Toady

Toady

<tow-dee>

one who grovels; panderer; flatterer;

a person who always obeys and always says yes to another.

Memory trick:
toady reminds of toad or frog.
A toad is considered a lowly animal.

Used at work:
He does whatever he's told because he is a good toady.

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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Meretricious

Meretricious

<merr-reh-trish-shush>

cheap; gaudy; fake;

faking something in a flashy or  false way.

Her clothes were meretricious in nature. They looked expensive but they were cheap.

Memory trick:
meretricious reminds of "mere tricks us".

Used at work:
Your business cards are meretricious. They look good even though you printed them yourself.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Umbrage

Umbrage

<um-bridge>

feeling insulted; taking offense; be annoyed

I take umbrage at the suggestion my hat is ugly.

Memory trick:
Sounds like un-bridge - I un-bridge from you when you offend me.

Used at work:
He took umbrage because he was told his report was bad.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Fervid

Fervid

<fur-vid>

passionate; hot; intense;

having intense passion or desire for something or someone.

The fervid speech made everyone stand up and cheer.

Memory trick:
Fervid reminds of fever

Used at work:
The fervid intern quickly learned the job and became a valuable employee.






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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Antediluvian

Antediluvian

<ant-tee-dee-loo-vee-an>

ancient; old; outdated;

extremely old fashioned or antiquated

The antediluvian car did not have windshield wipers. They weren't invented yet.

Memory trick:
Ante = before
diluvian = flood
So old it was before the great flood.

Used at work:
My antediluvian computer is the reason I can't get anything done. I need a new one.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Pastiche

Pastiche

<pah-steesch>

copy; impersonation; spoof;

copying artistic work from another in imitation or parody.

Your painting is a pastiche of all the modern masterpieces. You copied a little from each artist.

Memory trick: PAST ISH. It is past ish looking.

Used at work:
Your new campaign is a pastiche of the old campaigns. It is not new and original.



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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Artful

Artful

<art-fool>

tricky, clever; skilled;

good at getting things done in a sneaky way.

The artful dog knew to beg when I wanted to watch the game. He knew I would give in to make him go away.

Memory trick: Artful reminds of "full of art" or a skilled artist.

Used at work:
He is an artful slacker. He always gets out of work.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Allegory

Allegory

<ahl-la-gor-ee>

fable; tale; story;

a story using symbolism and having a hidden meaning.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf is an allegory about the dangers of lying.

Remember: Allegory reminds us of ALL STORY.

Used at work:
Our commercial is an allegory about the perils of not backing up your computer.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

You make your aerostat go higher.

You make your aerostat go higher. Why are you not warmer?
Answer below:
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An aerostat is a blimp or a balloon.

Amity

Amity

<am-mit-tee>

amity - friendship; harmony; cooperation;

a good relationship or goodwill.

There was so much amity between our teams we decided to work together.

Remember: Rhymes with family.

Used at work:
We are doing well because we have amity with our clients.



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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Agglomerate

Agglomerate

<ah-glom-er-rayte>

to combine or collect together as one.

Peanut butter and jelly make a delicious agglomerate.

Remember: GLOM at a fast RATE

Used at work:
Let agglomerate our findings and present them together in one report.

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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Avarice

Avarice

<ah-ver-ris>

greedy; miserly; stingy;

Having a great desire for money over all else.

His avarice was endless and he stole whenever he could.

Remember: avarice reminds us of vice. Greed is a vice.
Vice is a bad behavior.

Used at work:
What out for his avarice. He will steal the credit if he can.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

I use a microscope to look in your annals.

I use a microscope to look in your annals.

What do I see?

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A record of a historical event.

I send an annalist to build your website.

I send an annalist to build your website.

You give him an arrant design and a cup of tea.

Why did your website never get finished?
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An annalist is a historian.

Arrears

Arrears

<ah-reers>

debt; money owed; dues;

owing money that is past due.

not paying money on time as promised.

With hard work and a good attitude you will never be in arrears.

My rent was in arrears until I won the lottery.

Remember: Arrears reminds us of - are rear or are behind.
The rear is in the back or behind.
They are behind payments.

Used at work:
We can use the money we made to get out of arrears. It is a great day!

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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

 

Allay

Allay

<ah-lay>

relieve; calm; soothe;

to reduce and fear or worry

He is wearing a helmet and that should allay your worry about him riding a bicycle.

Remember: Allay reminds us of lay. We lay something away and no longer see it.
Or: We lay something down and no longer carry it.

Used at work:
I prepared well for this meeting so allay any thought that it won't go well.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Abstemious

 Abstemious

<ab-steam-ee-us>

restrained; self-denying; frugal

abstaining or denying food or drink

He is abstemious. He will not eat junk food.

You will never be fat when you are abstemious.

Remember: abstemious reminds of abstinence.

Used at work:
There are donuts in the break room. It's a good thing I am abstemious.




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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Corollary

Corollary

<kor-ro-lair-ree>

Something that must have happened after a certain event.

Getting good grades is a corollary of good study habits.

Landing is a corollary of jumping up.

Remember: Co ROLL ary - Roll to the next thing.

Used at work:
A good computer program is a corollary of good design.









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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Adduce

Adduce

<ah-doose>

cite; show; point out;

to present proof for consideration.

I will adduce my license and prove my age to you.

Remember: Adduce rhymes with deduce.

Used at work:
We will adduce our designs and show we invented it first.

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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Broach

Broach

<bro-ohch>

raise; bring up; propose;

to bring up a topic for the first time.

I will broach the subject with him and he will be surprised.

Memory trick: Rhymes with approach.
We approach them with something new.

Used at work:
Broach the new idea with her and see what see thinks about it.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Misanthrope

Misanthrope

<mis-en-throwp>

hater; loner; cynic

a person who dislikes people

She was a misanthrope until the village awarded her a great honor.

He built a moat around his house because he was a misanthrope and he wanted to be left alone.

Used at work:
He is a good computer programmer because he is a misanthrope and he always works.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Axiom

Axiom

<ask-ee-ahm>

truth; proverb; theorem;

a rule or truth that cannot be questioned.

The law of gravity is an axiom. An apple will always fall to the ground.

Two plus two will always equal four. It is an undeniable axiom.

Remember: Maximum truth.

Used at work:
I believe the axiom that there is no such thing as bad publicity.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Flabbergast

Flabbergast

<flah-bah-gahst>

astonish, surprise; astound

fill with wonder and amazement.

The flabbergasted boy screamed and ran away.

I was flabbergasted when the magician made the cow fly.

Memory trick: Our FLAB jumps like GAS when we giggle from surprise.

Used at work:
I am flabbergasted we made the deadline. I thought we would miss it.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Ken

ken

<rhymes with men>

awareness; comprehension; vision

The limit of your knowledge or understanding.

Calculus is beyond my ken.

The explanation was beyond my ken. I did not understand it.

Remember: Ken reminds of can.
What you CAN understand.

Used at work:
Doing computer programming is above my ken.

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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Alumnus

Alumnus

<ah-loom-nus>

former member; graduate

A male who has attended a school or university.

He is funny because he is an alumnus of Clown College.

He is a distinguished alumnus and graduated in 2005.

Alumni is the plural of alumnus.

Memory trick:
LOOM US after we leave.

Used at work:
He is an alumnus of the Orange software team that made our best product.









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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Accost

Accost

<ah-kost>

confront; approach; annoy

approach someone in an aggressive or menacing way.

They accosted him in the yard and he got mad.

The mime accosted the stranger who ran away.

He accosted her and she did not like it.

Television advertisers accost our happiness.

Remember: We COST them when we demand their attention.

Used at work:
I will accost him about the missing book. I will demand he tells me where it is.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Chide

Chide

<ch-eye>

scold; berate; lecture

To chastise someone or disapprove of someone's actions.

I chided him for eating too fast.

She always chides me for going out without a sweater.

Memory trick: We ask them to c HIDE their actions from us.

Used at work:
I chided him for being late each day.

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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

 

Yawner

Yawner

<yorn-ner>

boring; uninteresting; dull

Something that is so unexciting that it makes you yawn.

You yawn by opening your mouth and take a big breath because nothing eventful is happening.

The movie is a yawner. It was so boring I could not stay awake.

The play was a yawner. It's a real snoozer.

Memory trick: We yawn when we are bored.

Used at work:
You presentation is a yawner. You should add pictures to liven it up.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Bombastic

Bombastic

<bom-bass-tik>

flowery; inflated; overblown

Having a flowery lofty style with no real importance. Important sounding with little real information.

His bombastic art was simple yet interesting.

Her bombastic speech was inspiring although the message was empty.

Memory trick: A bomb is visually impressive and "astic" reminds us of fantastic.
It is impressive but the message is fantastic or fantasy.

Used at work:
Your presentation was bombastic. Let's hope they don't notice it really says nothing.



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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers