VocabularyCurrent versus contemporaryThese two words are very similar some of the time, but can also be very different. current is an adjective that means “belonging to the present time, happening now”, for example:
It also means “in common or general use”: (more…) The R WordIn these times of apparent worldwide economic gloom and despair emanating from the collapse of the USA’s financial system, you may have heard reference on TV or elsewhere to the R word. What on earth is the R word? Sometimes it is difficult for people to accept facts. At such times, there may be certain words that people don’t like to say. If they need to express that word, they may use the first letter only, and hope that everyone else understands. It also suggests, and this is done partly in humour, that the word is a bad, “dirty” or otherwise offensive word. So just what is the R word? (more…) Optimum or optimal?Is there a difference between optimum and optimal? As adjectives, they have the same meaning: best; most favourable; most conducive to a good result They both come from the Latin optimus, meaning “best”. Look at these examples:
Optimum can also be a noun, while optimal has two derivatives:
Practical or practicable?Let’s try to understand the difference between these two words. practical (adjective): useful and suitable for a particular purpose
practicable (adjective): able to be done; can be put into practice
Note that there are a few other meanings for “practical”. Presume or assume?People are often unsure about the difference between these two words. Indeed, they are very close in meaning. to presume something (verb): to believe something to be true, but without being 100% sure
to assume something (verb): to take something for granted, to believe it without question
“Near miss”, “cause”Today we will look at two different terms: “near miss” and “cause”. We will use a short video to understand their meanings. In the video you will see Muntazer al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist, throwing both his shoes at the US president, George Bush Jnr. The journalist throws his shoes quite accurately, but the shoes don’t hit Mr Bush. They “miss” him, but only just. In fact, they nearly hit his head. So we can describe the incident as a “near miss”. When two aircraft nearly hit each other, that is also a near miss. Now let us turn to Mr Bush’s reaction afterwards (you can read the full transcript below). Mr Bush says that he doesn’t know “what the guy’s cause is”. In this context, the word “cause” means “a principle or movement that you believe in deeply and are prepared to defend or promote”. For example: Mother Teresa of Calcutta devoted her life to the cause of poor and sick people. Muntazer al-Zaidi’s cause is the widows and orphans and everyone killed in Iraq as a result of the US-led invasion of Iraq. Al-Zaidi (translated): This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog. This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq. Bush: So what if the guy threw a shoe at me? … Er, it is one way to gain attention. Er, it’s like going to a political rally and having people yell at you. It’s like driving down the street and have [having] people not gesturing with all five fingers. It’s a way for people to draw, you know, attention…I dunno what the guy’s cause is, but one thing is for certain, he caused you to ask me a question about him. e.g. or i.e. ?People often confuse these two abbreviations. e.g. means “for example”. (It comes from the Latin exempli gratia “for the sake of an example”.)
i.e. means “that is”. (It comes from the Latin id est “that is”.)
When we use e.g. we simply offer some examples or suggestions among many. When we use i.e. we say exactly what we are talking about. Note that you will often see them written without full stops or periods, thus: eg and ie Also note that “that is to say” means the same as “that is”. Quantum of SolaceRead lyrics below Quantum of WHAT?! Even the director of the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace hated the title at first. “I was like, ‘Quantum of Solace’, what’s that about?” Marc Forster told a group of journalists in New York. Explaining that the title came from an original short story by Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond), Forster added: “At the beginning it took me a little while to get used to it. But it kind of grew on me.” quantum (noun): 1. a share; a portion 2. [scientific] a discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the frequency of the radiation it represents
solace (noun): consolation or comfort at a time of sadness or distress
On the face of it, the title means something like “Share of Comfort” or “Portion of Compassion”, but since I believe the storyline of the movie involves an appropriately green plot I suspect that there may be some play on words—specifically the word “quantum”.
NB: this is not the official Bond song for this movie Nosedive
You may have seen those scary headlines in financial papers, or on TV: “Markets nosedive” What does “nosedive” mean? These two pictures should make it clear. The first one shows an aircraft nosediving. The second one is a chart of a stock that opened at $90 at 9am and then nosedived between 3pm and 4pm to finish at $30.
When is an asset a “troubled asset”?If you haven’t yet heard about TARP, you probably will do any day soon. TARP is the US government’s “Troubled Asset Relief Program”—a $700,000,000,000 slush fund for Hank and Co. to bail out their buddies on Wall Street and throughout the US banking sector. It’s not just in the USA that this kind of organized crime has taken root. It’s all the rage from London to Sydney too. But what is particularly striking about Hank’s little plan is the clever title he gave it, incorporating the term “troubled asset”. In my absolute ignorance, I always thought that a troubled asset was a liability.
“When words lose their meaning, people lose their freedom.” - Confucius |