four-time defending champion

Nadal Loses for First Time at French Open

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY 1:44 PM ET

Rafael Nadal, the four-time defending champion, lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth round.

thresh/ thrash, thrash sth out

Still Working, but Making Do With Less
By MICHAEL LUO
For millions of families, the recession has not meant a layoff, but a pay cut that has forced them to thrash through daily calculations.


Negotiations for US-Iraq troop deal continue

The United States and Iraq are still thrashing out a new deal for the presence of US soldiers on Iraqi soil. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a press conference in Baghdad following an unannounced visit for talks with the Iraqi leadership. Rice insisted the protracted negotiations to secure a mandate beyond 2008 were not a sign of a "bad situation". Earlier, Rice said the two sides were very close to finalising a deal. Iraqi officials have previously said they want a new agreement to include a deadline for US forces to withdraw from the country and an end to the immunity of US troops from Iraqi law.

When and where did the power breakfast start? When Talleyrand sat down with Metternich over cafe au lait to thrash out the future of Europe at the Congress of Vienna in 1815? When Hector and Achilles drank nectar before fighting to the death by the light of the rosyfingered dawn?

( Talleyrand : n. - French statesman (1754-1838).



In 1958, when I was still threshing around among my.....


Not just won, buddy, they thrashed 'em。

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thrash sth out phrasal verb [M] INFORMAL
to discuss a problem in detail until you reach an agreement or find a solution:
If we've got an important decision to make, we sometimes spend a whole day thrashing it out in a meeting.



thrash/thresh

thresh Hide phonetics
verb [I or T] (ALSO thrash)
to remove the seeds of crop plants by hitting them, using either a machine or a hand tool


"Thresh是「打（穀）」，例如：It is laborious to thresh rice by hand（用手打稻十分吃力）。
Thrash把「打穀」的意思引申為「痛擊」；用於運動場上，就是指「大敗（某方）」，例如：
(1) Korea thrashed Japan by seven goals to one（韓國隊以七比一大敗日本隊）。
(2) The father thrashed the lazy child（那懶惰孩子被父親打了一頓）。"



IN BRIEF: To beat severely. Also: To move about in a violent way.

The lion thrashed his tail violently, uncertain whether or not to attack.


hacker
thrash

To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing anything useful. Paging or swapping systems that are overloaded waste most of their time moving data into and out of core (rather than performing useful computation) and are therefore said to thrash. Someone who keeps changing his mind (esp. about what to work on next) is said to be thrashing. A person frantically trying to execute too many tasks at once (and not spending enough time on any single task) may also be described as thrashing. Compare multitask.

purifier, palate cleanser

Cookbooks

Reviewed by CHRISTINE MUHLKE

This summer’s selection is a modest, back-to-basics palate cleanser after last fall’s celebrity-chef-food-porn-o-copia.

palate cleanser

It is certainly not considered a party wine but as a palate refresher/cleanser
between courses of a meal and most certainly after dinner with a good sharp ...

• copia, a Latin word for "abundance", especially used in rhetoric

cleanser
━━ n. 洗剤, クレンザー; 洗顔剤; 清掃［洗浄］係［器具］.
⇒cleanse

purifier

noun

Something that purifies or cleans: clarifier, cleaner, cleanser, refiner, refinery.

Air Purifiers Draw Scrutiny

As the market for indoor-air purifiers grows, so has the concern about the health effects of some ozone-producing purifiers. The CPSC is now considering what level of the gas is safe for human health.

killifish, mummichog, cross spiders

Skylab 3 carried the first fish into space in 1973, it was a mummichog. Also on that flight were the first spiders in space, two cross spiders named Arabella and Anita.




Mummichog
Scientific classification

Kingdom:
Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Class:

Actinopterygii

Order:

Cyprinodontiformes


Family:

Fundulidae de le willett

Genus:
Fundulus

Species:

F. heteroclitus


Subspecies:

F. h. heteroclitus


Trinomial name





killifish
Killifish (Fundulus chrysotus) (credit: Gene Wolfsheimer)

Any of a few hundred species of egg-laying topminnows (see guppy) in the family Cyprinodontidae. They are found worldwide in brackish, salt, and fresh water, including desert hot springs. Some species grow to 6 in. (15 cm) long. Killifish eat plant or animal material at the water's surface. Many species (e.g., the lyretail) are attractively coloured and are kept in home aquariums. Killifish are also valuable as bait and for mosquito control. Pupfish (Cyprinodon) inhabit California coasts and certain salt-lake shores in the western U.S. Some pupfish are listed as endangered; the Tecopa pupfish (C. nevadensis; 0.6 in. [1.5 cm] long) was declared extinct in 1981.

For more information on killifish, visit Britannica.com.

shuffle, reshuffle, proscribe, machination

Poetic Machinations
The recent election of the Oxford professor of poetry is the stuff of poetic satire, if only it weren’t so sad and pathetic.

Japanese politics Round two
Economist - UK AFTER months of rumour and machination, Yasuo Fukuda, Japan’s prime minister, finally reshuffled his cabinet on August 1st, replacing 13 of the 17 ministers ...



'I am sensitive and brave. I do not advance it as a merit to be sensitive and brave, but it is my character. If the male relations of Madame Rigaud had put themselves forward openly, I should have known how to deal with them. They knew that, and their machinations were conducted in secret; consequently, Madame Rigaud and I were brought into frequent and unfortunate collision.

A critique on the Machination of the satanic verses, by Ata'ollah Mohajerani

1.	on Page 27:
	"Paradoxically, this proscription made ministerial stability more secure. Court Tories were more determinedly courtiers than they were Tories, and the prospect ... "
2.	on Page 68:
	" ... leadership. Their Tory opponents, by now increasingly restive under continuing proscription"
3.	on Page 71:
	"mid-1750s the mould was plainly cracking. The proscription of Toryism, and the ability of the Whig families to keep the control of patronage within a narrow circle, had a very short future"

The executive who led Samsung Electronics to the top of the global electronics industry over the past decade, Yun Jong-yong, resigned as vice chairman and CEO as part of a broad management shuffle.



shuffle (MOVE AROUND) verb [T]
to move similar things from one position or place to another, often to give an appearance of activity when nothing useful is being done:
She shuffled her papers nervously on her desk.
Many prisoners have to be shuffled around police stations because of prison overcrowding.

shuffle
noun [C]
1 when things are moved around from one position to another:
She gave her papers a quick shuffle.

2 MAINLY US a reshufflereshuffle
noun [C]
when the positions of people or things within a particular group are changed:
They expect a Cabinet reshuffle in the summer.
a government/management reshuffle

reshuffle
verb [T]
to reshuffle the deck/cards
The prime minister is expected to reshuffle his ministerial team next month.

proscribe 

verb [T] FORMAL
(of a government or other authority) to forbid something:
The Broadcasting Act allows ministers to proscribe any channel that offends against good taste and decency.
The Athletics Federation have banned the runner from future races for using proscribed drugs.

proscription 
noun [U] FORMAL


mach·i·na·tion (măk'ə-nā'shən, măsh'-)
n.

1. The act of plotting.
2. A crafty scheme or cunning design for the accomplishment of a sinister end.

machination f plot; de sombres ~s dark dealings (from Dictionnaire Cambridge Klett Compact)

mach・i・nate

━━ v. （陰謀を）たくらむ.
mach・i・na・tion　━━ n. （普通pl.） わるだくみ.
mach・i・na・tor　━━ n. 策士.

reshuffle Show phonetics
noun [C]
when the positions of people or things within a particular group are changed:
They expect a Cabinet reshuffle in the summer.
a government/management reshuffle

reshuffle Show phonetics
verb [T]
to reshuffle the deck/cards
The prime minister is expected to reshuffle his ministerial team next month.

send-off, stagger, send sb off, Staggered Board of Directors

Spectrum | 26.05.2009 | 17:30

Reconstructing images of past sea life that boggles today's imagination

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:

Using such diverse sources as old ship logs, literary texts, tax accounts, newly translated legal documents and even mounted trophies, Census of Marine Life researchers are piecing together images of fish of such sizes, abundance and distribution in ages past that they stagger modern imaginations.

The researchers from Census' History of Marine Animal Population (HMAP) project

are also documenting the timelines over which those giant marine life populations declined. Their findings are being presented at a major international conference which is taking place at the moment in Vancouver, Canada. Rajiv Sharma spoke to Dr. Poul Holm, Professor at Trinity College Dublin and global chair of the HMAP project and asked him first how they had arrived at the conclusions in their research which revealed that marine life in the past was far bigger in size and more abundant than today.

eijing Olympics: Where Are the Japanese Tourists?
BusinessWeek - USA
Japan Olympic athletes attend a send-off party in Tokyo. Japan will send 339 athletes to the games in Beijing. Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images by Hiroko Tashiro ...



Olympic torch relay staggers through Asia; relegated to parking ...
International Herald Tribune - FranceAP TOKYO:
It was supposed to all start with a gala send-off at one of Japan's most venerable and majestic Buddhist temples, the 1400-year-old Zenkoji. ...


Microsoft's stock has fallen 12.8 percent since it announced its offer two weeks ago, reducing the nominal value of the deal to about $41 billion. Many Yahoo shareholders, including Bill Miller of Legg Mason, have said that Microsoft must raise its bid to strike a deal.

But raising the $31-per-share offer would cost Microsoft an additional $1.4 billion for every dollar added. Waging a proxy fight is comparatively cheaper. And because it does not have a staggered board, Yahoo's board is vulnerable in a proxy fight.


Staggered Board of Directors
Board of directors of a company in which a portion of the directors are elected each year, instead of all at once. A board is often staggered in order to thwart unfriendly Takeover attempts, since potential acquirers would have to wait a longer time before they could take control of a company's board through the normal voting procedure. Normally, all directors are elected at the annual meeting.

stag・ger

━━ v. よろける［させる］, 動揺する［させる］, ためらう［わせる］; 仰天させる; 無力にさせる (a story that ～s the imagination 想像を絶する話）; 互い違いに配列する; （出退時間・昼休みなどを）時差方式にする.
━━ n. よろめき; （pl.） めまい; （the ～s） ((単数扱い)) （ヒツジ・馬の）旋回［暈(うん)倒］病 （blind staggers）; （複葉機の翼の）互い違い（の配列）.
staggered conformation　【化】ねじれ形配座, スタッガード配座.
stag・ger・er　━━ n. よろめく人; 大事件, 難問題.
stag・ger・ing　━━ a. よろめく［かせる］, びっくりさせる.
stag・ger・ing・ly　ad.

Definition
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stagger (MOVE) Show phonetics verb
[I usually + adverb or preposition] to walk or move with a lack of balance as if you are going to fall:After he was attacked, he managed to stagger to the phone and call for help.
FIGURATIVE The company is staggering under a $15 million debt and will almost certainly collapse by the end of the year.
stagger Show phonetics noun [C usually singular]
He left the pub with a drunken stagger.



stagger (SHOCK) Show phonetics
verb [T] to cause someone to feel shocked or surprised because of something unexpected or very unusual happening:
He staggered all his colleagues by suddenly announcing that he was leaving the company at the end of the month.


staggered Show phonetics
adjective [after noun]very shocked or surprised:
I was staggered at the prices.

staggering Show phonetics adjective
very shocking and surprising:It costs a staggering $50 000 per week to keep the museum open to the public.

staggeringly Show phonetics adverb
staggeringly expensive



send-off Show phonetics
noun [C usually singular]an occasion at which people can express good wishes and say goodbye to someone who is leaving a place:
We'll have to give her a good send-off when she leaves the office.

WordNet: send-off

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: an organized expression of goodwill at the start of a trip or new venture
Synonym: bon voyage

Meaning #2: a start given to contestants
Synonyms: kickoff, start-off

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send sb off (SPORT) phrasal verb [M] (US eject) UK
to order a sports player to leave the playing area during a game because they have done something wrong:
He was sent off for swearing at the referee.

ascertain,perspective on the prospects

The trouble with the search-engine business is that its future may have almost nothing to do with whether search results get more accurate. Google's information is already more than adequate for the huge majority of people who want to find information online. At some point, and that point has probably been reached, people cannot tell the difference between flying in an airplane that is at 32,000 feet and one that is flying 1,000 feet higher. The change in perspective means nothing to them. All they know is that they are as high as they have to be to get where they are going.


The lawsuit, filed in Delaware, follows what Mr. Icahn said were failed attempts to get the materials he sought. He contended those items would help him "ascertain what the board could have done" to assure shareholders that the company's comments weren't incorrect and wouldn't give shareholders "an inaccurate perspective on the prospects for the mobile devices business."


ascertain Hide phonetics
verb [T] FORMAL
to discover; to make certain:
The police have so far been unable to ascertain the cause of the explosion.
[+ that] I ascertained that no one could overhear us before I told Otto the news.
[+ question word] Have you ascertained whether she's coming or not?


perspective
n.

1. 1. A view or vista.
   2. A mental view or outlook: “It is useful occasionally to look at the past to gain a perspective on the present” (Fabian Linden).
2. The appearance of objects in depth as perceived by normal binocular vision.
3. 1. The relationship of aspects of a subject to each other and to a whole: a perspective of history; a need to view the problem in the proper perspective.
   2. Subjective evaluation of relative significance; a point of view: the perspective of the displaced homemaker.
   3. The ability to perceive things in their actual interrelations or comparative importance: tried to keep my perspective throughout the crisis.
4. The technique of representing three-dimensional objects and depth relationships on a two-dimensional surface.

adj.

Of, relating to, seen, or represented in perspective.

[Middle English, science of optics (influenced by French perspective, perspective), from Medieval Latin perspectīva (ars), feminine of perspectīvus, optical, from perspectus, past participle of perspicere, to inspect : per-, per- + specere, to look.]

perspectival per·spec'tiv·al adj.
perspectively per·spec'tive·ly adv.



perspective (THOUGHT) Hide phonetics
noun [C]
a particular way of considering something:
Her attitude lends a fresh perspective to the subject.
He writes from a Marxist perspective.
Because of its geographical position, Germany's perspective on the situation in Eastern Europe is rather different from Britain's.

prospect (POSSIBILITY) Hide phonetics
noun
1 [C or U] the possibility that something good might happen in the future:
Is there any prospect of the weather improving?
There seems little prospect of an end to the dispute.
[+ that] There's not much prospect that this war will be over soon.
There's every prospect of success.

2 [S] the idea of something that will or might happen in the future:
The prospect of spending three whole days with her fills me with horror.
I'm very excited at the prospect of seeing her again.
We face the prospect of having to start all over again.

3 [C] a person who might be chosen, for example as an employee:
We'll be interviewing four more prospects for the posts this afternoon.

prospects Hide phonetics
plural noun
the possibility of being successful, especially at work:
She's hoping the course will improve her career prospects.
Prospects of/for (= Opportunities for) employment remain bleak for most people in the area.

prospective Hide phonetics
adjective
prospective buyers/employers/parents, etc. people who are expected to buy something/employ someone/become a parent, etc:
We've had three sets of prospective buyers looking round the house.

(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)