Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 3 - Day 4

Word List
  • euphemism [yü´ fə miz əm]
    a less offensive term
    → “But now he was merely an elder statesman, the euphemism for a politician who no longer has any influence.” Robert Wallace, “Not Him”
  • mundane [mun´ dān]
    worldly
    → “Why bother with mundane musings when you can sit on the lawn and build cities out of grass clippings?” Enid Nemy, “The World is Her Cloister,” New York Times, 6/20/99
  • incongruous [in kong´ grü əs]
    inappropriate
    → “He was clothed with tatters of old ship’s canvas: and this extraordinary patchwork was held together by a system of various and incongruous fastenings.” Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
  • condolence [kən dō´ ləns]
    pity
    → “Words of condolence seem very poor things and yet they are all one can use to tell of one’s sympathy.” Maisie Ward, Father Maturin
  • stipulate [stip´ ū lāt]
    to specify a condition
    → “I shall come out from here five minutes before the stipulated term, and thus shall violate the agreement.” Anton Chekhov, “The Bet”

My cousin refers to himself as a “sanitary engineer”—a euphemism for garbage collector. There are any number of people who try to find more respectable or glamorous titles for the mundane jobs they hold. It may seem incongruous to call an undertaker a “condolence counselor,” or to refer to a taxi driver as a “transportation expediter,” but some prefer those titles. As a matter of fact, our butcher has stipulated that from now on he wants to be known as a “meat coordinator.” He became irate* when I inadvertently* called him “Butch.”

Sample Sentences In which blanks do the new words belong?

  1. We repudiated* the contract because it did not __________ a cost of living bonus.
  2. The word “expired” is a __________ for “died.”
  3. When my neighbor’s dog was run over, we sent a __________ card.
  4. The philosopher dealt with spiritual things, ignorning the __________ ones.
  5. The play was so __________ that it seemed to be the work of several authors.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. worldly
  2. b. a less offensive term
  3. c. to specify a condition
  4. d. inappropriate
  5. e. pity
  1. euphemism __________
  2. mundane __________
  3. incongruous __________
  4. condolence __________
  5. stipulate __________

Answer Key
to go up in smoke—to come to no practical result (kindling smokes but it will not light a fire)
The mayor’s plans to get the gubernatorial nomination went up in smoke when he couldn’t end the costly strike.

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