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Vocabulary drill: Five words
- 2. Five Words 1. Circumlocution 2. Moiety 3. Fatuous 4. Gerrymander 5. Churlish
- 3. Circumlocution It comes from the Latin word circum, circle and loqui, to speak So circumlocution is speaking in circles, going round and round in a wordy way without ever getting to the heart of the matter. It's an evasive style of argument, best employed when you really don't want to say what's on your mind.
- 4. Moiety A moiety is one of two equal parts. If you cut a sandwich in half, you can have one moiety for lunch and give the other moiety to a pigeon. One moiety plus one moiety equals a whole
- 5. Fatuous Fatuous derives from the Latin fatuus meaning "foolish." It sounds like it should have something to do with being fat, but it actually has no relation to size. Fatuous means lacking intelligence. When your mother outlaws calling your brother stupid, use fatuous instead
- 6. Gerrymander Some politicians change the boundaries of their voting districts in order to benefit themselves or their political party. To manipulate the boundaries like this often viewed as unfair is to gerrymander. The verb gerrymander first appeared in 1812 when Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry redrew district boundaries, hoping it would help his party in an upcoming senate election. Then somebody noticed that the new district looked like a salamander, so they combined Gerry and -mander to create the new word gerrymander.
- 7. Churlish A churlish person is one whose middle name might as well be Rude. Hes the one who was never taught to mind his manners and avoid telling vulgar jokes at the dinner table. Churlish has its origins in late Old English, but its modern- day meaning of deliberately rude developed in the 14th century.