Vocabulary Mnemonics

December 28, 2024

Matt’s words

Tabula rasa (n): blank slate; original state

The new year provides a tabula rasa to begin a new chapter in life.

The previous owners had basically stripped the space down to the studs, so Bloom had tabula rasa to reimagine the family home. —Nora Taylor, Architectural Digest, 29 Nov. 2024

Mnemonic: Break down the world. “Tabula” means “tablet,” and “rasa” means “erased.”

Eschaton (n): the end of the world

The rise of acronyms like IFKYK” being added to the dictionary is a sure sign of the eschaton

Mnemonic: Think of a baton descending from the heavens in the form of an “s.” Everybody would be asking, “is that an S-baton?”

No, it’s a sign of the eschaton.

Boop (n): a gentle hit or touch on a person’s or animal’s nose or head, showing that you like them or as a joke:

The viral video showed a cute golden retriever getting boops on his nose.

She greeted me with a friendly boop on the head.

Mnemonic: Instead of “bop,” it’s now “boop.”

Face journey (n): The different faces you make when looking at something.

Mom, your face journey was hilarious…

Mnemonic: Self-explanatory. The “journey” your face takes.

Backread/speedrun (v/n):

Backread (v): Read a text or message thread starting at the bottom

Give here a second, she’s backreading the thread…

One sec, backreading…

Mnemonic: Self-explanatory. Start reading from the “back” or “end.”

Speedrun (n): Quickly play a video game, usually to check for bugs

Let’s do a quick speedrun…

Mnemonic: It’s like it sounds, think of “running” through a video game as fast as possible.

Dr. Mom’s words

Stolid (adj): calm, dependable, showing little emotion or animation

My brother-in-law shows a stolid indifference to the opinion others may have of him.

Mnemonic: Think “solid.” Imagine a large, solid rock or slab. It is dependable for sitting on; you know it won’t collapse. It doesn’t get bothered by rain or storms. Solid as a rock, unmoved. 

Ruminate (v): to think deeply about something; to turn it over in the mind; muse, meditate. It is related to ruminant, which is an animal that chews the cud, meaning the animal literally chews the same food again.

Sometimes it is only after I ruminate long and hard about an issue that I determine the best course of action.

Mnemonic: Think of a room in the shape of a figure 8. You go around and around to find a corner or a place to settle in, but it just keeps looping around. This is what you do in your mind with ideas you are pondering. You turn them over and over in y our mind.

Hanker (v): to have a strong or persistent desire for something; often used with for or after

Do you hanker for a cruise to an exotic location at least once a year? Join the crowd.

Mnemonic: “I hanker for an anchor.” Anchor makes you think of a ship. You have a hankering to be on that cruise ship.

Auld Lang Syne (n): “times long past” or “old long since” in Scots. Robert Burns, a Scottish poet, claimed to have recorded the song on paper in 1788, but that is disputed. Either way, it is sung at the new year to encourage us to take a moment to remember times long past.

The singing of Auld Lang Syne often elicits floods of memories and tears.

Mnemonic: Auld means “old,” and “lang syne” could sound like long time. So think of an “old long time,” along with the associated memories.

Panache (adj): flamboyant confidence of style or manner; also, an ornamental tuft (as of feathers), especially on a helmet

“The charismatic speaker delivered her oration with great panache; her confident style and flair utterly captivated the audience.”

Mnemonic: “Pinna” means feather in Latin, so imagine pinning a feather to your coat or hat and walking around confidently. Soldiers wearing such panache on their helmets were associated with reckless courage, taking on whatever came their way in a showy manner.

BIG SENTENCE:

As you plan for the new year, viewing it as a tabula rasa, an eschaton in the best way, here is some advice: remain stolid as you backread the auld lang syne events of 2024—it wasn’t a speedrun, after all; ruminate about events you hankered for and analyze perplexing face journeys or boops you experienced from your loved ones; and, ultimately, go after 2025 with panache!