abstemious
and three more really cool words
this week’s Thought (singular)
my top three things to spread on bread are butter, butter, and peanut butter. sometimes jam
a very warm welcome to all new readers. i love new readers so much that whenever i get an email about a new reader, i manifest that their wi-fi doesn’t stop working in the middle of a meeting. thank you for joining us. may you not have to reschedule/panic/get frustrated on hearing no response or being told that your voice is breaking too much.
hi
welcome to another widely anticipated edition of Vocabulary Builder with me, jahnavi. you can find the previous editions here, here, here, and here. thanks for tuning in!
abstemious (adjective) - indulging only very moderately in something, especially food and drink
‘He was abstemious at breakfast, probably preoccupied with the stress of his impending exam.’
cabal (noun) - a secret political clique or faction
‘The top handful of premier league clubs coalesce in a highly vocal and influential cabal to assert their own interests.’ (from The Guardian, 2015)
phantasmagoric (adjective) - characterized by or pertaining to rapid changes in light intensity and colour
‘To witness the phantasmagoric display of the Northern Lights is on many people’s bucket list.’
narked (adjective) - annoyed; informal british
‘I was marked at being shoved around at the concert by the man who was taller than me and was still trying to push his way in front of me.’
as always, let me know if you ever get to use these, and also if you ever remember to remember these!
English Recitation Competition
The Wild Swans, Li Qingzhao (translated from the French of Judith Gautier by James Whitall)
I turn to look at the mountain; there is a thick mist, a dismal rain, and I gaze down at the wind-dappled river, the river that flows past me forever without bearing away my sorrow. I have kept the rain of my tears on the crape of my tunic; with a gesture I fling these bitter drops to the wild swans on the river, that they may be my messengers.
New Moon Newton, Oliver Baez Bendorf
so can I say it: love frightens me the matter it contains the speed the direction even words of thanks at the reference desk from a patron gracias, amor haunt me in the quiet places . . . but if “god is change” then is it god who sent my matter hurtling back into the open open can anybody tell me how to contain it
Tin Woman’s Lament, Yolanda Wisher
i’d rather have a heart born of the lust between a sonnet & a blues song a coleridge-wild weed hoochie coochie heart a we real cool heart aboard the impossible spawn of slave ships an undying, maroon eternally brown in the black hills heart i’d rather have a heart that beats that beats that beats that beats that beats
The Good Side of the Internet
… has been permanently shifted to
. subscribe for many many links at the end of each month, and tell your friends about it :DA Picture!
this week’s Song
find all shared songs here.
thank you for reading, and see you maaaybe next week <3
yes? no? maybe? let me know!