Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know (MCQ Test + PDF) Week 4 - Day 3
NEW WORDS
- tangible [tan´ jə bəl]
“I hated it, not because of our one overcrowded closet, but because of intrusions and discomforts of a far less tangible nature.” Mary Ellen Chase, “A Room of My Own”
- laceration [las ə rā´ shən]
“He pressed only the already tired horse at such speed that his spurs made lacerations in its sides, and at last the poor animal died.” Honore De Balzac, A Passion in the Desert
- castigate [kas´ tə gāt]
“Here is Holofernes commenting upon Armando, a mad wordman who castigates another while himself vocalizes into a fine frenzy.” Harold Bloom, Shakespeare
- sordid [sôr´ did]
“The workmen used revolting language; it was disgusting and sordid.” Katherine Mansfield, “The Garden Party”
- octogenarian [ok´ tə jə nār´ i ən]
“Octogenarian film and stage director Elia Kazan received a mixed reception when he came up to collect his Lifetime Achievement Award.” Associated Press report, 4/7/98
TODAY’S IDIOM
Hobson’s choice—to have no choice at all (Mr. Hobson owned a livery stable but he did not allow the customers to pick their own horses)
Despite all the talk about democracy in my family, my father usually gives the rest of us Hobson’s choice.
