Vocabulary List 2: Pointers and Practice Flashcards
ad hominem
It means “at the person” and in the field of logic or argumentation it refers to any time you attack a person’s identity as a way of avoiding the substance of their argument.
loan word
When you pluck a word from another language and plop it into ours, that is a loan word. This is a linguistics term. Linguistics, by the way, is the systematic study of how languages work.
ramifications
Just means consequences of some action taken.
prose
Just means “not poetry,” or, “normal” writing/speaking
vis-a-vis
means “in regards to,”
quid pro quo
“this for that.”
ellipsis
“…” that you use to skip words in a quote,
The presidential candidate said that she would “look into it […] and get something done.”
ubiquitous
that you see it everywhere
smartphones are ubiquitous in the modern age
schaudenfraude
it’s the malign pleasure you get, usually unconsciously, at the misfortune of someone you don’t like.
this morning I saw that teacher I hate trip and fall on his face while getting out of his car, and I have to admit I experienced a moment of schadenfreude.
etymology
Refers to a word’s history: where did it come from, what was the origin of the word? Etymon just refers to the original root word from which the modern word is derived.
i highly recommend regularly consulting an etymology dictionary for words you want to understand more thoroughly.
via
by way of.
I came to school via the freeway today.
perfunctory
Implies a limited and shallow application of something,
When teachers assign only busy-work, students gain only a perfunctory understanding of the content.
