WORD OF THE WEEK #44 – oblique

“Mt. St. Helens is an almost cliched image of mountain glory, its glacial shadows outlined and emphasized by the oblique rays.”

From the book “Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide” by Robert Michael Pyle.  Don’t laugh.  It’s a good read, and he brings up some pretty convincing evidence that Bigfoot may still be out there.  Why not! His book is also the inspiration for the movie “The Dark Divide”…which is quite good.

We have all seen or heard the word oblique, but do you know what it means.  I didn’t.

oblique – adjective – pronounced uh BLEEK – or oh BLIKE.  It appears that there are two pronunciations.  I prefer “uh BLEEK”.

It means something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line – slanting. “We sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace.

A more interesting definition is that it can also mean something not done in a direct way such as “He issued an oblique attack on the president”.

This is another great word for you to have in your vocabulary. Properly using this word will make you appear intelligent without appearing pretentious.

To learn more about this word, and to hear one of the correct pronunciations hit the following link:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oblique

To hear the other pronunciation go here:
https://www.bing.com/search?q=oblique+definition&PC=ATOO&FORM=OOFC01&PTAG=ATOO01GGCORE

A previous “Word of the Week” revisited:

segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/segue

And this to put a smile on that face…..

Quote of the Week:

On a more serious note, this week’s quote comes from one of the greatest movies of all time.

“Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you”

Spoken by Sam Elliott to the Dude in “The Big Lebowski”.  Something to meditate on…..it’s a classic movie for sure.

Until next Saturday,

Gramps

Forty four weeks of great words:

1 –   exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2 –   assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense. From A. Lincoln “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”
3 –   force majeure’ –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 –   sanguine – optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 –   segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 –   bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 –   indolent –  habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 –   ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9 –   truncate – to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – béchamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free béchamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy –  absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications.  “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic –  foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was quite simply foolish.”
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight.  “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge.  In response to a demand to immediately surrender he sent back the following: “Nuts”.
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile.  “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.  From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.
25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect.  “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.” 
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust.  “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important.  “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president’s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion.  “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. “I have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.”
30 – puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. “His puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews”.
31 – regnant – having the greatest influence – “The regnant belief”.
32 – roil – to be agitated or chaotic – “the politics of slavery was roiling the United States”.
33 – sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 – inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. “They will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.”
35 – mendacity – untruthfulness, lying. “He blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.”
36 – pejorative – Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   “Permissiveness is often used a pejorative term”.
37 – dystopian – A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. “The dystopian future of a society bereft of reason”.
38 – Occam’s razor – The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 – execrate or execrable – very bad – “The execrable hotel food.”
40 – immutable – unchangeable – Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable.   
41 – prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. “She’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”.
42 – obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner.  “Waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.”
43 – iconoclast –  a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions “He was a prolific writer with a reputation for iconoclastic insight and irreverent prose.”
44 – oblique – something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line – slanting. “We sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace. Or something not done in a direct way such as “He issued an oblique attack on the president”.