Vocabulary Mnemonics

Oct. 4, 2025

Matt’s words

Interstitial (adj): a gap; interval; space that intervenes between things; forming a gap; periodic (Interstice is the noun form.)

One scenario could involve inserting interstitialads into peoples’ conversations with deadbots – just like how traditional commercial breaks pop up during TV shows. —Chloe Veltman, NPR, 26 Aug. 2025

Like it or not, many people fill in every intersticeof their day by whipping out their phone and flicking through feeds. —Mark Van Wye, Forbes, 15 June 2021

Mnemonic: Inter = between. Stitial sounds like “stitches.” There’s a gap between your stitches; they come at intervals.

Monolith (n): an obelisk, column, large statue, etc., formed of a single block of stone; something having a uniform, massive, redoubtable, or inflexible quality or character.

The podcast industry is not a monolith – some use fancy vocabulary; some don’t.

Mnemonic: Mono = one; lith = stone.

Mo no lithe – he’s not bendable, he’s firm.

Solipsism (n): being self-centered; selfish; the theory that the self is all that can be known to exist.

When I see the next generation, all I see is solipsism. They’re all solipsists.

This was precisely the space occupied by Andersen’s emperor, whose solipsismand stubborn self-regard were visible, even if his clothes were not. —Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025

Mnemonic: “Sol” is short for solo.

Besmirch (v): to cause harm or damage to;put a stain on

How dare you besmirch my reputation.

Mnemonic: Think of a besmirch search. People oftentimes go online to find damaging details about someone else. We call this the besmirch search.

Impolitic (adj): unwise; not politic (political, i.e. shrewd, savvy)

His downfall came not with any of his policies, nor with his impoliticdecision to attack America’s favorite pop music, but with an insensitive joke about a coal advisory panel that mortified the president. —Liza Featherstone, The New Republic, 16 June 2023

Mnemonic: Think of how a politician usually makes the wise decision as far as what the public wants. So impolitic is doing something unwise.

Dr. Mom’s words

Pons asinorum (n): a critical test of ability or understanding used to separate capable and incapable reasoners; a stumbling block. It is Latin for the Bridge of Asses. Euclid’s fifth proposition in the first book of his Elements, which stated the proof of the base angles in an isosceles triangle being equal in measure.

For a new skater, the basic backward inside three turn was the pons asinorum of skating, a fundamental skill that proved surprisingly difficult to learn. 

Mnemonic: In the game of chess, the pawns are out front and serve as a stumbling block if a piece on the back row tries to plow through them. It would be asinine (Episode 72) to attempt that.

Turpitude (n): inherent baseness; depravity; an act or behavior that gravely violates the accepted standards of the community—both moral and legal

Last week there was another article about three former major league pitchers who cannot find jobs in a depleted pitching market because of their off-field activities, indiscretions, moral turpitude, etc.—Dan Freedman, Forbes, 16 Sep. 2024

Mnemonic: The second syllable is “pit.” If you’re in a pit, you’re at the base, as low as you can go.

Imperious (adj): marked by arrogant assurance; domineering; befitting or characteristic of one of eminent rank or attainments; commanding, dominant

After killing off his brothers to attain the throne himself, the evil king ruled in an imperious manner from Day 1.

Mnemonic: “Imperious” begins like “empire.” Think of someone who has an empire. It’s not hard to imagine that person being commanding and domineering.

Doctrinaire (adj): describes someone who is rigidly and impractically devoted to a doctrine

A doctrinaire leftist, the columnist delights in baiting conservatives.

Murdoch’s media muscle has been increasingly buttressed by his Wall Street Journal revenues as well as those of the doctrinaire Fox News. —Peter Bart, Deadline, 11 Sep. 2025

Mnemonic: “There’s a doctrine in the air,” so it’s all-encompassing and obvious to most everyone.

Fartlek (n): endurance training in which a runner alternates periods of sprinting with periods of jogging or periods of jogging with periods of walking; doing intervals

Many running coaches utilize fartlek training as a regular part of their team’s training regimen.

Mnemonic: During a long run, you might start farting as your system is jiggled around. So you “lek” up, slowing down or walking for a while until things setting down, then run until you start farting again.

COLOSSAL COMPILATION:

The pons asinorum of being a decent person might be succumbing to the natural human tendencies toward moral turpitude and solipsism, adopting a monolithic, doctrinaire, imperious, impolitic, besmirching attitude toward others, and, last but not least, filling interstitial gaps of time with slothfulness rather than good, old-fashioned fartlek training.