Episode #022, 04.03.2012: peanuts, space and other mindboggling things

Sound: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peanuts

peanut, noun. Seed used as food and yielding oil.

In a sentence: “We ate pretzel sticks, potato chips and peanuts.”

I don’t necessarily want to talk about the seed, you probably know that word. And no, I also don’t want to talk about the comic strip Peanuts.

I am talking about the following meaning: A very small or insufficient amount, as in: “That’s peanuts!”

I once used it in the US, but people didn’t know what it meant. Maybe it’s only a British meaning, but I couldn’t verify that. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy uses the word, when talking about things in contrast to space:

"Space […] is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space, listen..." And so on.

To boggle, by the way, means to confuse or mystify; overwhelm. So mindbogglingly means in a mindboggling manner; in such a way as to boggle the mind; so as to be beyond comprehension or understanding.

Wow, that was deep. As is space.

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Episode #021, 26.02.2012: concoction

Sound: /kənˈkɒkʃən/

concoct, transitive verb. Make up of mixed ingredients (soup, drink, story, plot). Hence concoction.

In a sentence: “The cook made a soup concoction.”

This word is interesting in that it means the putting together of something, but in very different context. A concoction can be a soup or a drink, which consists of different ingredients. But it can also mean a story or a plot, which is in a way a concoction of different events.

There is also the phrase, a concoction of lies, which is simply a false story in order to defraud people.

Note that concoction can mean the mixture but also the preparation itself.

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Episode #020, 19.02.2012: Spotlight: Simple English Wikipedia

Welcome to another spotlight episode. You probably know Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. You probably noticed that there are articles in many languages. There are more than 1 million articles in English, German and French. 37 more Wikipedias have more than 100,000 articles.
But have you noticed that there is another “language” called Simple English? The Simple English Wikipedia consists of more than 10,000 articles. It is very useful if your English is poor or average. The Simple English Wikipedia avoids difficult words and uses an overall simpler language, that anybody with a superficial knowledge of English can understand.
The only downside is that simpler language and less difficult words also contain less meaning. The articles also tend to be shorter than those of the English Wikipedia. For example, the introductory text (lead) of Epicurus in the Simple English Wikipedia says “Epicurus […] was an ancient Greek philosopher, and the founder of a school of philosophy called Epicureanism.” The English Wikipedia has two paragraphs instead! So, if you need more information, try the English Wikipedia, too, by clicking on the link “English” under languages on the left.
Nevertheless I think the Simple English Wikipedia is a good thing for beginner, because you can concentrate on the information without seeing too many words that you have to look up. And when your English gets better, you can then use the normal Wikipedia.

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Episode #019, 12.02.2012: ridiculous (ridunculous, redonkulous)

Sound: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ridiculous
ridiculous, adjective. Deserving to be laughed at, absurd, unreasonable.
In a sentence: “This clown is ridiculous.”
By the way, a synonym is goofy, which means silly. Quite appropriately, the silly Walt Disney cartoon character was named Goofy.
In order to find an even stronger word than ridiculous, (young) people have termed the words ridunculous and redonkulous. Those words are quite simply, just even more ridiculous versions of the word ridiculous. Ridunculous can also be understood as a blend of redundant and ridiculous.

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Episode #018, 05.02.2012: bangarang

bangarang (from the urban dictionary):

1. interjection. Battle cry of the Lost Boys in the movie Hook.
   This is probably the most known meaning of the word, even though it is somehow fictitious. However, because of the movie, more people use it. Now it serves also as a name for a band and a series of parties. Originally, it meant:
2. noun. Jamaican slang defined as a hubbub, uproar, disorder, or disturbance.
   …which is exactly what the boys in Never Land do, when they go to war. Did you notice the word hubbub? It is defined as confused din (i.e. loud noise); disturbance, riot and: confused yelling of war-cry.
3. General exclamation meant to signify approval or amazement.
   This is another way the Lost Boys use the word. It can also be used instead of “cheers!” when raising glasses or as an adjective as in “You look bangarang!”

Bang is of course the sound of a blow, a gun going off. Bangarang, therefore, sounds very violent, sudden, which fits the meaning of the word.

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Episode #017, 29.01.2012: inevitable

Sound: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inevitable
inevitable, adjective. Unavoidable, sure to happen.
In a sentence: “That’s impossible!” “No, it is inevitable, Mr. Anderson.”
This is one of my favorite words that Agent Smith says in the movie The Matrix. He says it quite often. Also, I think it has a quick, swift sound to it.
Wiktionary points out that there are some differences between inevitable and unavoidable. It says that unavoidable has nuances of “could not have happened any other way, even if circumstances were different”. Inevitable, however, connotes “given circumstances, this is the necessary result”. Both words are often used with a negative connotation.

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Episode #016, 22.01.2012: ludicrous

Sound: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ludicrous
ludicrous, adjective. Absurd, ridiculous, exciting or deserving derision.
In a sentence: “The idea of a bird with shoes is ludicrous.”
Today’s word is ludicrous. It’s one of those words that sound like their meaning. Because certainly a word like ludicrous can only mean something weird. What do I think of when I hear the word? Well, I think of this passage from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:
“One definition of life, albeit not a particularly useful one, might run something like this: ‘Life is that property which a being will lose as a result of falling out of a cold and mysterious cave thirteen miles above ground level.’ This is not a useful definition, ‘A’ - because it could equally well refer to the subject’s glasses if he happens to be wearing them, and ‘B’ - because it fails to take into account the possibility that the subject might happen to fall onto, say, the back of an extremely large passing bird. The first of these flaws is due to sloppy thinking, but the second is understandable, because the mere idea is quite clearly, utterly ludicrous.”
Let’s also notice the words:

• albeit, conjunction. Though, as
• particularly, adverb. Especially. To a great extent.
• sloppy, adjective. Unsystematic, not thorough.

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Episode #015, 15.01.2012: Spotlight: One and two letter words in the English language

One thing has always fascinated me about the English language, something that very few languages have: one letter words.

1. One word is actually the same as in German, Ukrainian and Russian:
   O, interjection. Expression of earnestness or reverence, used before the name of a deity or revered person in impassioned speech.
   This word is even in the title of the national anthem of Canada: O Canada. It is very, very popular with poets.
2. First person singular subject personal pronoun: I
   This one is clear, I hope. Did you know that it is also a noun? In metaphysics, the I means the ego, the self.
3. And finally there is: a. The indefinite article.

Did you notice how they are all important words? This is probably no coincidence. Words you use often tend to be shorter, because people don’t want to waste time.

For that, there are even more words that have the same sound as just one letter, such as:

• B, as in to be or the insect bee.
• C, as in sea for ocean or to see.
• G, for the interjection “Gee!” from American slang signifying surprise or a dirty word from Irish slang.
• I (eye), for the visual organ.
• J (jay), for a dated insult or for a type of bird. I’m not a biologist, but a jay is somewhat like a magpie.
• K, for the short version of okay.
• N, for the short version of and.
• P, for the small green vegetable (pea) or to urinate (pee).
• Q, for cue, the stick you use for pool or a signal for somebody to do something. Queue is also British English for a waiting line.
• R, as in you are. It is also a frequent word in pirate English.
• T, for the beverage made by combining boiling water with leaves (tea).
• U, for the second-person personal pronoun (you).
• X, often used for the word cross, as in x out.
• Y, when asking for reasons (Why?).

Furthermore, there are a whole bunch of words that have only two letters, like:

OK, to, ah, by, bi, of, as, ex, go, is, he, it, we, us, me, my, hi, id, if, in, no, on, or, pi and many others.

So keep it short, but not too short.

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Episode #014, 08.01.2012: to and fro

fro, adverb. Away (only in to and fro, backwards and forwards, or of repeated journeys between two places).

In a sentence: “Thinking hard, he walked to and fro.”

I encountered the phrase walking to and fro in Charles Dickens’ novel, David Copperfield. At the time of publication, in 1850, to and fro was common, but today it is considered dated. The word fro is interesting, as it is (almost) never used alone. It comes from the Old Norse word frá /frauː/.

To and fro describes short repetitive motions, a walking back and forth. So it is only fitting that the phrase is comprised of multiple short words.

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Episode #013, 01.01.2012: non sequitur

Happy New Year! One year follows the next, but today I will show you what does not follow…

Sound: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/non_sequitur

non sequitur, noun.

1. an inference that does not follow from the premises; specifically: a fallacy resulting from a simple conversion of a universal affirmative proposition or from the transposition of a condition and its consequent
2. a statement (as a response) that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said

(Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com)

In a sentence: “‘It rains, therefore the sun is not shining’ is a non sequitur”.

This is a very obscure word, as “sequitur” and “non sequitur” are neither found in The Concise Oxford Dictionary nor the second edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English.

I encountered this word in books about philosophy, but I couldn’t find it in my dictionaries. Non sequitur was first used in the 16^th century and is Latin for “it does not follow”.

As seen, non sequitur is a fallacy in logic, but it can also be something blurted out in a discussion that has no relevance to the topic.

So: Stay away from those non sequiturs and have a great year 2012!

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