Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know (MCQ Test + PDF) Week 41 - Day 4
NEW WORDS
- shibboleth [shib´ ə lith]
Dialects are sometimes used as shibboleths to signal the ethnic or social status of the speaker.” Bill Bryson, Mother Tongue
- bogus [bō´ gəs]
“The mayor denied his proposed change in the election law was a bogus attempt to seize more power.” New York Times, 9/25/99
- substantiate [səb stan´ shē āt]
“The Queens District Attorney said that there were not enough facts to substantiate the charges against the tour operator so no prosecution would take place.” Queens Courier, 1/18/00
- nutritive [nü´ trə tiv]
“They searched for anything that had nutritive value, but often found nothing.” “The Irish Famine,” Harpers, 5/73
- raucous [rô´ kəs]
“The 1968 Democratic nominating convention in Chicago was the scene of raucous confrontations.” I. F. Stone, Weekly Reader
TODAY’S IDIOM
to twist around one’s finger—to control completely
He winked at* the little girl’s bad behavior; she had him twisted around her finger.