This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on June 23, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Friable means:
A) Electrically charged
B) Easily crumbled
C) Extremely flexible
D) Expansive in appearance
Vocab Practice: Friable
July 1, 2014 by
A Literary Luminary’s Legacy…
June 30, 2014 by
The words composed by poets and writers are often their greatest legacy.
But for Maya Angelou, who died last month, her actions on behalf of civil rights will live on alongside her writing.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1928, Angelou later moved to a heavily segregated town in Arkansas, a childhood experience she later chronicled in her famous memoir titled “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
In addition to her writing, Angelou worked closely with civil-rights leaders Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the 1960s.
Later in her life, Angelou became a luminary (see definition and hear pronunciation below) in the world of literature.
In 2011, President Barack Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: What other luminaries can you think of in the fields of science, literature, the arts or politics?
Luminary: A person of prominence in a particular field, especially one who inspires or influences others.
Click to hear the pronunciation of luminary:
Cool Word Challenge: Friable and Ancillary
June 27, 2014 by
Cool Word Challenge: Just for fun, come up with one sentence that uses both of the cool vocabulary words that you learned this week.
Here are the words again:
Friable: Easily crumbled; brittle.
Ancillary: Providing something additional to a main part or function; subordinate; auxiliary.
Submit your sentence below. The most creative ones that we receive will be published on our site!
Sherlock Holmes’ Ancillary Character…
June 26, 2014 by
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are perhaps the most famous team to partner in solving crimes.
Created by Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes and Watson first appeared in A Study in Scarlet, published on Halloween in 1892.
Holmes, the finely tuned reasoning machine, took a starring role in the partnership, but what of Dr. Watson?
In the Sherlock Holmes stories, Dr. Watson is often shown in an ancillary (see definition and hear pronunciation below) role as a less brilliant sidekick.
Still, each of Holmes’ ingeniously solved crimes is told through Dr. Watson’s eyes, as narrator. As a former Army doctor, Watson also serves as a source of sound judgment and medical knowledge.
That’s quite an important role after all!
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: Are there any other “sidekicks” in movies, books or TV that play an ancillary—or perhaps no-so-ancillary–part in the action?
Ancillary: Providing something additional to a main part or function; subordinate; auxiliary.
Click to hear the pronunciation of ancillary:
Vocab Practice: Obdurate
June 25, 2014 by
This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on June 19, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Obdurate means:
A) Unyielding
B) Open-minded
C) Elderly
D) Oblong in shape
Vocab Practice: Hyperbole
June 24, 2014 by
This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on June 16, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Hyperbole means:
A) Occurring mostly underwater
B) Circular in motion
C) Intentional exaggeration
D) Overly active
California’s Friable Land…
June 23, 2014 by
The year 2014 has been a rough one so far for California’s climate.
The state is in the midst of a long-term drought, which has depleted water supplies and caused the area’s annual spate of wildfires to start earlier in the year.
It also means that parts of the earth that are necessary for growing crops have turned dry and friable (see definition and hear pronunciation below) because of scarce irrigation.
About 800,000 acres of farmland will go uncultivated in the state this year due to lack of water.
But California is not alone–half the area of the continental US is currently experiencing drought.
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: What do you think can be done to prevent future droughts from turning key areas of farmland friable and parched?
Friable: Easily crumbled; brittle.
Click to hear the pronunciation of friable:
Cool Word Challenge: Hyperbole and Obdurate
June 20, 2014 by
Cool Word Challenge: Just for fun, come up with one sentence that uses both of the cool vocabulary words that you learned this week.
Here are the words again:
Hyperbole: Obvious and intentional exaggeration.
Obdurate: Stubbornly refusing to change one’s thinking; unyielding.
Submit your sentence below. The most creative ones that we receive will be published on our site!
A Fight Against Obdurate Opposition…
June 19, 2014 by
As a young man, Frederick Douglass found inspiration in an unlikely place: Ireland. A writer, orator and abolitionist, Douglass traveled to the country in 1845 to gain overseas support for his campaign to end of slavery in America.
At the time, many Americans remained obdurate (see definition and hear pronunciation below) in their support of slavery. In Ireland, Douglass found that his efforts to end the oppression of slavery mirrored the cause of Irish nationalists, who were fighting against British rule of their country.
At the time, Ireland was experiencing severe struggles with famine, caused by the blight that killed potato crops, the country’s main source of food.
Still, Douglass, who had escaped from slavery in Maryland years before, received a warm welcome in Ireland. He wrote that it was the first time he truly felt free.
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: From what you know about activists like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr., what do you think are the most effective methods that have been used to overcome obdurate opposition to justice throughout history?
Obdurate: Stubbornly refusing to change one’s thinking; unyielding.
Click to hear the pronunciation of obdurate:
Vocab Practice: Quotidian
June 18, 2014 by
This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on June 12, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Quotidian means:
A) Heroic
B) Commonplace
C) Easily visible
D) Highly unusual
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