December 21, 2024
Matt’s words
Chionophobia (n): irrational fear of snow
As soon as the plane flew over the Alps, my chionophobia kicked in.
Mnemonic: Imagine an abominable snowman Keanu Reeves
Advent (n): arrival
When capitalized, the arrival of Jesus Christ. A time of the year to celebrate the birth of Christ. Similar to lent. Advent calendars mark this period.
Advent is intended to be a time in which we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ. – crosswalk.com
The advent of summer always brings joy…
Mnemonic: Think of an add for a vent where Jesus comes out of the vent.
Pedophobia (n): fear of children
The Grinch is one of Christmas’s greatest villains. But in a new psychologic thriller hitting theaters this Christmas, the loner from Mount Crumpit is a sympathetic character dealing with the effects of severe pedophobia.
Mnemonic: “Pedo” means “child.”
Kanakaloka (n):Santa Claus in Hawaiian
Kanakaloka is coming, kids; you better behave.
Mnemonic: Think of “can” and “loca”
Can as is, can he really deliver all the presents? He must be loca.
Mnemonic 2: Here comes kanakaloka, here comes kanakaloka, right down kanakaloka lane…
Cryophobia (n):fear of cold; fear of freezing
After nearly freezing to death on Mount Everest, the hiker suffered from cryophobia for years.
Mnemonic: “Cryo” means “cold.” Think about doing cryotherapy.
Dr. Mom’s words
Bauble (n): a small, showy ornament of little value; trinket; a showy but worthless or useless thing; a trifle; a gewgaw
Cheapskate that I am, most of the mementos adorning my house are nothing more than baubles—but I do cherish them!
Mnemonic: Better not bobble that bauble or it will undoubtedly break into a million pieces.
Kitschy (adj): art, objects, or designs that are considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way; cheesy, tasteless
Antonyms would be elegant, tasteful, refined
You could be considered a Scrooge if you label as kitschy those brightly colored Christmas ornaments zealous celebrants fashion into earrings.
Mnemonic: Kitschy can be itchy. You’re wearing your favorite kitschy Christmas sweater, which has all the bells and whistles and always gets lots of attention, but it’s super itchy, so there is a downside.
Dromedary (n): a one-humped camel
When picturing the Nativity scene, one can’t help but imagine dromedaries in the background.
Mnemonic: “Drom” sounds like drum, so picture a good-sized drum. Then take the letter “d” at the beginning, capitalize it, and rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise. Put that rotated D on top of your drum, and it has a hump! Just like a dromedary!
Fodder (n): something fed to domestic animals; it is often placed in a trough or feeder (as Jesus was). Also, inferior or readily available material used to supply a heavy demand; an expendable or exploitable person, group, or thing
The poorly trained forces are little more than cannon fodder.
This sort of breezy plot line has become cheap fodder for novelists and screenwriters… –Sally Bedell, biographer who has written about the British royal family
Mnemonic: Fodder is what you feed ‘er.
Triskaidekaphobia (n): fear of the number 13; good thing there are only 12 days of Christmas!
Some hotels actually skip numbering the 13th floor as such because it would upset triskaidekaphobiacs.
Mnemonic: We know a phobia is a fear of something, and “triskaideka” contains “tri” for three and “deka” for 10. Add those together, and you get a fear of the number 13.
BIG sentence:
The advent of a hiemal Christmas season—sorry, kanakaloka devotees—provides fodder for joyful celebrants who delight in donning kitschy baubles, for renters of dromedaries, and for triskaidekaphobes–only 12 days of Christmas!—and everyone else who can take solace in not being chionophobes, pedophobes, or cryophobes.
Vocabulary Mnemonics 
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