8/19/13

Question 1

Glad-handing

Answer 1

verb (used with object)
1.to greet warmly.
2.to greet in an insincerely effusive manner.
verb (used without object)
3. to greet others with enthusiasm, especially feigned enthusiasm: The candidate spent weeks glad-handing around the state.

Sent: It is easy to dismiss such encounters as glad-handing. But that would ignore the peculiar stylistic echange that makes TED so attractive to being with–especially for academics like Rosling, who were used to limited audiences.

Question 2

Louche

Answer 2

adjective
Oblique, not straightforward; dubious; shifty shady; disreputable.

A gigantic model of a blue whale was suspended over the main gallery; upstairs, air mattresses covered with fitted sheets and pillows were spread among the fish tanks, giving the dim walkways a tincture of louche decadence.

In 2011, he demanded that the louche Dominique Strauss-Kahn apologize to Socialists.

Question 3

Snafu

Answer 3

noun

slang (chiefly U.S., orig. U.S. Mil.).
A. phr.
Used acronymically (often with an explanation) as an expression conveying the common soldier’s laconic acceptance of the disorder of war and the ineptitude of his superiors.

1. a badly confused or ridiculously muddled situation: A ballot snafu in the election led to a recount. Synonyms: snarl, bedlam, tumult, disarray, disorder, confusion, mess; foul-up.

verb (used with object), sna·fued, sna·fu·ing. Rare.
3. snafu v. U.S. slang (a) trans. to mess up, to play havoc with; (b) intr. to go wrong. to throw into disorder; muddle: Losing his passport snafued the whole vacation. Synonyms: confuse, bungle.

Sent: Zoref’s talk had seemed in danger of running slightly overtime, and cohen had wandered onstage to nudge him toward his ending, but he appeared not to care about the little snafu.

a scheduling snafu on the universities part leaving a kid who had traveled far to be there without an interview.

“Boeing has not had a major snafu on the 787 for over a year now, but we think most investors remain skeptical as to whether Boeing can keep this up,” Robert Stallard, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note to clients last month.

Question 4

Heuristic

Answer 4

adjective
1.serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.
3. of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.
4.Computers, Mathematics . pertaining to a trial-and-error method of problem solving used when an algorithmic approach is impractical.
noun
5. a heuristic method of argument.
6. the study of heuristic procedure.

Sent: Margulis employs a simple heuristic in evaluating the practices and products associated with childbearing: anything used by mainstream doctors and hospitals = bad; anything used by midwives or alternative healers = good.

And as the Boston Marathon bombing continues to be headline news — and gut-wrenching images continue to circulate — we need to keep in mind what behavioral scientists call the “availability heuristic” — our tendency to mistakenly estimate the probability of events based on how readily examples come to mind. A story that leaves a painful and vivid impression like this one can distort our sense of reality for a long time.

Question 5

Wry

Answer 5

adjective, wri·er, wri·est.

1. produced by a distortion or lopsidedness of the facial features: a wry grin.
2. abnormally bent or turned to one side; twisted; crooked: a wry mouth.
3. devious in course or purpose; misdirected.
4. contrary; perverse.
5. distorted or perverted, as in meaning.

fig. context. wry look, one expressive of displeasure or dislike.

SYN: Awry, Askew

Verb: To twist or contort.

Question 6

Pallor

Answer 6

Extreme paleness; wanness

-She is a plain young woman with a silvery pallor, a habit of silence and a trick of looking at men as if they represent an unpleasant surprise

Question 8

Fulsome

Answer 8

1) Offensive to good taste ex. fulsome decor. 2) disgusting; sickening; repulsive ex. a table heaped with fulsome mounds of greasy foods. -she’s a fulsome figure. 3) excessively or insincerely lavish ex. fulsome admiration ex. the law received less fulsome praise 4) encompassing all aspects–a fulsome survey of the political situation in central america. -to allow his potential successors to have as fulsome a debate as possible. -fulsome disclosure.

Question 9

Implacable

Answer 9

Not to be appeased mollified, or pacified; inexorable

Question 10

PLangent

Answer 10

resounding loudly, especially w a plaintive cry

Question 11

Flounder

Answer 11

To struggle clumsily or helplessly

Question 12

Plaintive

Answer 12

M: Think Plaintiff

Expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful ex: a plaintive melody

• S: Ms. Boeck sings with a plaintive passion that dovetails perfectly with Ms. Frank’s performance.
• S: in two deaths, Anita sings an angry “A Boy Like That,” warning Maria to stay away from Tony, while Maria counters with a plaintive “I Have a Love.”

Question 13

Leaden

Answer 13

1) Inertly heavy like lead, hard to move or lift 2) dull, spiritless, or gloomy as in mood or though: leaden prose; leaden atmosphere. 3) Of a dull gray color: leaden skies.

Question 14

Leery

Answer 14

Wary; suspicious (usually followed by of)

Question 15

Occult

Answer 15

Pertaining to magic astrol., or any system claiming the knowledge or use of secret or supernatural powers. 2) beyond the range of ordinary knowledge/ understanding; mysterious 3) Secret 4) Hidden from view V)to block or shut off an object) from view; hide

Question 16

puling

Answer 16

whining; whimpering -a puling child.