Vocabulary Mnemonics

February 22, 2025

Matt’s words

Saturnalia (n): time of wild revelry; an unrestrained and often licentious celebration

After today’s episode, Matt and Mom are headed out for all-day and all-night saturnalia.

Mnemonic: Imagine the scene of NASA when the Saturn rover nailed the landing. The place would erupt in saturnalia.

Echolalia (n): imitation of sounds by babies learning to talk; repeating what people say

For year number two, perhaps we’ll include echolalia to help you remember words.

Up to 75% of people with autism experience echolaliaand speech imitation.—Carrie Madormo, Rn, Health, 7 Sep. 2024

Mnemonic: Think of an echo when you “lay” them down to sleep.

Junket (n): extravagant trip or celebration (usually by government official) at the public’s expense

If only Mom and I could get a fancy junket out of our anniversary.

The company’s press junket…

Mnemonic: Simple: You’re going to get a lot of junk on a junket.

Clambake (n): outdoor party; seashore outing with food cooked on heated rocks covered by seaweed; a noisy political rally

On our podcast junket, let’s hope our clambake doesn’t turn into a seaside saturnalia.

An old-fashioned Nantucket clambake—replete with the essentials like steamers, mussels, clam chowder, lobster, corn on the cob, potatoes, butter, and broth—awaits at Sayle’s Seafood starting at $42 per person.      —Alex Erdekian, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 July 2024

Mnemonic: It’s in the name. You bake clams at the clambake.

Cotillion (n): formal ball, usually for debutantes

Now that we’re grizzled podcast veterans, perhaps we’ll start putting on an annual cotillion for podcast debutantes.

The debutante cotillion…

Mnemonic: Imagine a regal, wealthy older woman giving the young debutante her cotillion million.

Dr. Mom’s words

Polymath (n): an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, bodies of knowledge, or problem types; a Renaissance man (wide interests, expert in several areas)

I can feel that Matt and I are only inches away from being considered polymaths. Oh, so close!

Mnemonic: Poly means many (as in polygon—many sided figure or polygraph—many different pulsations being measured), and math relates to learning.

Concatenate (v): to link things together in a chain or series

The concatenation of dissimilar words found at the end of each episode of Vocabulary Mnemonics is dazzling!

The play seamlessly concatenates storylines occurring over decades into a cohesive narrative. 

Mnemonic: Catena means chain in Latin. Imagine cats linked into a chain by biting the end of the tail of the cat in front of them. They form a figure 8. “Cats in an eight.”

Opsimath (n): a person who begins to learn late in life

I can feel that Matt and I are only inches away from being considered polymaths. Oopsi…I’m afraid I would be in the opsimath category.

The opsimath eagerly enrolled in university courses, proving that it’s never too late to learn. As an opsimath, she enjoyed challenging herself with new academic subjects well into her senior years. –Dictionary.com, Aug 30, 2024

Mnemonic #1: Opsi means late in Greek, and math is to learn.

Mnemonic #2: You decide to learn math, but you keep on making mistakes—“Oopsi!”—and it’s partly because you’re late in life, and you haven’t done math for a long time.

Concinnity (n): the skillful and harmonious arrangement or fitting together of the different parts of something; harmony or elegance of design

What could be a more consummate case of concinnity than the colossal compilation (and alliterative, to boot!)?

Novak was delighted by this concinnity, and even more delighted by the treatments on offer that day at the storefront franchise spa concept. —New York Times, 12 Oct. 2021

Mnemonic: In ancient Rome, a well-mixed, perfectly harmonious cocktail was called a cinnus. Concinnus went on to mean skillfully put together. In “concinnity,” think of “symphony.” A symphony is where all the varied parts (instruments) comes together.

Allay (v): to put to rest or diminish, especially related to fears, suspicions, worries

Any trepidation you ever felt vis a vis taking the GRE should be allayed now that you’re a budding vocab phenom!

The new advertising campaign is an attempt to allay the public’s concerns about the safety of the company’s products. Merriam Webster online

Mnemonic: Allay fears, away fears! When you allay your fears, you do away with your fears.

COLOSSAL COMPILATION:

Allay any concerns you have about running out of reasons to take a junket, have a clambake, or attend a cotillion by considering celebrating random events such as saturnalia or the day you became a polymath so you wouldn’t have to rely on becoming an opsimath or the week you successfully suppressed your echolalia or—most exciting of all—the time you used concinnity when concatenating ten first-anniversary vocabulary words.