Talking about English Vocabulary

Steve: Let's move along here. Intriguingly, ok. This is an interesting word. What does it suggest to you when you see the word intriguingly?

Jill: Well I would tend to think of something being intriguing. If something is intriguing it is sort of piquing my curiosity, it is making me want to learn more or hear more, stimulating me to want to know more about that subject, that thing, that person.

Steve: I think that's very good. You have really captured the nuance of the word intriguing because yeah, you could say mysterious or mysteriously, but intriguing definitely has that sense of a come on. Very interesting, very curious, I'm intrigued. You used the word piqued, p i q u e d, that your curiosity was piqued. So, intriguingly means that it's something that has piqued your curiosity. In a sense it has a bit of a positive connotation. It's like, might be something very nice there, might be something very interesting. Right.

Ok, it's a word again, it's not a necessary word but it's a word that will come up. The next word is hoax. Now, what's hoax? Jill: So, when I think of hoax immediately what comes to mind is something like the crop circles that we've heard a lot about over the years at which have been determined to be for the most part at least I think, hoaxes so basically people have created these crop circles trying to make it appear that aliens have created these circles when in fact it is just humans, other people kind of playing a trick on everybody else. Steve: Right.

I think that's all. I mean, a hoax, it's a word that does come up and you basically described it. A hoax, a joke, a trick, is something that's not a truth, fine. Next word here, perilous. Is that a word you use a lot?

Jill: No.

Steve: Is it a word that you come across?

Jill: Probably in some books, probably in like some novels, I've probably come across it before. I don't think that I've ever written it in anything. Steve: I must say to me I, perhaps because I read a lot in French and so forth, I mean peril is danger.

Jill: Right.

You think of a perilous journey or something like that.

Steve: A perilous journey. And in fact, that's a very good example because we always say certain words belong with other words. Perilous journey as a couple as two words together, that's quite common, more so than dangerous journey even though perilous means dangerous Jill: Right. Steve: in certain context we would use perilous. Perilous journey, that's very good. A perilous journey. Maybe that could be of help to Sumiko is if she could think of these words in a, in these phrases, a perilous journey. Very good point, yeah.

Jill: That's when I think of perilous, that's the way I would use it, right away what comes to mind is journey, perilous journey. Steve: I mean are you familiar with the term at your own risk and peril?

Jill: Yes.

I mean I never used it but Steve: Right. At your own peril, at your own risk and peril. Peril being the Latin word for danger or imperil someone is to endanger someone.

Jill: Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard it used like that. Steve: You've never used it. But, all right, so that's fine. Now we'll move along to absurdly. How often would you say, that's absurd? Jill: Probably more frequently than some of those other words that we've talked about. Steve: Right.

Jill: For example, if somebody is telling me something that's really ridiculous, that I, that I just can't believe could happen or can't believe it is true or something that somebody did, could be true but I'm in shock that they could do that I would say, I could say that's absurd, that's ridiculous. Steve: And, it seems to me that we use the word absurd in a sense of almost like stupid.

Jill: Yeah.

Steve: Where as ridiculous is just kind of silly, laughable but absurd is kind of more stupid in a way. And, you know that the word absurd comes from the word for deaf in Latin? It, ab from deaf, deaf and dumb deaf. So absurd is something that is silly in a somewhat stupid way so absurdly is of course, is simply the adverb of that. It's not, certainly the adverb perhaps less common but absurd is quite common. In fact for a while it was quite a fashionable word, oh that's absurd. Jill: Oh yeah I remember being younger when I was a teenager lots of soap operas. I was really into them and that was a word they loved to use on soap operas. Just, I think it was kind of one of those chique words at the time.

Steve: Right.

I mean if you accuse someone of something and they say no, how could you accuse me of that, that is absurd.

Regurgitates.

Jill: So, several meanings. I would think you could say somebody is for example, sitting in a lecture at university and a teacher is telling them something and they are writing down what the teacher is saying and if they then regurgitate that, they go and they write a test and they write down exactly what, word for word what the teacher said. You could use regurgitate in that meaning. Or, regurgitate I think is really meant or is really used like you can regurgitate your food.

Steve: Right and that was the original meaning here where the mother or the father penguin eats the fish and then regurgitates it for their young to eat.

Jill: So they bring it back up.

Steve: Merrily. Now that's pretty common. Jill: Merrily. To go merrily on your way, to go happily on your way.

Steve: I mean merry, you know Merry Christmas.

Jill: Exactly.

Steve: It's the adverb, Jill: It has a very positive connotation. Steve: I mean that's fairly straight, yeah, it's pretty straight forward. But go merrily on your way is a very common phrase so again in terms of having phrases, merrily on your way.

Arid.

Jill: Arid is very dry and typically you would use the word arid or I would use it to describe a dry, barren landscape, you know, somewhere like the desert is a very arid place. It's an arid climate. Steve: Right.

You wouldn't use arid to describe the air. You'd say the air is dry. Jill: No.

Steve: Ok. The biscuit or the bread is dry. You wouldn't use arid. Jill: No.

Steve: But if you're talking about a climate or a region you know, it's a very arid region or an arid climate. So I think it is a useful word.

Embellishment.

Jill: To exaggerate. That's the verb. Steve: Right.

Jill: So, you can embellish a story which means you make it more than it is, bigger than it is, you exaggerate.

Steve: Right.

The key word there of course is the bell which is bella which means beautiful in Latin so you make it more beautiful. You embellish it. A useful word, I think so. To embellish, to embellish a story, I think that's a perfect, again, in terms of providing Sumiko with a phrase if she thinks of embellishing a story and it's even, in here it's a nice embellishment to the story is in the very sentence where she found it. Jill: So you add some details that maybe just make the story a little more interesting and a little more humorous and maybe they weren't those things didn't happen exactly that way Steve: Right. Jill: but the embellishment makes the story Steve: Make it more attractive. Jill: Yeah.

Steve: Waddle.

Jill: To waddle like a penguin.

Steve: Or a duck.

Jill: Or a duck, yeah, exactly. So, basically kind of to, I mean it's a way of moving, a way of walking. Steve: You could almost say the Charlie Chaplin waddle.

Jill: Sort of back and forth.

Steve: Back and forth, so of all of these words this is the one that is most likely to be found in the vocabulary of a seven year old girl for example because she learned about Donald Duck and so forth. So, how useful it is, normally not that useful but it's, it's a vocabulary item that a lot of people have, native speakers. Treacherous.

Jill: Treacherous is maybe like the drive to Whistler is treacherous. A drive on a snowy road can be treacherous meaning dangerous, harsh.

Steve: People can be treacherous.

Jill: People can, yeah.

Steve: A bandit, you know a dangerous person. A dangerous, almost in a sinister way.

Jill: Evil.

Steve: Evil. There is the sense there of being betrayed. Treachery is betrayal.

Jill: Yes.

Steve: So we think of treachery and treason and so forth, so treacherous implies dangerous in a sinister way. We got two more to go here. Seclusion.

Jill: Some people like to live in seclusion which means that they, they don't like to live near a lot of other people. They maybe like to live out on a farm away from, Steve: Secluded. Jill: secluded, yeah.

Steve: Secluded.

So, again, the seclusion, the clue, you've got to think of closed, must have the same root in Latin, closed off, secluded, in seclusion, to live in seclusion, there's a good phrase. All right and the last one here is viable and of course, the sentence here is it's not commercially viable and that's a good phrase. Jill: Not feasible.

Steve: Not feasible and it's quite common to use. It's not viable. The vi in viable from Latin again means the way, like there is no way, you can't go there. Jill: Because they use that word I think as well for pregnancies you know, when at a certain amount of weeks the baby is viable so it can survive but before that point, before that period it is not possible and can't, it's not viable, can't survive. Steve: Well you know, then you might be right. I am assuming that it comes from the word via like viaduct you know, but it might be related to the word for life. Ok, in which case, but either one if it helps Sumiko remember the word that's good. Jill: That's right. Steve: We didn't prepare by looking up an etymological dictionary so, but you might be right that that relates to life rather than to you know, way. But the meaning is the same, it can't survive. Jill: That's right. Steve: So, if a business is not commercially viable it will not survive. Ok? That then, I hope Sumiko is helpful to you and with that we are going to end today's podcast. Good bye Jill. Thank you.

Jill: Good bye. My pleasure.

End.