Vocabulary Mnemonics

Sept. 6, 2025

Matt’s words

Hydroponics (n):  growing plants in water without soil

But a hydroponics system in space is not without its challenges. —Benjamin Plackett, Discover Magazine, 22 Jan. 2019

Mnemonic 1: Hydro means water. Pon could be short for “pond.”

Mnemonic 2: “Hydroponics works for me.”

Simulacrum (n): image or representation; can also be a poor imitation; from root word “simulare,” which means to be similar; simultaneous, simile, and of course similarity.

When Matt looked at the screen, he was stunned. It was a near-perfect simulacrum of his face.

In professional sports like the NBA and the NFL, agents and financial advisors are required to be registered and monitored, providing at least a simulacrum of oversight for athletes navigating the treacherous waters of big-time sports. —Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 22 June 2025

Mnemonic: Simula is short for simulate. Crum means that there’s at least a little bit of similarity.

Tetchy (adj): touchy, irritably or peevishly sensitive

It’s a Shakespeare word from Romeo and Juliet:

But, as I said,
When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple
Of my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool,
To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug!

One is her ex, the struggling, somewhat tetchy actor/caterer John, played by Chris Evans. —Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2025

Mnemonic: It’s very close to touchy.

Onomatopoeia (n): a word that sounds like the thing you’re describing; examples: buzz, hiss, fizz, pop. This one goes way back. Bowwow theory says that language started as an imitation of sounds.

In comic books, when you see someone with a gun, you know it’s only going off when you read the onomatopoeias. —Christian Marclay

Mnemonic: Someone on a mat peeing is going to make an example of this.

Zhuzh (n/v): a small improvement that makes a big difference to the whole; to spruce up

A little music would zhuzh up this party… (verb)

This party needs some zhuzh… (noun)

Even ingredients such as sour cream, tofu, and eggs can be revived after freezing, and items such as tortillas and bread can be zhuzhed up in a toaster or pan. —Anna Perling

Mnemonic: Imagine you hire an elegant French designer to spruce up your house. She says “zjust add some zhuzh”

Dr. Mom’s words

Prescience (n): foreknowledge of events; human anticipation of the course of events

Her prescience as a stock advisor was uncanny.

The film (Minority Report) was deemed prescient for its depiction of video touch screens, voice-controlled appliances, intrusive interactive advertising, and driverless cars. —Slate Magazine

 Mnemonic: “Science” comes from the Latin for “to know,” so “pre-science” is knowing beforehand.

Prognosis (n): a forecast of things will turn out (often used in the medical context)

What’s the prognosis, Doc?

Some climate experts prognosticate that the earth’s atmosphere will be cooling soon.

Mnemonic: Think of a person, Prog, who knows things and tells his sis. “Prog knows, sis!” Prog likes to try his hand at foreshadowing future events.

Incipient (adj): beginning to come into being; nascent; also, to become apparent

I have an incipient dislike and distrust of that guy, and I only met him this morning. –Merriam-Webster

Mnemonic: The word begins with “in sippy.” Imagine a drink in a sippy cup. Who would be drinking? It would be a little child, just coming into being.

Crone (n): an ugly old woman who is often bad-tempered and mean; a hag

The children were warned about the crone who lived in the dark woods, as they were told she cast evil spells. 

Danaë’s prison guard, an old crone, tries to catch the god’s golden sperm in her apron. –Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2021

Mnemonic: From the “cr,” think “cruel or crabby, “o” for old, and the “cro” makes you think of “crow.” You’ll get from the context that it refers to an old woman.

Levity (adj): excessive or unseemly frivolity; a lightness or lack of appropriate seriousness, either physically or mentally

Uncle Larry’s tendency toward levity whenever possible was not always appreciated by the stuffier, grumpier members of the family.

Mnemonic: Something that is super light levitates; it lifts up off the ground. That’s what levity does: it lightens the situation, bringing fun into life and offering a different perspective from relentless seriousness.

COLOSSAL COMPILATION:

Aunt Arlene, usually a simulacrum of a tetchy crone whose incipient hydroponic skills surprisingly brought zhuzh to the backyard, was cheerfully and unabashedly proud of her prescience when she prognosticated that injecting more onomatopoeia into her speech would increase with levity in the household.