Vocabulary Mnemonics

October 6, 2024

Matt’s words

Surmount (v): overcome; stand on

In 2001 Erik Weihenmeyer surmounted his blindness to climb Mount Everest.       

Mnemonic: Think of “surmounting the mountain.”

Promulgate (v): proclaim; declare; announce (especially relates to law/doctrine)

The NFL’s new kickoff rule was promulgated in early 2024.

Almost any myth, no matter how bizarre, can be promulgated by the media.

Mnemonic: Break it up into “pro” and “mull.” They “proclaim,” you “mull” it over. Maybe you even mull it over at the gate with a neighbor.

Sybarite (n): a person who indulges in luxuries; devoted to pleasure

Behind closed doors, the king was a sybarite, not the clean-cut leader he pretended to be publicly.

Nadia was a sybarite who seemed poised to tip over into genuine addiction. —Philippa Snow, The New Republic, 18 Apr. 2022

Mnemonic: Think “bar” – a sybarite is always going to the bar to indulge in the pleasures of alcohol

Incorrigible (adj): not able to be corrected; not reformable

This guy’s incorrigible.

So and so was an incorrigible liar.

Mnemonic 1: “Corrig” comes for “correct,” so the word means uncorrectable.

Mnemonic 2: “Rigib” almost sounds like “rigid,” which means not pliable.

Venal (adj):capable of being bought; bribable

He was the stereotypical venal politician…

In many countries, venal autocrats have ruled for years.

Mnemonic: Think “venal penal” colony.

Dr. Mom’s words

Yarborough (n):a hand in bridge or whist that contains no card higher than a nine (and no ace?); Charles Anderson Worsley, an English nobleman and second Earl of Yarborough, is said to have bet 1000 to one against the dealing such a hand. (From word genius webpage)

I don’t play cards much, but I’d recognize a yarborough if I saw one.

Mnemonic: New York is known for its five boroughs. None is the entire city; they’re just parts. A yarborough contains just part of a card deck—just up to nine. It doesn’t span the entirety of the deck. “Yar” almost rhymes with “card,” so you can remember you’re talking about cards.

Whinge (v): to complain persistently in a peevish, irritating way

Sometimes the only thing that helps, in the moment, is to whinge on about the problem and get it off your chest.

Mnemonic: The word is spelled “w-hinge,” so imagine a hinge on your front door. It squeaks, even whines, every time you open it. You’ve got a whiney hinge–very annoying and irritating.

Taxonomy (n):a classification of information into ordered categories; e.g., animals into domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Often found in science and usually involves a hierarchy

The process of learning has been organized into a taxonomy, beginning with simply remembering facts and deepening all the way into creating or designing something brand new.

Mnemonic: In America, the taxes are arranged in a sometimes overlapping hierarchy, beginning with city and county taxes, then state taxes, then federal taxes (with lots of others within each layer).  The tax system is a taxonomy.

Inanition (n): the state of being empty (of food and/or water), leading to an exhausted condition

A very sick patient may exhibit inanition.

My inanition led to a poor performance in my tennis match.  

Mnemonic #1: Inanition begins like “inane,” which comes from the Latin for empty. Inane comments are empty or void of meaning. Inanition means empty or void of energy to move about

Mnemonic #2: Think “in-ignition,” so you have no ignitor or spark to keep you going. When you’re empty of food and/or water, you can’t ignite to engage in life.

Acumen (n): exceptional discernment, practical judgment, and insight, typically in a particular domain (e.g., business); the power to see what is not evident to the average mind

Elon Musk’s forward-thinking acumen appears to be unequaled and boundless.

Mnemonic: Acu-men can be expanded to “accurate judgment.”

BIG sentence:

The sybarite enjoyed creating taxonomies in his mind when in social settings, but he incessantly whinged about lacking the bridge acumen to recognize a yarborough, about suffering from occasional inanition that promulgated his incorrigible, venal nature, and about his failure to surmount his obsession with chocolate.