song moments before they die.
the last act or manifestation of someone or something; farewell appearance:
CALLOW
If you're a rookie or new to something, you could be described as callow — like callow freshmen in high school or the callow receptionist who can't figure out how to transfer a call.
The word callow comes from the Old English word calu, which meant "bald or featherless." It was used to describe young, fledgling birds.
Over time, the meaning expanded to include young, inexperienced people. You'll most often see the adjective paired with the noun youth.
Think of the callow youth as people who haven't tested their wings yet.
🅱eseech
If you're begging for something but you want to sound formal and a little old-fashioned, say
"I beseech you!"
disquieting
adjective
inducing feelings of anxiety or worry.
he found Jean's gaze disquieting"Читать полностью…
Retrospective means looking back.
An art exhibit that cover an artist's entire career is called a retrospective because it looks back at the work the artist has produced over many years.
Retro- means back, -spect- means look (think: spectacles), so the word means literally 'a looking back.'
Many people take a retrospective look at their lives on birthdays or on New Year's Eve to evaluate events and see how well they've met their goals.
You could call the yearly evaluation you get from your boss a retrospective review of your work.
(used about laws, decisions, payments, etc.) intended to take effect from a date in the past
Is this new tax law retrospective?Читать полностью…
Zeitgeist is the spirit or essence of a particular time.
In the 1920s, flappers and speakeasies contributed to that era's Zeitgeist.
Zeitgeist is a word that comes straight from German — zeit means "time" and geist means spirit, and the "spirit of the time"is what's going on culturally, religiously, or intellectually during a certain period.
Comment the meaning of following phrases:
1.Down in the mouth
2.Blow a fuse
3.Regular brick
4.Goldbrick
JADED
If you've done something so much that it doesn't excite you anymore but just leaves you tired, consider yourself jaded.
If someone says you look a little jaded, it just means that you look tired.
The history of jaded is not clear, but perhaps it is related to the noun jade, an old term for a worn-out horse.
Even if not, picturing a tired old horse may be a nice way to remember that jaded means dulled or tired from too much of something.
Abjure means to swear off, and it applies to something you once believed.
You can abjure a religious faith, you can abjure your love of another person, and you can abjure the practice of using excessive force in interrogation.
Abjure is a more dramatic way to declare your rejection of something you once felt or believed.
When you see its Latin roots, it makes sense: from ab- (meaning "away") and jurare ("to swear").@WordCzar
Asunder is an adverb that means “into separate pieces.” So if you’ve torn your ex's love letter asunder, you’ve forcefully ripped it into separate pieces — and rightly so.
Asunder comes from the Old English phrase on sundran, which means "into separate places."
It is a somewhat archaic and uncommon word and many people know it only from religious marriage ceremonies:
"What God has joined together let no man put asunder."
Ceteris paribus is a Latin phrase that generally means
"all other things being equal."Читать полностью…
Something that's mangled is damaged or even ruined from being crushed, torn, or sliced.
Your recycling bin will be full of mangled soda cans if you stomp on them with your work boots before tossing them in.
Cars can be mangled after a bad accident, and even buildings might be mangled after an explosion.
Mangled debris may mark the site of a bomb or plane crash.
You can also use this adjective figuratively, to mean "ruined," like when you perform a mangled rendition of your favorite song at the school talent show.
Mangled comes from the Old French mangoner, "cut to pieces."
insouciance
/ɪnˈsuːsiːəns/
➠ noun
the cheerful feeling you have when nothing is troubling you
synonyms : carefreeness, lightheartedness, lightsomeness
If it's the day before a big event and you have no idea what to wear and nothing in your closet is going to cut it, you are facing a sartorial dilemma — one that pertains to clothing, fashion, or dressing.
Читать полностью…