Daily Wordlist 28-Sep-09

28-Sep-09 TestFunda Home | Sign up for Newsletters | Feedback Daily Wordlist perspicacity [ pur-spi-KAS-i-tee  ]   [ noun ]   MEANING :   1. keenness of observation and understanding   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   His perspicacity made him a good detective.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   If you do use it, you have to apply it with a certain degree of perspicacity. BBC, Cannes keeps faith with auteurism, Neil Smith, 12 May 2009   plaque [ plak ]   [ noun ]   MEANING :   1. flat plate or tablet intended as an ornamental wall hanging 2. an inscribed memorial tablet, usually of metal placed on a building, monument etc. 3. a flat brooch or ornament or badge 4. a soft film attached to tooth surfaces   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   The hooligans tore down the plaque that had been placed at the memorial site.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   Plans are in the works, he said, to erect a plaque at the new stadium in memory of the lifelong fortitude of the town's most faithful fan. CNN, Commentary: Fan gets town's special tribute, Bob Greene, 13 September 2009   portent [ PAWR-tent ]   [ noun ]   MEANING :   1. a warning of something significant about to take place 2. a genius   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   He considered his dream to be a portent where angels warned him of the end of the world.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   Meanwhile, a fiery comet in the sky is seen by some as a portent of doom for Charles and his profligate Court. BBC, Charles II The Power & The Passion, 14 September 2009   prevaricate [ pri-VAR-i-keyt ]   [ intransitive verb ]   MEANING :   1. to avoid the truth 2. to avoid giving a direct answer by misleading or being unclear   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   Instead of admitting his fault, he prevaricated to save himself and escape the punishment.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   While the British and Americans prevaricated, Pius was engaged in "the only plausible and practical form of defence of the Jews and other persecuted people" by arranging for them to be hidden in monasteries, convents and other Catholic Church institutions, the newspaper claimed. The Telegraph, Britain knew about extermination of Jews, Vatican claims, Simon Caldwell and Nick Squires, 17 August 2009   prosaic [ proh-ZEY-ik ]   [ adjective ]   MEANING :   1. matter-of-fact or uninteresting 2. pertaining to or in the form of prose rather than poetry   USAGE EXAMPLE 1 :   His excuse for losing the elocution competition was that he had been given a prosaic topic.   USAGE EXAMPLE 2 :   Perhaps a beautiful question is sometimes better than a prosaic answer. BBC, Days like this, G. P. Jackson, 17 September 2009   Spelled Pronunciation Key Stress marks: [ CAPS ] indicates the primary stressed syllable, as in newspaper [NOOZ-pey-per ] and information [ in-fer-MEY-shuh' n ] CONSONANTS [b] boy, baby, rob [d] do, ladder, bed [f] food, offer, safe [g] get, bigger, dog [h] happy, ahead [j] jump, budget, age [k] can, speaker, stick [l] let, follow, still [m] make, summer, time [n] no, dinner, thin [ng] singer, think, long [p] put, apple, cup [r] run, marry, far, store [s] sit, city, passing, face [sh] she, station, push [t] top, better, cat [ch] church, watching, nature, witch [th] thirsty, nothing, math [th'] this, mother, breathe [v] very, seven, love [w] wear, away [hw] where, somewhat [y] yes, onion [z] zoo, easy, buzz [zh] measure, television, beige   VOWELS [a] apple, can, hat [ey] aid, hate, day [ah] arm, father, aha [air] air, careful, wear [aw] all, or, talk, lost, saw [e] ever, head, get [ee] eat, see, need [eer] ear, hero, beer [er] teacher, afterward, murderer [i] it, big, finishes [ahy] I, ice, hide, deny [o] odd, hot, woffle [oh] owe, road, below [oo] ooze, food, soup, sue [oo'] good, book, put [oi] oil, choice, toy [ou] out, loud, how [uh] up, mother, mud [uh'] about, animal, problem, circus [ur] early, bird, stirring   FOREIGN SOUNDS [a*] Fr. ami [kh*] Scot. loch, Ger. ach or ich [œ] Fr. feu, Ger. schön [r*] Fr. au revoir, Yiddish rebbe [uh*] Fr. oeuvre [y*] Fr. tu, Ger. über   SAMPLE NASALIZED VOWELS [an*] Fr. bien [ahn*] Fr. croissant [awn*] Fr. bon [œn*] Fr. parfum [in*] Port. Principe