Vocabulary Mnemonics

September 14, 2024

Matt’s words

Maudlin (adj): tearfully sentimental, often from drunkenness

Maudlin drunk…                                              

All of Steve’s friends were embarrassed by his maudlin demeanor during the group date.

Mnemonic: Think of a baby crying out “Mama!”     

Denouement (n): the final outcome/conclusion of a movie; ending

The movie was action-packed all the way through denouement.

The tragic denouement to the Vietnam war.

What a sad denouement to an otherwise wonderful weekend.

Mnemonic: At the end of a movie you often find out who knew what. So, imagine saying “they knew, ma!” except you change “they” to “de.”

Mnemonic 2: “denouer” means “untie” in French.

Pariah (n): a detested person; outcast

Lepers were treated as pariahs in ancient times

Such and such country is a pariah among its neighbors.

Mnemonic: Kind of sounds like piranha, which are the pariahs of the water

Avarice (n): greed; excessive desire for wealth

Is avarice or addiction the driving force for gamblers?

Hitler’s imperial avarice was practically limitless.

Mnemonic: Kind of sounds like “have” at the beginning. You need to “have” everything if you’re filled with avarice.

Grok (v): to understand profoundly and intuitively; to “get”

From 1961 sci-fi book Stranger in a Strange Land. About a Martian-raised human who makes it to Earth in adulthood, and speaks Martian. One of his words is grok.

Grok is the name of Elon Musk’s chatbot.

Our parents don’t grok our music.

Steve was finally able to grok his role in the gang.

Mnemonic: Think of the chatbot, it understands.

Dr. Mom’s words

Exegesis (n): critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture

Fully half the article I just read consisted of a detailed exegesis about why some people despise the L.A. Lakers.

Mnemonic: You “explain Jesus” with your exegesis of the New Testament. 

Abbatoir (n):a slaughterhouse

If you don’t like the sight of blood, don’t choose to work in an abbatoir.

Mnemonic: Almost rhymes with “avatar.” If I were told I had to walk through an abbatoir, I would send my avatar; I couldn’t handle it.

Slake (v): to quench or satisfy one’s thirst

Sometimes, on a hot summer afternoon, ice cold lemonade is the perfect way to slake your desire for liquid.

Mnemonic: The word contains “lake.” If you drank as much as you liked from the lake, you’d definitely quench your thirst.

Stanch (v):to check or stop the flowing of, often referring to blood from a wound; to stop or check in its course

Good thing there was a stick nearby that could be used in a tourniquet and stanch the bleeding after I injured my leg. 

Mnemonic: Using a substantial branch (rhymes with stanch), you can either tighten a tourniquet to stop a person’s bleeding or plug a hole in the dam to check the leakage.

Apse (n): a large semicircular or polygonal projection off the side of a building (usually a church), often with an arched or domed roof and with an altar

Don’t miss the apse’s vault, where Christ, flanked by four angels, sits on the Earth as four rivers of paradise flow beneath his feet.    — Prathap Nair, National Geographic, 20 Aug. 2019

Mnemonic: Imagine “apse” is an acronym for “a polygonal or semicircular extension” to a church

BIG sentence:

In our efforts not to be treated as pariahs, here are a few pointers: Let’s avoid maudlin displays at the denouement of a movie or during a tour of an abbatoir; don’t betray avarice while slaking or stanching your yearning for refreshment; and, above all, never advertise your grok of the book of Job by giving an unsolicited exegesis in an apse this coming Sunday.