English words
In 2004 I moved from the Netherlands to the United States, and it’s been great to experience a new culture from up close. I like to keep track of new English words and expressions that I learn over time.
Some of these words were completely new to me and for others I wasn’t very sure about their precise meaning.
| Word | Description |
When found |
|---|---|---|
| malarkey |
insincere or foolish talk; nonsense |
10/24/2008 |
| tomfooling |
tomfool (noun): very stupid person |
07/30/2008 |
| whippersnapper |
an unimportant but offensively presumptuous person, esp. a young one. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/whippersnapper) |
07/18/2008 |
| La-Z-Boy Chair |
A relaxed chair. http://inventors.about.com/od/lstartinventions/a/lazy_boy.htm |
07/15/2008 |
| Jake brake |
“While the term Jake Brake technically only describes Jake Brake brand engine brakes, it has become a genericized trademark and is often used to refer to engine brakes or compression release engine brakes in general, especially on large vehicles or heavy equipment.” Compression release engine brakes may make a loud chattering or machine gun noise while being used, which has led many communities to ban them. There are signs on the side of some freeway offramps, or at municipal boundaries, that will say “No jake braking”, “Engine brakes restricted”, etc. These signs are referring to compression release engine brakes. |
07/12/2008 |
| ennui |
listlessness, boredom. |
07/07/2008 |
| blotter | Blotter can also refer to an official summary, usually covering a short duration, such as a police blotter, or the trade confirmation summary of a financial institution. The term is frequently used in financial institution software terms to represent a list of current trades in a spreadsheet-like interface whose status is updated in real-time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blotter | 06/30/2008 |
| on a lark | carefree, happy in a natural way “It’s fun to be with him when he’s on a lark - when he’s carefree. ” http://esl-bits.net/idioms/id430.htm | 06/26/2008 |
| Rube Goldberg | A Rube Goldberg machine is a deliberately overengineered apparatus that performs a very simple task in very indirect and convoluted fashion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine). | 06/22/2008 |
| Apotropaically | Intended to ward off evil (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/apotropaically) | 05/21/2008 |
| psephologist | someone who does statistical analysis of elections | 05/16/2008 |
| skate to where the puck is going | “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” Quote attributed to Wayne Gretzky, a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is the current part-owner, head of hockey operations, and head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed “The Great One”, Gretzky was called “the greatest player of all time” in Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the NHL.[3] He is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the NHL,[4][5] and has been called “the greatest hockey player ever” by many sportswriters,[6][7] players,[8] and coaches. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gretzky | 05/08/2008 |
| monkey bar | The jungle gym, also known as monkey bars or climbing frame, is a piece of playground equipment made of many pieces of thin material, such as metal pipe or, in more current playgrounds, rope, on which children can climb, hang, or sit. The monkey bar designation was for the resemblance that playing children had to the rambunctious, climbing play of monkeys, though the term nowadays often refers specifically to a single row of overhead bars designed to be swung across, as described below. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_bars | 05/07/2008 |
| seersucker | 05/07/2008 | |
| blue light special | “Remember the K-Mart blue light special? It was created in 1965 by a store manager looking to move slow merchandise and quickly became part of the American lexicon. Years ago I recall tooling around K-Mart with my mom, shopping for back to school clothes, when all of a sudden an announcer would blurt out those now famous words, “Attention K-Mart shoppers, there’s a blue light special on …” Every time it happened, women would wheel their carts around and head for the special blue light price on cookware awaiting them in aisle 7. Even as a 10 year old it was obvious the power this marketing surprise possessed. People love surprises and they get them much anymore. (Even K-Mart has dropped the blue light special)” http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2005/11/10/whats-your-blue-light-s… | 04/28/2008 |
| bogey | “The number of strokes that a good player is likely to need to finish a golf hole or course.” A target. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bogey | 04/09/2008 |
| on the lam | to be a prison escapee | 03/18/2008 |
| diddybag | 03/17/2008 | |
| obdurate | 03/12/2008 | |
| leonine | 03/12/2008 | |
| Three card monte | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-card_Monte | 03/05/2008 |
| persnickety | http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/pe/persnickety.html: 1. Used colloquially of one who is overly conceited or arrogant; “a snotty little scion of a degenerate family”-Laurent Le Sage; “they’re snobs—stuck-up and uppity and persnickety”. 2. Characterized by excessive precision and attention to trivial details; “a persnickety job”; “a persnickety school teacher | 02/19/2008 |
| to cream | Mixing butter and sugar (http://www.baking911.com/howto/cream.htm) | 02/14/2008 |
| kvetch | http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2002/06/01.html To complain habitually. | 02/14/2008 |
| bellwether | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellwether: A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings. The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (a wether) in order that this animal might lead its flock of sheep. | 02/06/2008 |
