Elliot Carruthers's Blog, page 19

Deft

Deft

<deaft>

skillful; nimble; agile;

doing something fast and expertly.

The goat was a deft climber and balanced on the edge of the cliff.

Memory trick:
deft reminds of definitely.
when you are skilled you will definitely complete it.

At work:
The deft artist created beautiful artwork for our presentation.


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers
 

Balmy

Balmy

<bom-mee>

tranquil; mild; tropical;

comfortable and pleasant weather.

A balmy breeze came in my window. I imagined I was on a tropical beach.

Memory trick:
balmy reminds of balanced.
balanced weather is not too hold or cold.

At work:
The balmy weather made our outdoor promotion a success. A lot of people came.


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers
 

Latent

Latent

<lay-tent>

dormant; lurking; smoldering;

something hidden before making its appearance.

The detective would find the latent fingerprints. The mouse stole the cheese.

Memory trick:
latent reminds of late.
something late is hidden until we see it.

At work:
She had a latent talent for leadership. She surprised herself by managing the team well.


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers
 

Travesty

Travesty

<trah-ves-tee>

farce; sham; satire;

an absurd and inferior imitation of something.

The painting became a travesty when she added clowns. It was no longer serious art.

Memory trick:
we traverse away when something is badly done.

At work:
We prevented the new product from becoming a travesty by doing research. The new version was better than the old.


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers
 

Decamp

Decamp

<dee-kamp>

flee; run; escape;

to leave quickly or secretly.

We decided to decamp when it started raining. The picnic was over.

Memory trick.
decamp reminds of "un camp".
we pack up the camp and leave.

At work:
It was a good idea to decamp when the client agreed to the deal. We did not want to ruin it by talking more.


(c) 2015 E.  Carruthers
 

Disseminate

Disseminate

<dis-sem-min-nayte>

spread; circulate; publish;

to widely distribute something.

The seeds disseminate in the spring and become an endless bed of flowers.

Memory trick:
disseminate reminds of "distribute great".

At work:
We must disseminate the news of our discovery. Tell everyone far and wide.


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers 

Adieu

Adieu

<ah-dew>

goodbye; farewell; ta-ta;

something said on parting.

I will say adieu and go on my way. See you again soon.

Memory trick:
adieu reminds of adios.

At work:
I will close the meeting and bid you adieu.  Thank you for coming.


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers
  

Laconic

Laconic

<lah-kon-nik>

short; brief; snippy;

getting right to the point with few words.

The book was laconic and I read it in an hour. It was short and to the point.

Memory trick:
laconic reminds of "lac" or lack.
lacking words.

At work:
Please keep your reports laconic because my time is limited.


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers
  

Ambivalent

Ambivalent

<ahm-biv-al-lent>

doubtful; unsure; iffy;

being conflicted about what to do.

The child was ambivalent. She could not decide between vanilla and chocolate.

Memory trick:
am bi.
bi means two or two choices.

At work:
We are ambivalent about the product colors. We want red and they want blue.


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers 

Blather

Blather

<blah-thur>

chatter; yap; ramble;

to talk a lot without making sense.

The blather bored me to tears. I feel asleep not understanding a word they said.

Memory trick:
blather reminds of blab or blabber.

At work:
Our advertisement is blather. No one will watch it or understand our message:


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers