Wednesday, February 4, 2009

A Word a Day.

We thought this word would never come from an English dictionary... but hey, it does exists!!! In Singapore context, some of us unknowingly use this word as a local type of food, a form of meat dumpling. I've included this just so you know that you may use this word in your writing!

wanton \WON-tn\, adjective;The plural is faunas or faunae.:
1. reckless, heartless, or malicious; without reason or excuse
2. not moral; lewd, lascivious

"Such (a) stand and attitude are leading to the grave, wanton violation of all the north-south agreements," the report said.-- Kwang-Tae Kim, Denver Post, 2008-11-11

Ram raiders have smashed through the main admissions area of Royal North Shore Hospital, stealing the contents of an ATM and assaulting a man, in a rampage police have called "wanton bloody destruction".-- Dylan Welch, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2008-11-11

A Few Words a Day.

sallow \SAL-oh\, adjective:
having a sickly, yellowish color

"After several days of flying in space, the astronauts may look wan and sallow, so medical staff will put make-up on them to make them look ruddy," the newspaper said.-- The Sydney Morning Herald, 2005-10-17

Actually, Thompson looked old and sallow, as he faced the cameras for a few seconds before hopping into a waiting GMC Envoy.-- The Washington Post, 2007-04-19

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vacuous \VAK-yoo-uhs\, adjective:
1. showing no intelligence or thought
2. having no meaning or direction; empty

The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.-- Don Frederick, LA Times

McCain's campaign has been mocking Obama on television and in speeches for weeks, attacking him personally as a vacuous celebrity.-- Ben Smith, Denver Post, 2008-08-29

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acclaim \uh-KLEYM\, verb:
1. to welcome with loud approval; praise highly
2. a shout or show of approval

A day after abandoning his proposal to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, Gov. Eliot Spitzer won the kind of wide acclaim from elected officials that he could not win for the proposal itself.-- Nicholas Confessore and Raymond Hernandez, New York Times, 2007-11-15

H. Igor Ansoff, a retired educator and author whose visionary theories on strategic business manage-ment inspired worldwide acclaim died Sunday in Escondido.-- Jack Williams, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 2002-07-16

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defalcate \di-FAL-keyt\, verb:
to steal or misuse money or property entrusted to one's care

The stockbroker defalcated millions from investment clients.