Word of the Day for November 20th 2009:

Chur

Chur  /kʊər/ [koor]
–noun a town in and the capital of Grisons, in E Switzerland. 32,600.

Chur is the capital of Graubunden (Grisons) canton, eastern Switzerland. It lies on the Plessur River in the Rhine Valley. The meeting point of roads from Italy over several Alpine passes, it was important in Roman times as Curia Raetorum, the centre of the Roman province of Raetia. First mentioned in 452 as the seat of a bishopric, it was ruled in the Middle Ages by its bishops, who became princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1170. Chur was the centre of the Gotteshausbund (League of the House of God) against the power of the prince bishops and the Habsburgs in 1367, and it became the capital of the new canton of Graubunden in 1803. Notable landmarks include the Catholic Cathedral (1175-1282), the Episcopal (Bishop’s) Palace (rebuilt 1728-37), the Protestant Church of St. Martin (8th century, rebuilt 1476-91), the Raetian Museum, and art and natural history museums.

éclaircissement: illumination, enlightenment, clearing up of something puzzling

WORD OF THE DAY

abundance

Look up the definition at

dictionary.com

Please leave your definition in the comment section to let us know you were here!     Thank you from the TRiO staff.

Incommensurable:

–adjective

1. not commensurable; having no common basis, measure, or standard of comparison.

2. utterly disproportionate.

3. Mathematics. (of two or more quantities) having no common measure.

Woot: Another word I didn’t know existed until I got Facebook. It has now replaced my in-college sister as my number-one source for what’s new in slang.

Woot is a celebratory exclamation, which, like pwned, has gamer origins. It has an alternate spelling, with zeros instead of o’s. According to unwords.com, it can be an acronym for We Owned the Other Team, and was “initially used by gamers to express victory via landslide, now its meaning has been generalized to express accomplishment.”

The word of the day is Balls-tastic! (Mike told me that he missed the made up words) Use it at least once today.

Example Sentences:

“That show is so good it’s balls-tastic.”

“Cheesecake is balls-tastic; sometimes I like to spell it Cheezecake, which is also balls-tastic.”

~Nicole

“Persist means the ability to keep going through failure, pain, rejection, criticism, negativity and crap” – Richard St. John

The word of the day is taradiddle (means silly talk, suggested to me by Heather)! Use it at least once today.

Example Sentences: (Please excuse me if I use this word improperly, I am not familiar with it)

“My mum is talking some crazy taradiddle today.”

“I don’t like hearing taradiddle in the news…it’s so annoying.”

~Nicole

Decide

As Mr. Matt Knoth succinctly put it, “Thanksgiving is just a normal day in Germany…”

So true. I still had to go to school today (unfortunately) and if the weather holds up I have soccer practice this evening. Needless to say, I won’t be gorging myself on turkey today. However, this weekend I’m meeting up with some other Congress-Bundestag students to celebrate Thanksgiving.

das Erntedankfest: harvest festival or Thanksgiving day.

-MEK

How to Build a Portico | eHow.com.

How Does a Plumb Bob Work? | eHow.com.

supercilious (soo-per-sil-ee-uhs)

Function: adjective

source

Teacher’s Notes:

Imagine that there’s a super hero, let’s call him Super Manny. Super Manny is superhuman. He is super-strong, super-smart, supergood-looking, and super-fast. Unfortunately, he’s also super- rude and super-proud of himself.

Now, imagine that the world is about to end thanks to the deranged machinations of a balding, evil millionaire with an unhealthy resentment towards/obsession with Super Manny. As expected, Super Manny manages to squelch this evil doer’s plans, however not without wreaking damage across a large metropolitan area in the process. Cars were crushed, a few buildings demolished, and a large ocean liner was split in half, but the world is now safe.

“Your city may be shambles, but the world is now safe,” says Super Manny with a supercilious grin. “You silly little commoners are always getting into silly little trouble. What would you do without the help of a superior being such as myself.” Once again he breaks out into a supercilious smile, only this time you notice that there’s a piece of spinach stuck between two of his teeth. You decide not to say anything because his superciliousness is super-irritating.

Super Manny superciliously believes that he is superior to others and treats everyone as if they were silly and super beneath him.What a super jerk!

temerarious \tem-uh-RAIR-ee-us\ adjective
: marked by temerity : rashly or presumptuously daring

Example sentence:
The brave explorer set off for the unplumbed depths of the dangerous cave with only a few supplies and one temerarious companion.

Did you know?
If you have guessed that “temerarious” may be related to the somewhat more common word “temerity,” you are correct. “Temerarious” was borrowed into English in the early 16th century from Latin “temerarius,” which in turn derives from Latin “temere,” meaning “blindly” or” recklessly.” “Temerity,” which arrived in English over a century earlier, also derives from “temere”; another descendant is the rare word “intemerate” (meaning “pure” or “undefiled”). “Temere” itself is akin to Old High German “demar,” Latin “tenebrae,” and Sanskrit “tamas,” all of which have associations with darkness.

From M-W.com

temerity

Occasional

adj. Afflicting us with greater or less frequency. That, however, is not the sense in which the word is used in the phrase “occasional verses,” which are verses written for an “occasion,” such as an anniversary, a celebration or other event. True, they afflict us a little worse than other sorts of verse, but their name has no reference to irregular recurrence.

Word of the Day for November 25th 2009:

HEAP

heap  /hip/ [heep]
–noun
1. a group of things placed, thrown, or lying one on another; pile: a heap of stones.
2. Informal. a great quantity or number; multitude: a heap of people.
3. Slang. an automobile, esp. a dilapidated one.

–verb (used with object)
4. to gather, put, or cast in a heap; pile (often fol. by up, on, together, etc.).
5. to accumulate or amass (often fol. by up or together): to heap up riches.
6. to give, assign, or bestow in great quantity; load (often fol. by on or upon): to heap blessings upon someone; to heap someone with work.
7. to load, supply, or fill abundantly: to heap a plate with food.

–verb (used without object) 8. to become heaped or piled, as sand or snow; rise in a heap or heaps (often fol. by up).

use HEAP in a sentance:

A) Hey barista, add a heaping pile of whip cream to that DSM White Spotted Mocha!

B) We hope you find your thanksgiving plate covered in a heap of turkey, gravy, and apple pie. 

———————————————————————–

• Palafreno
• Cassero

die Umweltschutzbewegung: the environmental movement

As I go about my daily routine here I constantly notice little things that the Germans do to reduce their impact on the environment. Showers are always short. Usually no more than a few minutes. A ride in the car is only warranted if the destination is more than 4-5 km away (or it’s really raining). Most of the cars are small and fuel efficient. Doors inside houses are always closed to reduce heating costs. Drinks, such as water or soda, come in bottles that carry a 25 eurocent deposit and everything is recycled. Households have at least three trash cans: one for trash, one for paper and one for packaging. I have yet to see an incandescent light bulb. Few people have clothes dryers. The list goes on and on.

Even McDonalds is jumping on the green bandwagon. Apparently McDonalds Germany is changing their legendary red and yellow colors to green and yellow. Read about it here. Thanks to my Dad for the link.

-MEK

皆さん、

今日は又新しいドイツ語の言葉を説明したいです。今日のドイツ語言葉はドイツ料理の名前ですよ。その料理は「Kohlrouladen」と言います。家庭料理としても人気の献立です。「Kohlrouladen」のベース材料はキャベツの葉、挽肉、タマネギとニンジンの微塵切り、食塩、コショウです。

「Kohlrouladen」の発音はコールルラデンです。その言葉の部分は「Kohl」と「Rouladen」と言う名詞です。

der Kohl　男性名詞
die Roulade　女性名詞（「Rouladen」は「Roulade」の複数形）

例文：「Heute mache ich Kohlrouladen zum Abendessen.」
翻訳：「今日の夕食にコールルラデンを作ります。」
ドイツ語文法：

主語は「ich」（私）
動詞は「mache」（不定詞は「machen」）
目的格は「Kohlrouladen」（複数形、４格）
間接目的語は「Abendessen」（３格）

「Roulade」の語源はフランス語の「rouler」と言う動詞。「rouler」の意味は「巻く」です。以下のコールルラデの写真を見たら、その意味をきっと分かります。

Kohlrouladen mit Hackfleisch

やっぱり、コールルラデンは巻いた肉詰めキャベツです。自分でコールルラデンを作って見たいなら、私にメールしてね（marco.damn @ gmail.com）。母のコールルラデンの作り方を教えて上げます！

では、又次の「今日のドイツ語言葉」

Maru-IT MaruKo のマルコーより

It’s Wednesday. Wordsmith.org probably published a great word of the day today, but I wouldn’t know. I am currently south of the Mason-Dixon line, sipping as much sweet tea as I can get my hands on, reviving my southern drawl, and loving my family I haven’t seen in a very long time.

Access to a computer is limited, and time with family precious. So, here’s a rewrite of a quick write I wrote last spring on my draw from a word bag: falling.

***

Dollar in. Dollar out.
Dollar in. Dollar out.

“Dammit.”

I un-crease the corners.

Dollar in. Dollar out.
Dollar in. Dollar out.

“Come on.”

I rub the dollar along the edge of the machine in a heated effort to straighten it.

Dollar in.
No return.
I roll my eyes.

“Finally.”

My stomach grumbles as I scan the rows, bottom to top. There, A2, bag of Munchos — salty like pork rinds but a lot less cruel.

I press the “A” and ignore the committee in my head as they shout.

Trans fats!
High blood pressure!
Msg!

My stomach flip-flops with hunger pains and a fluttery reminder of the walnut-size baby growing in my belly.

She wants those munchos as much as I do, I justify as I punch “2.”

The metal spiral holding the bag begins to turn, turn, turn, loosening its grip. The bag leans to the left and slips, but not enough.

I lean towards the glass.
The turning stops.
The bag sticks.

Heat rises from my gut to my face and I place my sweaty palms on the vending machine.

The Munchos taunt me — a hungry, pregnant woman in desperate need of some salt. My palms slide down and I turn away. Dejected, I walk back down the hallway to my office, where the yogurt I arrogantly shoved aside waits for me, patient in its offering.

“iiiii’m sorry i thought this was amuuurica”
-sarah’s new turn of phrase, useful in all situations really.

as in “shouldn’t there be a chick fil a around here? i thought this was amuuurica.”

This past week my parents have been in town, and my aunt and uncle left yesterday after spending the weekend here as their drive is a very long trip.

In order to make the most efficient use of my time while hanging out avec ma famille, I’ve been washing laundry all week long! Thankfully I don’t have to use this machine à laver (feminine):

This Waschmachine (Interestingly, both words are feminine. Does this have some sort of sneaky association with women typically doing the wash?) is now on display at Capital Reef National Park in a little town called Fruita, which is no longer a real town as it got bought out by the federal government around the late 1960s and is a historical site within the park.

Several LDS (Mormon) families settled the small valley before the turn of the last century – this machine belonged to the descendants of a polygamist family. Their house is now a museum and also has a gift shop inside selling pies (Fruita is famous for its fruit – even today you can pick-your-own as the orchards are maintained by the park staff) and other foodstuffs such as pickled vegetables. Some of the trees in the orchard are over 100 years old.

Of course, you’ll have to beat the deer to the fruit!