Secrets to vocabulary
Now we'll give you an example of how easy and effective our word power system is. For each word we'll be doing these four steps that you'll do on your own.
One, I'll pronounce and spell the new word. Be sure to repeat the pronunciation after me so that you have it right. Two, I'lldefine the word. Three, for some of the words I'll explain the origin and the meaning of the root when it's useful. I'll give their prefix and its meaning as well as the suffix. Four, I'll use the word in several or more sentences.
We've already talked about the word circumspect. That means cautious, watchful, to look around before taking action. Here's another one you've probably seen and heard: proprietary, p-r-o-p-r-i-e-t-a-r-y. Remember to repeat the pronunciation after me: proprietary. The basic meaning of proprietary is privately owned and it's usually associated with products manufactured, sold and patented by a particular firm. Let's use it in a sentence: “Pharmaceutical companies introduced new proprietary drugs,” or “a computer company might develop proprietary software.
Our third word is syndrome, s-y-n-d-r-o-m-e. Syndrome is a pattern or a set of symptoms characterizing an abnormal state. If you've done any jogging, possibly you've heard of runner's knee syndrome; or countries with financial problems may have a dangerous syndrome of high inflation. Here's a clue to remembering it. The Greek prefix syn, s-y-n, means together and the root dramon in Greek means to run. So think of syndrome as a series of several small streams of trouble all eventually running together to form a big river of troubles. Other words with this prefix syn meaning together are syndicate, synthesis, synergy.
The fourth word is one that has to do with prestige and status. It's cachet, c-a-c-h-e-t. In my book I said that a Rolls Royce, designer clothes or Tiffany jewelry are a few of the expensive status symbols in our society that confer a sense of cachet on the person who owns them; prestige or status. Cachet is something many people work very hard at getting and in some circles it's more important than money. Here's a memory tip. If you can cash a check-this is a plan the word cachet-if you can cash a check in the best restaurants, you obviously have a good deal of prestige.
Parameter, p-a-r-a-m-e-t-e-r, is our fifth word. Parameter. Parameter used to be strictly a scientific word of relative measurement, but in recent years it's gone public so to speak and we the public use it in a sense of a guideline or criterion. For example, One of the government's parameters of foreign policy,“ or ”At the Board of Directors meeting, Paul asked about the company's marketing parameters, guidelines or criteria.“ The prefix para, p-a-r-a, which means along side of is found in other words such as paralegal or paramilitary. In parameter, the element meter, m-e-t-e-r, comes from the Greek metron, m-e-t-r-o-n, a measuring stick. So parameter is literally a measuring stick along side of what is being measured. Be sure not to make the mistakes that many people do to confuse parameter with perimeter. Perimeter is the outer edge of a boundary. Perimeter and parameter are two very different words.
Gregarious Mary is both a politician and a poet. The anomaly in her personality is that she is both outgoing and circumspect. She embraces an ambition for the cachet of a potent vocabulary with which she can adroitly confound her political opponents and additionally she can express her ideas in the form of blank verse. When running for election, she uses the subterfuge of repudiating her opponents with pejorative comments about their abilities to comprehend the parameters of public policy. One might say that her opponents display a syndrome called being tongue-tied. In her work as a poet, she has developed an almost proprietary style of writing in which the verbal images have an asymmetric quality that impress the readers with their uniqueness. Extrapolating from our description, you can imagine that Mary's nemesis is conformity. Her mastery of vocabulary is striking and memorable.
Now we'll give you an example of how easy and effective our word power system is. For each word we'll be doing these four steps that you'll do on your own.
One, I'll pronounce and spell the new word. Be sure to repeat the pronunciation after me so that you have it right. Two, I'lldefine the word. Three, for some of the words I'll explain the origin and the meaning of the root when it's useful. I'll give their prefix and its meaning as well as the suffix. Four, I'll use the word in several or more sentences.
We've already talked about the word circumspect. That means cautious, watchful, to look around before taking action. Here's another one you've probably seen and heard: proprietary, p-r-o-p-r-i-e-t-a-r-y. Remember to repeat the pronunciation after me: proprietary. The basic meaning of proprietary is privately owned and it's usually associated with products manufactured, sold and patented by a particular firm. Let's use it in a sentence: “Pharmaceutical companies introduced new proprietary drugs,” or “a computer company might develop proprietary software.
Our third word is syndrome, s-y-n-d-r-o-m-e. Syndrome is a pattern or a set of symptoms characterizing an abnormal state. If you've done any jogging, possibly you've heard of runner's knee syndrome; or countries with financial problems may have a dangerous syndrome of high inflation. Here's a clue to remembering it. The Greek prefix syn, s-y-n, means together and the root dramon in Greek means to run. So think of syndrome as a series of several small streams of trouble all eventually running together to form a big river of troubles. Other words with this prefix syn meaning together are syndicate, synthesis, synergy.
The fourth word is one that has to do with prestige and status. It's cachet, c-a-c-h-e-t. In my book I said that a Rolls Royce, designer clothes or Tiffany jewelry are a few of the expensive status symbols in our society that confer a sense of cachet on the person who owns them; prestige or status. Cachet is something many people work very hard at getting and in some circles it's more important than money. Here's a memory tip. If you can cash a check-this is a plan the word cachet-if you can cash a check in the best restaurants, you obviously have a good deal of prestige.
Parameter, p-a-r-a-m-e-t-e-r, is our fifth word. Parameter. Parameter used to be strictly a scientific word of relative measurement, but in recent years it's gone public so to speak and we the public use it in a sense of a guideline or criterion. For example, One of the government's parameters of foreign policy,“ or ”At the Board of Directors meeting, Paul asked about the company's marketing parameters, guidelines or criteria.“ The prefix para, p-a-r-a, which means along side of is found in other words such as paralegal or paramilitary. In parameter, the element meter, m-e-t-e-r, comes from the Greek metron, m-e-t-r-o-n, a measuring stick. So parameter is literally a measuring stick along side of what is being measured. Be sure not to make the mistakes that many people do to confuse parameter with perimeter. Perimeter is the outer edge of a boundary. Perimeter and parameter are two very different words.
Gregarious Mary is both a politician and a poet. The anomaly in her personality is that she is both outgoing and circumspect. She embraces an ambition for the cachet of a potent vocabulary with which she can adroitly confound her political opponents and additionally she can express her ideas in the form of blank verse. When running for election, she uses the subterfuge of repudiating her opponents with pejorative comments about their abilities to comprehend the parameters of public policy. One might say that her opponents display a syndrome called being tongue-tied. In her work as a poet, she has developed an almost proprietary style of writing in which the verbal images have an asymmetric quality that impress the readers with their uniqueness. Extrapolating from our description, you can imagine that Mary's nemesis is conformity. Her mastery of vocabulary is striking and memorable.