-- W 04 -- Words for Feeling; Expression; and Action

-- W 04 -- Words for Feeling, Expression, and Action

Spelling and Pronunciation

Homonyms/Homophones

Baffling English

Chapter 3: Words for Feeling, Expression, and Action

In this chapter you will learn new words for emotions, thoughts, and actions. Instead of saying you feel very happy, you can use the word elated. When you are bored by a speech, you can describe it as bland. When you see someone imitating a good model, you can say she is emulating it. In short, this chapter will help you use more vivid and precise language.

Feeling Collocations

Expression Collocations

Action Collocations



Chapter Strategy: Context Clues of Definition

Context clues classification/definitions

Chapter Words

Part 1
bland
contemplate
enigma
boisterous
dynamic
ludicrous
clarify
elated
skeptical
concise
emulate
thwart


Part 2

appall
condemn
flamboyant
articulate
contend
frenetic
belligerent
elicit
harass
chagrin
emphatic
undermine

Trivia

Naming a car requires much work. How is it done? At times, car manufacturers come up with names themselves. Or they may hire brand consultants that charge as much as $200,000. Some companies have provided insights into this process. Mazda did consumer research in the 1990s and found that names were preferred to numbers in Canada. So, for example, in the Canadian market, the MX-3 became the Precidia. In the 1950s, Chrysler unveiled a car called La Femme that was targeted for women. It was pink and white, and it included such equipment as a matching handbag! At times, mistakes are made. In one famous example, the failure of the Chevy Nova to sell in Spain may have been due to the fact that Nova means "no go" in Spanish. At times, manufacturers battle over car names. In 2006, Honda sued Ford Motor Company, stating that the name for Lincoln's newest SUV, the MKX, largely copied the name of the Honda Acura MDX.

Dynamic has many forceful relatives. The word is from the ancient Greek dynamis, meaning “power.” Dynamite is a powerful explosive. The word dyne means “a complex unit of force.” Tracing the origin of these words back even further into Indo-European, the root deu-gives us more words. A dynasty, for example, is a line of powerful rulers who are all members of one family, such as a grandfather, father, and son who are kings. Dynasty can also be used in other ways, such as a dynasty of business leaders within a family.

Chagrin comes to us from French. English has borrowed other French words. Many are from the fields of fashion and cooking. Examples are lingerie for “expensive women’s underwear.” The word chic means “fashionable.” Cuisine, taught later in this book, is a type of cooking. Souffle is an airy dessert pudding. A chef is a master cook and is related to the word chief. Entrée is now a main course, but it once meant the first course. It is related to enter. Hors d'oeurves (the h is silent) is a common English word for appetizers. But we can’t seem to agree on the spelling. Sometimes we spell it hors dourves. In French it means “outside the work.”

The word undermine is a compound word, suggesting mining (or digging) under something in order to weaken it. English has thousands of compound words. Here are just a few formed with back: backache, backboard, backbone, backpack, backhand, backwoods, andbackwater.