HELLO. MY NAME IS... Vocabulary Week 16

melancholy : sad, gloomy, unhappy; dejection Watch a clip of this Moody Blues song, "Melancholy Man." Notice the tone of the music, the landscape, the colors--all very sad & gloomy.

officiate : to perform the duties of an office; to conduct a religious ceremony, to referee On this episode of Friends, Joey was ordained on the internet to officiate Chandler & Monica's wedding.

paradox : a self-contradictory statement that on closer examination proves true; a person or thing with seemingly contradictory qualities This video tries to explain "the paradox of our time." Note the contradictions.

procure : to obtain through special effort; to bring about Toys for Tots procures many toys for needy children during the holiday season.

recompense : to pay back; to give a reward; a payment for loss, service, or injury This homeless man received recompense for being honest!

sagacious : shrewd; wise in a keen, practical way Luke has given up and is doubting his own abilities, not trusting the force and the guidance of his master. But Yoda gives him sagacious advice. "Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."

shirk : to avoid or get out of doing work, neglect a duty; to sneak, slink In this famous scene from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom tries to shirk his responsibility to paint (whitewash) the fence by tricking his friend into thinking it is fun.

stodgy : dull, boring; old-fashioned, hidebound; lumpy, thick Ferris Bueller's economics teacher was quite stodgy, as you can see from the expressions on students' faces.

analogy : similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based These tech guys use an analogy to demonstrate to Charles Barkley what CDW does with cloud computing.

cite : to quote a passage, book, author, especially as an authority; to mention in support, proof, confirmation; refer to as an example Here is a brief lessons on how to cite sources within a research paper.