July - October Flashcards
spinet
a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ
lexicon
the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge (dictionary)
Odin
a widely revered god in Germanic mythology. Associated with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet, and portrayed as the husband of the goddess Frigg.
wry
using or expressing dry, especially mocking, humor. “a wry smile”
WNBA teams
Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Indiana Fever, New York Liberty, Washington Mystic, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm
Alex Trebek
host of Jeopardy!
épée
a sharp-pointed dueling sword, designed for thrusting and used, with the end blunted, in fencing
tête
“head” in French
John Jacob Astor
a German–American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul and investor who mainly made his fortune in a fur trade monopoly and by investing in real estate in or around New York City
MMR Vaccine
a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella
poindexter
a boringly studious and socially inept person (dweeb)
K-tel International
a company which specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums. “K-Tel Records: The Spotify of the 70s”
Arlo Davy Guthrie
an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father Woody Guthrie. Guthrie’s best-known work is his debut piece, “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, a satirical talking blues song about 18 minutes in length that has since become a Thanksgiving anthem.
pyre
a heap of combustible material, especially one for burning a corpse as part of a funeral ceremony. A structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the pyre, which is then set on fire.
Kabul
the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, located in the eastern section of the country
amoi
“mine” in French
Kal-El
Superman was born on the planet Krypton and was given the name Kal-El at birth
Ell
In architecture, a wing of a building perpendicular (at a right angle) to the length of the main portion (main range).
Eros
In Greek mythology, the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid (“desire”).
nene
also known as Hawaiian goose, a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The official bird of the state of Hawaiʻi, the nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, Molokai, and Hawaiʻi.
eft
juvenile salamander
eke out
to make up for the deficiencies of
riata
lasso, loop of rope
surface lifts
a means of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. J-bar, T-bar, and platter lifts are employed for low-capacity slopes in large resorts and small local areas. These consist of an aerial cable loop running over a series of wheels, powered by an engine at one end. Hanging from the rope are a series of vertical recoiling cables, each attached to a horizontal J- or T-shaped bar – which is placed behind the skier’s buttocks or between the snowboarder’s legs – or a plastic button or platter that is placed between the skier’s legs.
gridiron
a field for football, marked with regularly spaced parallel lines
Jacob and Esau
The Book of Genesis speaks of the relationship between the fraternal twins, sons of Isaac and Rebekah, focusing on Esau’s loss of his birthright to Jacob and the conflict that ensued between their descendant nations because of Jacob’s deception of their aged and blind father, Isaac, in order to receive Esau’s birthright/blessing from Isaac.
lath
a thin flat strip of wood, especially one of a series forming a foundation for the plaster of a wall or the tiles of a roof, or made into a trellis or fence
sport-ute
sport utility vehicle
Roy Orbison
an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. He performed standing still, wearing black clothes to match his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses. (Oh, Pretty Woman)
suet
the hard white fat on the kidneys and loins of cattle, sheep, and other animals, used to make foods including puddings, pastry, and mincemeat. Suet is made into tallow in a process called rendering, which involves melting and extended simmering, followed by straining, cooling and usually by repeating the entire process.
The Acme Corporation
a fictional corporation that features prominently in the Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote animated shorts as a running gag featuring outlandish products that fail or backfire catastrophically at the worst possible times.
Émile Zola
a French novelist, playwright, journalist, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
an intergovernmental organization of 13 nations. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has since 1965 been headquartered in Vienna, Austria. As of September 2018, the 13 member countries accounted for an estimated 44 percent of global oil production and 81.5 percent of the world’s “proven” oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices that were previously determined by the so-called “Seven Sisters” grouping of multinational oil companies. A larger group called OPEC+ was formed in late 2016, to have more control on global crude oil market
all wet
completely wrong
op art
short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions
feed the kitty
togivemoneytoacollectionorpool(A”kitty”issuchacollectionofmoney.) Ante.
Erato
In Greek mythology, one of the Greek Muses. Erato is the Muse of love poetry.
“vim and vigor”
ebullient vitality and energy
Roche
Swiss pharma giant that bilked US federal and state governments out of $1.5 billion by misrepresenting clinical studies and falsely claiming that its well-known influenza medicine Tamiflu was effective at containing potential pandemics (according to a recently unsealed whistleblower lawsuit)
bilk
obtain or withhold money from (someone) by deceit or without justification; cheat or defraud
Plebeian
(in ancient Rome) a commoner. In the U.S. military, plebes are freshmen
carom
in billiards, a stroke in which the cue ball strikes two balls successively
Fez (also called Tarboosh)
a felt headdress in the shape of a short cylindrical peakless hat, usually red, and sometimes with a tassel attached to the top. The name “Fez” refers to the Moroccan city of Fez, where the dye to color the hat was extracted from crimson berries.
Edward Elgar
an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. He was appointed Master of the King’s Musick in 1924.
rove
travel constantly without a fixed destination; wander
roil
make (someone) annoyed or irritated
poi
the primary traditional staple food in the native cuisine of Hawaii, made from the underground stem (corm) of taro
rout
a disorderly retreat of defeated troops
Ken Jennings
an American game show contestant and author. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant of all time. Jennings holds the record for the longest winning streak on the U.S. game show Jeopardy! with 74 wins.
goon
a bully or thug, especially one hired to terrorize or do away with opposition
Bizarro World
a fictional planet appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. In popular culture, “Bizarro World” has come to mean a situation or setting which is weirdly inverted or opposite to expectations. Also known as Thrae (earth spelled backwards).
apse
a large semicircular or polygonal recess in a church, arched or with a domed roof, typically at the eastern end, and usually containing the altar
ipso facto
by that very fact or act (“the enemy of one’s enemy may be ipso facto a friend”)
Lucretia Mott
a U.S. Quaker, abolitionist, women’s rights activist, and social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongst the women excluded from the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840. In 1848 she was invited by Jane Hunt to a meeting that led to the first meeting about women’s rights. Mott helped write the Declaration of Sentiments during the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention.
ire
anger
née
originally called; born (used especially in adding a woman’s maiden name after her married name)
reed
a piece of thin cane or metal, sometimes doubled, that vibrates in a current of air to produce the sound of various musical instruments, as in the mouthpiece of a clarinet or oboe, at the base of some organ pipes, and as part of a set in the accordion and harmonica.
Sherpa
one of the indigenous group native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal and the Himalayas.
amulet
an ornament or small piece of jewelry thought to give protection against evil, danger, or disease
flanked
be on each or on one side of
avaricious
selfishly desiring wealth to the extreme
magnanimous
giving a lot of money or time than is expected
consequential
important
trite
overused and consequently of little import
subservient
prepared to do what someone wants unquestioningly
obstinate
stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion
red herring
something, especially a clue, that is or is intended to be misleading or distracting
Edam
a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands, and is named after the town of Edam in the province of North Holland. Edam is traditionally sold in rounded cylinders with a pale yellow interior and a coat, or rind, of red paraffin wax.
tau cross
a T-shaped cross, sometimes with all three ends of the cross expanded.
Eloi
one of the two fictional post-human races, along with the Morlocks, in H. G. Wells’ 1895 novel The Time Machine.
Corfu
a Greek island in the Ionian Sea
Rollie Fingers
an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Milwaukee Brewers
cel
short for celluloid, a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation
daft
silly; foolish
Exxon Valdez oil spill
occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, March 24, 1989, when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company, bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound’s Bligh Reef, 1.5 mi west of Tatitlek, Alaska, at 12:04 a.m. and spilled 10.8 million US gallons of crude oil over the next few days. It is considered the worst oil spill worldwide in terms of damage to the environment.
Aldo Gucci
the chairman of Gucci Shops Inc. from 1953 to 1986. He was the eldest son of Guccio Gucci, who founded the company bearing his name in 1921
tare
an allowance made for the weight of the packaging in order to determine the net weight of goods.
Elie Wiesel
a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.
sot
a habitual drunkard
The Western Wall (Wailing Wall, Kosel or Kotel. Known in Islam as the Buraq Wall)
an ancient limestone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is a relatively small segment of a far longer ancient retaining wall, known also in its entirety as the “Western Wall”. The wall was originally erected as part of the expansion of the Second Jewish Temple begun by Herod the Great, which resulted in the encasement of the natural, steep hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount, in a huge rectangular structure topped by a flat platform, thus creating more space for the Temple itself, its auxiliary buildings, and crowds of worshipers and visitors.
tam o’ shanter
or ‘tammie’ is a name given to the traditional Scottish bonnet worn by men.
reed
a tall, slender-leaved plant of the grass family, which grows in water or on marshy ground
Montreal Expos
a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (NL) East division from 1969 until 2004. Following the 2004 season, the franchise relocated to Washington, D.C., and became the Washington Nationals.
Edwin Hubble
an American astronomer. He played a crucial role in establishing the fields of extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology and is regarded as one of the most important astronomers of all time.
leery
cautious or wary due to realistic suspicions
ewer
a large jug with a wide mouth, formerly used for carrying water for someone to wash in
