Vocabulary Mnemonics

Dec. 13, 2025

Matt’s words

Degust (v): to taste in small bites; to savor every bite; “degustation” (n) is more commonly used

That’s useful for anyone indulging in the wine pairing on chef and co-owner Nicola Palmer’s superb degustation menu, or anyone simply wanting to linger in this lovely place, which has existed in some form since 1845. —Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Dec. 2024

The nine-course degustation is the way to go, with simple, elemental plates like lamb that’s slow-cooked for 24 hours, cured mackerel with a salad of lupini beans, and fish from the market in Nazaré with mushroom stew and a foie gras emulsion. —Ann Abel, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025

Mnemonic: Gusto means flavor in Spanish.

Mnemonic 2: De-claw means to remove the claw. De-gust means to remove the disgusting.

Epigone (n): inferior imitator; follower

Stephen King’s numerous epigones try unsuccessfully to capture the terror of his novels.

But clearly no cautious epigone, Dawson responded to Dvorak’s charge with results that are entirely his own. —Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Mar. 2023

Mnemonic: The beginning sounds like “epic,” so that’s what the think the imitator is going to create. But really the work is “gone.” It has no lasting power.

Froideur (n): coolness or extreme reserve in manner

There was, as befitting his Scandinavian froideur, little outward sign of emotion… —Oliver Brown

Mnemonic: Froi means “cool.”

Parlous (adj): full of danger or uncertainty; precarious

Put more directly, the idea of taking a nap in the Royal Box within arm’s length of the Queen during a Wimbledon match seems a parlouschoice of lollygagging terrain. —Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025

Mnemonic: It seems like just a lazy way of saying “perilous.”

Insuperable (adj): incapable of being surmounted; insurmountable

Raise the stakes, place insuperable obstacles before the protagonist, have the protagonist somehow surmount them while becoming braver and better. —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 9 June 2025

Mnemonic: Super means “over,” as in superior. The prefix in means the opposite of, as in invisible.

Mom’s words

Cloche (n): a bell or dome-shaped cover that protects small outdoor plants or foods on a table; a cloche hat fits close to the head

The flapper’s look was incomplete without a deep, soft cloche pulled low over her brow.

The chef lifted the glass cloche to reveal the dessert.

 Mnemonic: A cloche hat has a fit that is close to the head.

Amalgamation (n): a mixture of different elements; the product of the mixing of anything

The look was an amalgamationof fashion eras and styles that, to my dismay, worked. —Christian Allaire, Vogue, 6 Mar. 2025

Mnemonic: Think of the “Amalgam” nation. It is a blend of America, Algeria, and Gambia.

Dreg (n): sediment contained in a liquid or precipitated from it, usually used in plural; the most undesirable part

I try to avoid the coffee dregs that sink the bottom of the cup.

…the dregs of society…

Mnemonic: You drag your spoon across the bottom of the cup to get the dreg(s).

Rhetoric (n): the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech; a type or mode of language or speech

…angry rhetoric…empty rhetoric…

I took a college course in rhetoric to help me recognize it when I hear it.

Mnemonic: Should you go with Rhett or Rick? Convince me with your rhetoric.

Titrate (v): to continuously measure and adjust something in small increments to achieve a precise effect, as in a drug dosage; also, to ascertain the amount of a constituent in a solution by measuring the volume of a known concentration of reagent required to complete a reaction with it.

Doctors must carefully titrate the patient’s pain medication to find the right balance of relief and side effects.

Now, guided by political calculus, the White House is trying to persuade Israel’s prime minister to titrate the lethal doses of bombing Gaza. –Salon

Mnemonic: When you titrate, you tighten in the rate of the existing factors so you can get just the right balance.

COLOSSAL COMPILATION:

Being a cloche-wearing person of insuperable froideur, even in parlous circumstances—truly the opposite of an epigone—I skillfully degust my rhetoric into comprehensible bites by titrating it to the point that even a dreg can comprehend the amalgamation of my central ideas.