#10 Word of the Day

#10 "erubescent"

erubescent\er-oo-BES-uhnt\, adjective:

Becoming red or reddish; blushing.

My Application

"She immediately turned away in an attempt to hide her erubescent face while he stared straight ahead, seeming to not care. Yet his coy smile betrayed his nonchalance. There and then, they knew, love had struck."

#9 Word of the Day

I know, I know. It's been more than a week now.

#9 "gumption"

gumption\GUHMP-shuhn\, noun:

1. Initiative; aggresiveness; resourcefulness.
2. Courage; spunk; guts.

My Application:

"Now of course, it takes gumption to take your own life. But for someone on the verge of suicide, it takes even more gumption to carry on living."

#8 Word of the Day

Today's word is great for academic essays.

#8 "assay"

assay\a-SEY\, verb:

1. To examine or analyse.

My Application

"Malaysia's ruling government ought to assay Bersih's claim, believing that the Electoral Commission's practices are far from free and fair, before shelving away the 50,000-strong rally."

#7 Word of the Day

#7 "trig"

trig\TRIG\, adjective:

1. Neat, trim, smart.

verb:

1. To make neat or trim.

My Application:

"His hair fell evenly above his collar, his crisp white polo tee tucked neatly underneath a classic dark wash Levi's, the Lincoln Lawyer star, Matthew McConaughey looked trig at the movie's premiere last night."

#6 Word of the Day

Notice my application sentences are getting shorter and shorter. HAHA!

#6 "skylark"

skylark\SKAHY-lhark\, verb:

To frolic; sport.

Another definition:

Pass time by playing games or practical jokes; indulge in horseplay

My Application

"Lovebirds, Jack and Jill, skylarked the day away, knowing full well their days together are numbered."

#5 Word of the Day

#5 "patois"

patois\pat-WAH\, noun:
1. A regional version of a language differing from its standard, literary form.
2. Arural or provincial form of speech.
3. Any jargon or private form of speech.

My Application

"In the midst of a crucial meeting, Jesse winked in a patois that only I understood."

#4 Word of the Day

You're probably sick of this already. If you're not, encourage me. Cos' I AM!

#4 "futilitarian"

futilitarian \fyoo-til-i-TAIR-ee-uhn\, adjective:

Believing that human hopes are vain and unjustified.

My Application

“The futilitarian in me concluded that the idea was far-fetched, a waste of time, of effort, of courage yet the optimist in me felt sure that it was still worth a shot, albeit a long one.”

#3 Word of the Day

Ready for today's word?

#3 "stonewall"

stonewall \STOHN-wawl\, verb:

1. To block, stall, or resist intentionally.
2. In cricket, to play a defensive game, as by persistently blocking the ball instead of batting it for distance and runs.
3. To filibuster.

My Application

“His mouth dried. His heart drummed. His toes recoiled. Kamal mustered all the courage he had and inched towards the girl seated at the far end of the park bench. As his mouth opened to articulate the words he had painstakingly rehearsed, a young man dressed in one of those one-size-too-small tees appeared before her. At this, Kamal’s half-opened mouth evolved into a long tiring yawn, stonewalling the idea altogether.”

#2 Word of the Day

Woow! Today's word isn't even recognised by Microsoft Word as a word (that red squiggly thing appeared).

#2 "aporia"

aporia \uh-PAWR-ee-uh\, noun:

1. Difficulty determining the truth of an idea due to equally valid arguments for and against it.
2. In rhetoric, the expression of a simulated or real doubt, as about where to begin or what to do or say.

Another definition:

Aporia (Ancient Greek: : impasse; lack of resources; puzzlement; doubt; confusion) denotes, in philosophy, a philosophical puzzle or state of puzzlement, and, in rhetoric, a rhetorically useful expression of doubt.

My Application

“Two paths lay before Adam. The first paved in marble, accompanied by gold-plated railings on each side. Further ahead, convenient stores, rest stops, hot dog stands, vending machines, among others, stood embracing its travelers. With arms wrapped around each other, its travelers threw their heads back, letting out a torrent of unrestrained laughter. But standing tiptoed, he saw what looked like a dark ominous cloud greeting its travelers in the end. The second path was a series of hurdles. Potholes, bumps and crevices marred the path. The surrounding land was sparse, devoid of privileges. Its pilgrims, dramatically fewer, were slumped forward, their expression tired but determined. At the end, a pool of light shone to greet its pilgrims. Seeing this, Adam pealed off his backpack, laid it on the ground, and sat down at the fork dividing the two paths, overwhelmed by the state of aporia.”

#1 Word of the Day

In light of my current internship position as a copywriter, I've decided to learn a word a day. Can you imagine? By the end of my 2-month stint, I would've learned 60 words. Somebody say WOOOW!

To help me with this, I've subscribed to Dictionary.com's Word of the Day whereby a new word is emailed to me each day, coupled with definitions and examples - I highly recommend it!

Before I go on, let me warn you, this will probably bore you to death. If so, just skip it. This really is for myself, and because it's on this blog, it'll be archived.

Here goes nothing!

#1 "suffrage"

suffrage \SUHF-rij\, noun:

1. The right to vote, especially in a political election.
2. A vote given in favor of a proposed measure, candidate, or the like.
3. In Christian practice, a prayer, especially a short intercessory prayer or petition.

My Application:

"Remember a time where our forefathers had to lay down their lives during the suffrage movement just to earn the right to vote? Had they known that free and fair elections would one day be denied anyway, perhaps the only thing worth laying down should have been their pickets."

Good "God"

I remember one of the most fascinating ad campaigns I came across while researching for an Advertising paper back in Uni called the "God" campaign. Pressed for time, I simply flipped through one of those advertising 101 references and recalled how it literally jumped out at me from its yellowed pages.

The "God" campaign was put out to, well, you've guessed it: advertise God. Concerned over the increasingly materialistic culture evident among Singaporeans, 150 churches united under the Love Singapore Movement to sponsor the 2 million dollar campaign. The objective: to instill God consciousness.

Have a look at some of the newspaper ads:




Here's one placed in an underpass, the copy says "I am here, God":


This one's a sticker placed on apples:


What struck me most was the display of wit and humour expressed in the copy - hats off to Ogilvy Singapore. Growing up in a Christian environment, I've witnessed all kinds of Christian-related promos, often time, falling prey to the overly churchy portrayal i.e. doves fluttering around rivers, forests, waterfalls, and mountains or a close-up shot of an eagle soaring, all these accompanied by some scriptures - think Our Daily Bread.

What's more, in the ad, each witty line is signed off by "God", breaking the stereotyped perception of God as an iron-fisted, irrelevant, faraway creator. He seems way nearer than we think, and for the first time, you see that God can be funny too.

The campaign went on to score two gold Cannes Lion award but not without sparking some controversy among other religious groups.

But suffice to say, "God" was good.

For more ads from the campaign, see it here.

Like Going to Genting

Toss and turn, toss and turn, toss and turn.

No, we're not about to stir-fry mihun today.

Remember that feeling? You lay on your bed, eyes wide open, and it remains open for the next hour or so. What do you do? You start counting ceiling tiles (mine's 3.5 tiles horizontal, 3 tiles vertical - pretty small room I know). You lie on your back, you lie on your side, you lie on your stomach, nothing works. Frustrated, you sit up, squint to look at the glow-in-the-dark clock hands of your alarm (kinda old school eh), and find that only an hour has passed. Worse, you realise your back's damp from all that tossing and turning and have to go take a shower now.

Aduhai.

All because it's the weekend tomorrow and dad decides to take the family to Genting. Today, Genting doesn't sound like much of a place to be excited about. But back then, when you're 10-11 years, it was all the rage.

So finally, morning comes. You get in the car, not without the chore of having to plant every family member to their seat (mom always being the slowest), and just after a five-minute drive, you ask:

"Dad, are we there yet?"

***

I'm starting what would be the first day of my internship tomorrow. And to be honest, I am excited. I've been looking forward to it for a week now. I got so excited that I bought one of those overpriced blue legal paper and a tiny fits-in-your-pocket notebook (equally overpriced), though knowing there are probably stacks after stacks of paper around in the office.

I've always felt that work must be exciting, and yes, as exciting as going to Genting. I told a friend the other day, more than anything else in the world, my utmost desire at this point in life is to find a job that would make me toss and turn the night before, and when I do wake up, I can't wait to get to work.

Naive, I know. But I have every right to be - I am 21.

Of course, the excitement I'm feeling now has more to do with the mystery of how things are gonna be, not so much because I'm passionate about what I do yet.

Should a day come where I'm asked, "How's your job?", he/she probably wouldn't get it but I'd like to at least answer in my heart:

"It's like going to Genting."