James A. White Sr.: The little problem I had renting a house

James A. White Sr.: The little problem I had renting a house

Trailer -  a nonmotorized vehicle designed to be pulled behind a motor vehicle.

Some people use trailers attached to their trucks when they live very nomadic lifestyle.

Imagine how hard it would be to live in a trailer with four kids.

Tenant - a person who pays rent to live in a place.

I've recently become tenant of this beutiful apartment.

Our tenants always pay in time.

Backdrop - the background of an event; setting.

But the music nowadays, is really more of a backdrop when it comes to pop concerts.

Settled into a backdrop of wooded hills, was the little log cabin.

Hullabaloo - loud confused noise, disturbance, uproar.

 

The teacher told the pupils to stop making such a hullabaloo.

The death of the much loved president caused hullabaloo in the country. 

 

 

Heinous - hateful; odious; abominable  

 

I can't understand how people could follow Hitler and his heinous philosophy.

His heinous opinion will get him into trouble someday.

 

 

 

              

Frances Larson: Why public beheadings get millions of views

Why public beheadings get milions of views

Overpower - to defeat or gain control of (someone or something) by using force, to affect (someone) very strongly or severely

The police overpowered the man and handcuffed him.

His personality overpowers everyone else's.

Unequivocal - very strong and clear : not showing or allowing any doubt

When the priest asked her if she wants to marry him, her answer was unequivocal "yes".

Today we go out on streets so goverment can hear our unequivocal disagreement!

Unruly - difficult to control

Police coudn't stop unruly crown marching in the streets.

Reformatory is the place where unruly youth have their last chance of resocialization.

Contraption -  a piece of equipment or machinery that is unusual or strange

When crowd saw the guillotine for the first time, they wondered how the contraption worked.

This: 

 

 

Stumble - to hit your foot on something when you are walking or running so that you fall or almost fall

 Everyday when I wake up I need to stumble when I'm trying to get into the bathroom.

 Joseph fell to the ground when he stumbled on the crub while running to the tram.

George Takei: Why I love a country that once betrayed me

George Takei: Why I love a country that once betrayed me

Desolate - deserted, devasted landscape

War prisoners were sent to camps in desolated areas of country.

This desolated land was once a beutiful place but then wildfire burnt it all to the ground.

Penniless - very poor, enterily without money

There was a small child there, whose father had been the organist of the village, and who had died penniless.

Many famous people were growing up in penniless families.

Abrogated - to abolish, to put an end to, annul

Slavery was abrogated in the 19th century in America.

You cannot abrogate anyone's right to free speech!

Stalemate - any position or situation in which no action can be taken or progress made, deadlock

A stalemate was reached when neither of the chess players could make a move.  

A frightened cat found itself in stalemate when it climbed on the tree.

Ravine - a narrow valley commonly eroded by running water.

The remains of her body were found in a ravine almost a year later. 

Amongst the beautiful scenery we drove through was a deep ravine surrounded by a forest.

 

Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty

Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty

Bigwig - a powerful or important person 

Goverment bigwigs refused to change the law about taxes.

In 1945 all bigwigs gathered for Yalta Conference.

In the eye of the beholder -  a matter of personal opinion

Beuty is in the eye of the beholder, you can't argue about that.

-Take a look at this Van Gogh painting! It's astonishing!

-Meh, it doesn't look that good to me.

-I guess art is in the eye of beholder.

Intersperse - to put (something) at different places among other things

You should intersperse these pictures evenly throughtout the book.

Some seagulls were interspersed among the ducks. 

Stupendous - causing amazement, astounding, immense

We coudn't take eyes off actor who performed stupendously.

If you ever attended one of Joseph concerts you can call it all but stupendous. 

Convey - to carry, bring, or take from one place to another; transport; bear

Can you convey those boxes here? Thanks

How the f*ck will we convey him to his apartment? He's so drunk that he can't even stand still!

 

 

 

Stephen Hawking: Questioning the universe

Stephen Hawking: Questioning the universe

extrapolate - to form an opinion or to make an estimate about something from known facts

As ar as I know Joseph I can extrapolate he is dumb as bricks.

Only the best poker players can extrapolate their chances of winning.

equation - equally balanced state; a mathematical statement that two expressions are equal: it is either an identity in which the variables can assume any value, or a conditional equation in which the variables have only certain values

This equation does not give us the value of the unknown factor but gives us a ratio between two unknowns.

You must find Jesus in your life so you can live in perfect equation.

 

algae -  unicellular or multicellular organisms formerly classified as plants, occurring in fresh or salt water or moist ground, that have chlorophyll and other pigments but lack true stems, roots, and leaves (glony)

Algae are probably the oldest living beings on Earth.

I can't understand vegans, how can they eat algae without vomiting? 

 

inward-looking - not interested in or taking account of other people or groups

Some poeple at my university are so inward-looking that they never share notes with others. 

Muslims are example of inward-looking society.

salutary - favorable to or promoting health; healthful, promoting or conducive to some beneficial purpose

The hard but salutary training helped them cooperate in large group.

Eating salutary food can lower your chances of getting a hearth attack. 

 

Sebastian Junger: Why veterans miss war

Why veterans miss war

Plywood - a material used for various building purposes, consisting usually of an odd number of veneers glued over each other, usually at right angles.

A few plywood huts were set in the west side of camp, where soldiers could rest.

Mutter - to speak indistinctly in low tones.

When he left the boss office room he was muttering to himself about how he hates the guy who is his employer.

Abruptly - sudden or unexpected

An abruptly scream filled the room when Mela realised that a spider was walking on her arm.

 Strafe - to attack (ground troops or installations) by airplanes with machine-gun fire

 Soldiers! Tomorrow you will be sent to strafe enemy front lines, don't waste ammunition, send those bastards straight to hell!

AWOL - a term used in the United States Military to describe a soldier or other military member who has left his or her post without permission. (Absence without official leave)

Private Johnson went AWOL after he received an order to join major combat forces in Iraq.  

 

 

Eleanor Longden: The voices in my head

http://www.ted.com/talks/eleanor_longden_the_voices_in_my_head/transcript?language=en#t-721

Gleeful - Full of joy, delighted, merry

I am going to gleefully spend my weekend.
How gleeful it would be if I were now in tropical island.


Feisty - Full of animation, energy, or courage

My friends are feisty when they are drunk.
The champion is faced with feisty challenger.


Benign - Having little or no detrimental effect; harmless, also gentle or kind

Even though media tells otherwise, in reality smoking weed is benign,
When she met him, he greeted her with a benign smile.


Hospital admission - a full stay. The formal acceptance by a hospital or other inpatient health care facility of a patient who is to be provided with room, board, and continuous nursing service in an area of the hospital or facility where patients generally reside at least overnight.


She felt so bad that we had to call ambulance. Later, she got hospital admission becouse of her illness.
Most people say that hospital food is bad, but when I was hospital admissioned for two weeks I liked the meals very much.



Reconcile - To reestablish a close relationship; to settle or resolve; to bring (oneself) to accept


At first her parents were against but with time they reconciled our marriage.
He finally reconciled himself to the change in management.