{"id":169,"date":"2021-03-27T07:32:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-27T12:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordofweek.com\/?p=169"},"modified":"2021-03-27T07:32:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-27T12:32:44","slug":"word-of-the-week-50-hegemony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/?p=169","title":{"rendered":"W<\/strong>ORD OF THE <\/strong>W<\/strong>EEK <\/strong>#50 \u2013 hegemony<\/a><\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the news!<\/strong>

\u201cThe U.S. has exercised long-arm jurisdiction and suppression and overstretched the national security through the use of force or financial hegemony<\/strong>.\u201d

<\/em>WHAT? What the hell is hegemony?  This was recently spoken by the Chinese in their opening remarks at a joint conference in Alaska. Both countries were allotted two minutes, however the Chinese went on a 20 minute tirade against America. Perhaps it would have been a more congenial meeting if they had met somewhere warm\u2026maybe Hawaii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After seeing this I thought how could I not use hegemony as my \u201cWord of the Week\u201d.  I mean if someone is going to vehemently berate you and make charges against you on the world stage, it might be a good idea to understand what the hell they are saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegemony<\/strong> is a noun defined as \u201cpreponderant influence or authority over others: Domination\u201d. \u201cThey battled for hegemony <\/strong>in Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s pronounced:  “heh JIMINY” as in jiminy crickets. It is important to pronounce this properly if you plan on saying it, or you will risk sounding like a dunce and lose all the respect you may have gained from using it in the first place.  Here is a link to hear two ways of pronouncing correctly. Pick one and try saying it a few times.  It will start to roll off your tongue quite nicely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/hegemony<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other recent uses:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDavidson also said China could overtake the United States’ <\/em>hegemony<\/strong><\/em> <\/em>in global affairs and assume a world leadership role by 2050.\u201d <\/em> NBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKoons anticipated a global <\/em>hegemony <\/strong><\/em>of big money in contemporary art, symbolizing it in advance of its arrival.\u201d<\/em>  The New Yorker<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegemony is another great word from \u201cWord of the Week\u201d. Try using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A previous \u201cWord of the Week\u201d revisited:

<\/strong>b\u00e9chamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free b\u00e9chamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.” https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/bechamel<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quote of the Week:

<\/strong>“People will pay more to be entertained than educated.”<\/em> Johnny Carsen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sure miss Johnny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oops<\/strong>…I think they got this backward<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Until next Saturday,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gramps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifty 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. “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”.
<\/a>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 – <\/a>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 –  <\/strong>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 –  <\/a>truncate – shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – <\/a>coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – b\u00e9chamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free b\u00e9chamel 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 –  <\/strong>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\u2019s 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. \u201cI have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.\u201d
30 \u2013 puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. \u201cHis puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews\u201d.
31 \u2013 regnant – having the greatest influence – \u201cThe regnant belief\u201d.
32 \u2013 roil \u2013 to be agitated or chaotic \u2013 \u201cthe politics of slavery was roiling the United States\u201d.
33 \u2013 sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 \u2013 inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. \u201cThey will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.\u201d
35 \u2013 mendacity \u2013 untruthfulness, lying. \u201cHe blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.\u201d
36 \u2013 pejorative \u2013 Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   \u201cPermissiveness is often used a pejorative term\u201d.
37 \u2013 dystopian \u2013 A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. \u201cThe dystopian future of a society bereft of reason\u201d.
38 \u2013 Occam\u2019s razor \u2013 The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 \u2013 execrate or execrable \u2013 very bad \u2013 \u201cThe execrable hotel food.\u201d
40 \u2013 immutable \u2013 unchangeable \u2013 Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable.   
41 \u2013 prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. 
 \u201cShe\u2019d been the subject of much prurient <\/em><\/strong>curiosity\u201d.
42 \u2013 obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner.  \u201cWaiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.\u201d
43 \u2013 iconoclast –  a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions \u201cHe was a prolific writer with a reputation for iconoclastic insight and irreverent prose.\u201d
44 \u2013 oblique – something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line \u2013 slanting.
\u201cWe sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace. Or something not done in a direct way such as \u201cHe issued an oblique attack on the president\u201d.
45 \u2013 profligate \u2013 wasteful \u2013 wildly extravagant.  \u201cHe has always been a profligate spender, which is why he is broke.\u201d
46 – raconteur \u2013 a good teller of stories.  \u201cWe always invite her to dinner because she is a fine raconteur\u201d.
47 \u2013 taciturn – a person who is reserved or uncommunicative in speech\u2026saying little.  It usually connotes unsociability. \u201cNothing bothered the taciturn Hogan more that excessive praise.\u201d<\/em>
48 \u2013 fungible – capable of mutual substitution: interchangeable\/  \u201cThe court’s postulate is that male and female jurors must be regarded as fungible.\u201d
<\/em>49 \u2013 filibuster – The use of tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly. This currently requires a 60 vote Senate majority. \u201cThey stopped the bill from coming to a vote by the use of a filibuster\u201d.
<\/em>50 \u2013 hegemony – preponderant influence or authority over others: Domination. \u201cThey battled for hegemony in Asia.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the news! \u201cThe U.S. has exercised long-arm jurisdiction and suppression and overstretched the national security through the use of force or financial hegemony.\u201d WHAT? What the hell is hegemony?  This was recently spoken by the Chinese in their opening remarks at a joint conference in Alaska. Both countries were allotted two minutes, however the … Continue reading W<\/strong>ORD OF THE <\/strong>W<\/strong>EEK <\/strong>#50 \u2013 hegemony<\/a><\/strong><\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions\/178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}