Vocabulary Mnemonics

July 26, 2025

Matt’s words

Afterclap (n): an unexpected damaging or unsettling event following a supposedly closed affair

Just when Dr. Jones thought his patient had stabilized, an afterclap hit.

Mnemonic: Think of “aftershock” and “thunderclap” put together.

Mnemonic 2: You “clap” after something ends… which is when the “afterclap” hits.

Spoliate (v): plunder; steal

The pirates spoliated island after island, and ship after ship, on their rampage through the Caribbean…

Mnemonic: Think of the “spoils” of war. You spoliate for spoils

Sublebrity (n): minor celebrity; b-list celebrity know one has really heard of

Reality TV has created a lot of sublebrities.

Mnemonic: Put together “sub” (as in below) and “celebrity.”

Asperity (n): harshness; rigor; sharpness of tone

The asperity of life in war…

On a re-read, Orwell’s narrative holds up, in large part due to the asperity of the prose and the prescient description of how fascism can creep into any society that takes freedom for granted. —Los Angeles Times

More notable is the specificity of his satire—he has a degree in agronomy—and the seriousness of his engagement with the economic asperities of provincial France in the era of the gilets jaunes. —The New Yorker

Mnemonic: An asp is a snake, which has a sharp tongue. Parity is when you’re equal to. So you’re equal to a snake

Quaker gun (n): deceptive; pretend gun used in warfare

Similar to Potemkin village – from Grigory Potemkin’s putting up a fake village to impress Catherine II.

The colonists set up a line of Quaker guns to fool the invading British.

Mnemonic: Quakers were pacifists, so they wouldn’t use a real gun.

Dr. Mom’s words

Neophyte (n): a person who is new at some subject, skill, or belief; a beginner

Despite my advanced years, I’m actually a neophyte at cooking.

Mnemonic: “Neo” means new, and “phyte” is a homonym for “fight,” so think of “new to the fight.” The fight might be in learning a foreign language, playing golf, or joining a new religion.

Adjure (v): to urge or advise earnestly; may even go so far as to command

The travelers were adjured not to break the drug laws of the countries they’d be visiting.

And Congress is adjured by the Fourteenth Amendment to enforce (the law) against the states. —WSJ, 25 May 2018

Mnemonic 1: Switch the sounds in the second syllable from “jure” to “urge.”

Mnemonic 2: Think of “add to the jury” instructions. The judge urges, even directs, the jurors to do this or that.

The Peter Principle (n): In a hierarchical organization, employees rise to the level of their incompetence. The name comes from Dr. Laurence J. Peter, who coined the term in a book of the same name.

True to the Peter Principle, the new CEO of the fast food corporation seemed utterly befuddled as to how manage the myriad moving parts in the organization.

Mnemonic: One’s skills inevitably “peter out” at some point. This leads to a lack of motivation and to job dissatisfaction. Clearly, it’s time to focus on building your skills to match your position.

Lee (n): the protected side of a ship or shelter; being sheltered from the wind; also, leeward means downwind, or having the wind at your back

“Mrs. Brisby, take your family to the lee of the stone.” The Secret of Nimh

We moved to the leeward side of the ship so that we wouldn’t have the wind in our faces.

Mnemonic: Think of where you want to “lean” into: the protected area.

Garrulous (adj): excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters

People sometimes become more garrulous after imbibing a few beers.

When Garrulous Gary met Chatty Cathy, it didn’t go well, as you might expect. Neither could get a word in edgewise!

Mnemonic: Garrulous Gary should have been called “Gary-more” since he gabbed incessantly.

COLOSSAL COMPILATION:

Despite being adjured not to spoliate the remains of the company he lost due to being a neophyte to power, my garrulous Uncle Larry nevertheless acted with asperity and took a figurative Quaker Gun to his stockholders’ trust, gaining sublebrity in the process but leaving himself no lee in the afterclap and proving the Peter Principle true yet again.