Word of the week E block

Decorous : (adj.) m arked by propriety and good taste “It is scarcely decorous , however, to speak all, even where we speak impersonally.” (Hawthrone 1) I found this word while reading the Scarlet Letter. I thought it sounded interesting and unique. After reading about it, I realized how commonly this word was used by many.

 (n.) deep personal humiliation and disgrace  “Heaven hath granted thee an ignominy, that thereby thou mayest work out an open triumph over the evil within thee, and the sorrow without” (Hawthorne 50) I found this word in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I chose "ignominy" as my word of the week because it is very crucial to understanding this novel. I first saw this word in the beginnings of the novel, multiple times. I didn't know what it meant, but I figured it wasn't important. Then it kept coming up, so I looked it up. It turns out that ignominy relates to a major topic of The Scarlet Letter , shame and embarrassment. Had I not looked up the word, I would have less of an understanding than I do now.

 (n.) weak or insipid sentimentality  “Science be damned-I beg your pardon, Clement-but all this namby pambyism annoys me. I’m a plain man” (Christie 211). I found this in Agatha Christie's The Murder at the Vicarage . I chose this for my word of the week because it is a very interesting sounding word, and honestly it doesn't really sound like a real word. I also add a bit of an adventure finding this definition. I originally had no idea that namby pambyism was a phrase, so when I found this word I noted pambyism as a word for my journal. However, when I searched for it, all I could find was this phrase "namby pambyism". I looked back at the book and sure enough that was the context it was originally used it. I find this phrase very interesting and unique which is why I chose it for my word of the week.

  Concurrent : (adj.) o perating or occurring at the same time “Except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress.”  (APUSH Lecture)  I heard this word in APUSH, and I thought it sounded very interesting. I did my own research and realized, how commonly this word is used.

  Andragogy : (noun) The art or science of teaching adults “I majored in education and now I specialize in andragogy .” (Conversation with friend) I recently met one of my family friends who got a new job. She was telling me about this new field of  education and I thought it was really interesting. I had never heard of it, and was curious to learn more about it. There are six principles in this field, and it is fairly new. 

 (n.) a self taught person  "She has an Oxford dons knowledge of Ancient Greek, but she's a complete autodidact "  I found this word while watching a show called "Elementary". It is about a modern day Sherlock Holmes and his now female partner Joan Watson. In this scene they were describing one of Sherlock's friends, Miss Hudson. I chose this word because I really had no idea of what it could mean based off of the scene. Usually, when I find a word I don't know I can use context clues to get a general idea, but this one was harder than normal. My first thought was that it meant she was stupid in terms of common sense and street smarts, because often academically smart people are not as intelligent in street smarts. But it turned out to be something completely different, which I found very interesting.  

 (Adj) based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic. “There is, however, little empirical research on the psychological impact of protest campaigns on stigma and discrimination, suggesting an important direction for future research.” US National Library of Medicine Seeing this word I thought it had something to do with history as in like empires, but it really means being able to confirm something through experiences. I think it involves how people do not believe something until they have seen it.

 (Adj) relating to or dealing with something concrete, individual, or unique. “Therefore, it relies on the subjective experience and on its idiographic meaning as the starting point of comprehension and healing.” A Humanistic existential approach to PTSD I think everyone has things that are idiosyncratic, both good and bad. And these things are what define us. Not to be cliche but if we were all the same then we wouldn’t get anything done.  

 (Noun) the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer.  “The album’s musical peak and emotional nadir is another slow, keyboard-based track, “Song in E,” which throws in a fancy chord or two as Baker’s narrator fesses up to having only herself to blame for her drinking, then twists the dagger into herself even further: “It’s the mercy I can’t take.” Over and over again on Little Oblivions, the paradox is that Baker’s craft is most realized when her lyrics are most disturbing.”Julien Baker: Little Oblivion Another one of my favorite singers, Julien Baker’s songwriting is compared to a nadir, this time emotionally, rather than literally. Emotionally, it means that moment in your life when you are at your lowest point. Everyone goes through things differently but there is a common place of hopelessness at rock bottom.

 (Noun) a representation of a plan or theory in the form of an outline or model. ”assimilation: in this case-the process of trying to understand new things in terms of schemas one already posseses” AP psych development slides This is one of my new favorite words, schema is often used in a scientific sense, but really we create schemas in out mind all the time. Whenever we worry about things it creates an outline of how our plans will end up, what things could go wrong, etc. Also writing essays, or planning days out, it’s as simple as that.

(Adverb) to a sickening or excessive degree. “I think the main which boygenius and I talk about ad nauseam, is that I feel like I just apologize for myself less” Listen to Phoebe Bridgers’ emotional cover of Tom Waits’ “Georgia Lee”, NME One of my favorite singers uses this word to describe the times when she over apologizes less and less as time goes by. I think this really connected with me because I find myself blurting out “sorry” when it was as simple as being someone else’s fault, or even just apologizing for bad luck or for life in general (if that makes sense). I think as I get older and experience more things that I find less use of the word sorry, because unless I intentionally do something wrong, I should not be apologizing for simply living.

  Saccharine : (adj.) r elating to, or resembling that of sugar “Should we order this cake, apparently it’s saccharine?” ( Conversation with Mom) My mom and I were looking for online for cakes for my cousins anniversary. We were looking at reviews for a creme  brûlée cake, and multiple reviews mentioned that it was very  saccharine. I remember my mom and I being confused and what they word meant and searched it up. It refers to being extremely sweet and sugary. I thought the word was interesting and sounded quite beautiful.

 (adj.) conspicuous, conspicuously bad  "I've done something egregious , I'm eating yogurt on a plate with a fork" A few days ago, one of my dance friends named Erin sent us a picture of her eating yogurt off of a plate. We were all very confused and also unsettled because that is a very strange way to eat yogurt. Then, one of my teammates asked her if she was eating it off of the plate with a fork, because naturally that would be the most unsettling thing ever. Erin, at that point, was eating it with a spoon. Then yesterday, she sent us a picture of her yogurt with the above caption. She was eating it both off of a plate and with a fork. She used this adjective because she knew that what she had done was something that we would all hate. 

Vanity: (adj.) i nflated pride in oneself or one's appearance “ Think of the nerve of it and the enormous vanity of it!”(APUSH Lecture) This word appeared in a lecture in APUSH and I thought it was interesting because I originally thought in was referring to a vanity as a piece of furniture, but it was used as an adjective in this context. This would appeared in the  old age annuity draft, and refers to having inflated pride."

 (adj.) arousing or deserving of hatred or repugnance  "A successful Slack would, I thought, be even more odious  than a baffled one" (Christie 87) I found this word in The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. In this part of the story, the narrator (the Vicar) is secretly hoping that Inspector Slack is not right about his theory because Slack is very arrogant, even when he is wrong. The Vicar does not want to have to deal with an even more arrogant Slack. I chose this word because it sounds like "odor" which has a negative connotation and I think it further gets the word's definition across, because someone who is odious is unpleasant. It is an interesting parallel, I thought.

Ardent : (adj.) c haracterized by warmth of feeling typically expressed in eager zealous support or activity "We pour our ardent prayers.” “Blessed be the Tie that Binds” This word was from a hymn called " Blessed be the Tie that Binds” that is played 3 times in the play Our Town. Its meaning is very precious and important to the story as whole. It talks about the importance of valuing relaktifonsp and cherishing moments with loved one's. It mentions that love can free us from all the negative things in life, and live last all of eternity. This word really stood out to me and it's meaning is truly divine.

Indignation : (n.) a nger aroused by something unjust, unworthy, or mean “For the youth, the indignation of most things will just surge as each birthday passes.” Chris Evans This word was from an interview I was watching of Chris Evans. He is a very talented actor and an amazing guy. He was talking about things that anger people and said this quote. I thought the word was used in an interesting way and really made me ponder on the meaning. I totally agree with what he says. As we grow older, we start to become a little more appreciative of the things given to us. We become more patient and understanding, versus our younger selves who threw tantrums for useless things. We learn to handle situation better, and not get upset over minimal issues. 

  Psithurism (SITH-ur-iz-m): Noun: The sound of wind in the trees and leaves I found this word on an instagram post talking about words that most people did not know existed. I chose this word because I thought that it was really interesting and I did not know that there was a word for the sound wind makes in trees. Also I thought that the sound of the word reminded me of the sound of wind passing through trees which I thought was nice.

  Verisimilitude: Noun:  An appearance of being true or real “They carried verisimilitude as far it could go, which turn out to be very, very far.” Hamilton I chose this word because I thought the concept was really interesting. I found the word in a book detail the creation of the musical Hamilton . I thought it was interesting how the creators of Hamilton tried to remain as true to history as they could while still making the show interesting and compelling.

 definition of kitsch- "something that appeals to popular or low brow taste and is often of poor quality  "You dismissed Our Town as a corny relic of Americana and relegated Thornton Wilder to the kitsch bin  along with Norman Rockwell and Frank Capra" (Margulies xi) I found this in the foreword of Our Town by David Margulies. I chose this word because I had to do a little bit of extra research to figure out the meaning of this word. I soon found out that kitsch bin is not a common phrase, but I did learn but kitsch means. Then I learned the meaning of the sentence, the author of the foreword is talking about how people should care about Our Town  and how the first time one reads it, it may seem dull or unexciting. Margulies is saying that people disregard the play and throw it away with other art that they don't care about. Discovering the meaning of "kitsch bin" makes the meaning of the foreword so much deeper and powerful.

  Nadir (Noun) The lowest point in the fortunes of a person or organization I was watching episode 10 of an anime called Bungou Stray Dogs, and this word came up when a dude was lamenting on his failure and taking it out on a spy from his organization. I didn't know what it meant, so I took a screenshot and looked it up once the episode ended.