bittersweet, schlep

Bittersweet Fruit
NEW YORK Just before Marie Brenner's brother died, he tried to eliminate as many traces of himself as possible. He schlepped his computer's hard drive to the dump. He spent hours erasing entries from his calendar. No correspondence that so much as hinted at intimacy would be left for his only sib...
(By Bob Thompson, The Washington Post)

• JULY 31, 2009

Reader Survey

Toyota Is First Across the Finish Line in Japan

But Victory for the Auto Maker Is Bittersweet, as It Overtakes GM to Become the World's No. 1 Auto Maker in a Time of Turbulence

schlep (-pp-), schlepp Hide phonetics
verb [I or T; + adverb or preposition] MAINLY US INFORMAL
to move yourself or an object with effort and difficulty:
Do I really have to schlep all that junk down to the cellar?

schlep, schlepp Hide phonetics
noun [S] MAINLY US INFORMAL
something that takes a lot of effort to do:
It's a real schlep getting it all home.

bittersweet

n. - 又苦又甜的東西, 白英
adj. - 又苦又甜的, 苦樂參半的
n.

1. A woody vine of the genus Celastrus, especially the North American species C. scandens and the eastern Asian species C. orbiculata, having small, round, yellow-orange fruits that open at maturity to expose red seeds. Also called staff tree.
2. See bittersweet nightshade.
3. A dark to deep reddish orange.

adj.

1. Bitter and sweet at the same time: bittersweet chocolate.
2. Producing or expressing a mixture of pain and pleasure: a movie with a bittersweet ending.
3. Dark to deep reddish-orange.

[After its roots, which are said to taste bitter, then sweet when chewed.]

wobble

Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are the most prominent voices in the Traditionalist camp, but there is also the alliance of Old Guard institutions. For example, a group of Traditionalists met in Virginia last weekend to plot strategy, including Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. According to reports, the attendees were pleased that the election wiped out some of the party’s remaining moderates. “There’s a sense that the Republicans on Capitol Hill are freer of wobbly-kneed Republicans than they were before the election,” the writer R. Emmett Tyrrell told a reporter.


Japan's opposition wobbles on Afghan operation
Reuters
TOKYO (Reuters) - The leader of Japan's opposition Democratic Party said on Wednesday he would end a refueling mission in support of US-led forces in ...





Austen biographer Claire Tomalin argues that Sense and Sensibility has a "wobble in its approach," which developed because Austen, in the course of writing the novel, gradually became less certain about whether sense or sensibility should triumph.^[1]

<– Back to results

wobble (MOVE) Show phonetics
verb [I or T]
to (cause something to) shake or move from side to side in a way that shows a lack of balance:
That bookcase wobbles whenever you put anything on it.
Don't wobble the table, please, Dan.
FIGURATIVE The company's shares wobbled with the news of a foreign takeover bid.

wobble Show phonetics
noun [C]
I gave the poles a slight wobble and whole tent collapsed.
FIGURATIVE The closure of the company's German subsidiary caused a sharp wobble in its profits.

wobbly Show phonetics
adjective
likely to wobble:
a wobbly ladder/table
I've been in bed with flu and my legs are still feeling all wobbly.
"Look, I've got a wobbly tooth, " said my little daughter, proudly.
HUMOROUS I'm trying to tone up my wobbly bits (= fat areas of the body) generally.

wobbly Show phonetics
noun UK INFORMAL
throw a wobbly to become extremely angry and upset:
My parents threw a wobbly when they found out I'd had a party while they were away.


wobble (UNCERTAIN) Show phonetics
verb [I] INFORMAL
to be uncertain what to do or to change frequently between two opinions:
The government can't afford to wobble on this issue.

wobble Show phonetics
noun [C] INFORMAL



wobbly Show phonetics
adjective INFORMAL
uncertain what to do or changing frequently between two opinions:
Last week I felt sure I was doing the right thing but I've started to feel a bit wobbly about it.

zeitgeist , "upcycling",omnivore, self-inspecting, carnivore, dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are back in the news. Earlier this month, the computer-animated film, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, was released worldwide. Shortly before that, scientists in Australia announced the discovery of the fossils of three new species of the prehistoric creatures. Two plant-eaters and a carnivore, they are the first large dinosaurs to be unearthed since 1981.
Now we know: she got an early start. Reborn, Journals & Notebooks, 1947-1963 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux; 318 pages), the first of three projected volumes selected from the diaries Sontag kept nearly all her life, is a portrait of the artist as a young omnivore, an earnest, tirelessly self-inspecting thinker fashioning herself into the phenomenon she will be. A typical entry: "Read the Spender translation of [Rilke's] The Duino Elegies as soon as possible." As soon as possible! She's 15.




Google Zeitgeist 2008
New York Times - United States
By Jack Bell This year’s Google Zeitgeist, where the Internet giant tracks the most popular search terms, revealed that when it comes to soccer in the ...A word for our times

The Oxford American dictionary's word of the year may not be one you've heard of. What's your buzzword of 2007?

November 19, 2007 1:30 PM |

Carnivores, omnivores, herbivores ... and now locavores. "Locavore" has been chosen by the New Oxford American Dictionary as its word of the year for 2007.

In case you're wondering, locavores are people who maintain a small carbon footprint by eating locally-produced food.

Other contenders for the dictionary's 2007 title included "upcycling" - the transformation of waste materials into something more useful or valuable - and the verb "to tase" (stun with a Taser).
stun gun noun [C]
a device which produces a small electric shock in order to stop an animal or human from moving temporarily without harming them permanently


omnivore

n.

1. An omnivorous person or animal.
2. One that takes in everything available, as with the mind.

[From New Latin Omnivora, omnivores, from neuter pl. of Latin omnivorus, omnivorous. See omnivorous.]

carnivore

zeit・geist

［G.］ n. （the ～ またはthe Z-） 時代精神.

You're not alone if you hadn't heard any of these before - we hadn't either. But what would you choose as the word that captures the zeitgeist of 2007?

confining

He considered any attemp to predict new product development process as "confining".


confining

The adjective has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: restricting the scope or freedom of action
Synonyms: constraining, constrictive, limiting, restricting

Meaning #2: crowded
Synonym: close

tab

Bank Bonus Tab: $33 Billion

Nine banks that received government aid during the financial crisis paid out bonuses of nearly $33 billion last year, New York Attorney General Cuomo revealed.

tab
n.

1. A projection, flap, or short strip attached to an object to facilitate opening, handling, or identification.
2. A small, usually decorative flap or tongue on a garment.
3. A small auxiliary airfoil that is attached to a larger one and that helps stabilize an aircraft.
4. A pull-tab.

tr.v., tabbed, tab·bing, tabs.

To supply with a tab or tabs.

[Origin unknown.]

tab² (tăb)
n.

1. Informal.
   1. A bill or check, such as one for a meal in a restaurant.
   2. Cost; price: The tab for upgrading the computers would be high.
2. A tabulator on a typewriter.
3. Computer Science.
   1. A key on a computer keyboard that, when pressed, inserts a special ASCII character used for formatting text, as in indenting a line or block of text.
   2. This special ASCII character.

intr.v., tabbed, tab·bing, tabs.

To press the tab on a typewriter or computer keyboard: Tab over to the next column.

idiom:

keep tabs on Informal.

1. To observe carefully: Let's keep tabs on expenditures.

[Short for TABLET or TABULATION. Sense 2, short for TABULATOR.]

strait-laced or straight-laced

strait-laced or straight-laced (strāt'lāst')

adj.

1. Excessively strict in behavior, morality, or opinions.
2. Having or wearing a tightly laced garment.

[STRAIT, tightly (obsolete) + -laced (from LACE).]

straitlacedly strait'-lac'ed·ly (-lā'sĭd-lē, -lāst'lē) adv.
straitlacedness strait'-lac'ed·ness n.

Countdown, the finish line,

• ASIA 200
• JULY 31, 2009

Reader Survey

Toyota Is First Across the Finish Line in Japan

But Victory for the Auto Maker Is Bittersweet, as It Overtakes GM to Become the World's No. 1 Auto Maker in a Time of Turbulence

Quote

"Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead." — Roger Bannister

The Final Countdown
By Daniel Politi
Posted Monday, Nov. 3, 2008, at 6:00 AM ET Take a deep breath, we're almost there. As the candidates race toward the finish line, all the papers lead with the final hours of the Longest Presidential Race in History.

daylight, mugged in broad daylight, hitman

Bloggingheads: Mugged by Reality

Blogger Brian Beutler, right, in conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic, discusses how being the victim of a violent crime has affected his politics.

RONALD REAGAN once described inflation as being “as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit-man”.

mug (ATTACK) Show phonetics
verb [T] -gg-
to attack a person in a public place and steal their money:
He was mugged in broad daylight.

mugging Show phonetics
noun [C or U]
an act of attacking someone and stealing their money:
Police are concerned that mugging is on the increase.

mugger Show phonetics
noun [C]
a person who attacks people in order to steal their money


A Hitman is a hired assassin paid to assassinate a target via contract killing. Hitmen in fiction Film A notable example of hitmen in film is the ...


broad full and clear

<– Back to results

in broad daylight
If a crime is committed in broad daylight, it happens during the day, when it could have been seen and prevented:
Thieves had broken into the car in broad daylight and stolen the stereo.

daylight
n.

1. The light of day; sunlight.
2. 1. Daybreak.
   2. Daytime.
3. Exposure to public notice: corrupt business practices that were finally brought into the daylight.
4. Understanding or insight into what was formerly obscure: new evidence that gave the researchers some daylight into the matter.
5. Sports. An opening, as between defensive players, especially one providing an opportunity for action: The running back found some daylight and gained six yards.
6. daylights Slang. One's wits: “His adventurism had scared the daylights out of them” (Frederick Forsyth).

idiom:

see daylight

1. To make sufficient progress so that completion of a project seems possible.

As exuberantly talented as Albert Einstein, Bardeen had no desire to mug for the cameras or prove himself eccentric.

True Genius《曠世奇才：巴丁傳》

イメージを拡大
True Genius: The Life And Science Of John Bardeen, The only Winner of Two Nobel Prizes in Physics by Lillian Hoddeson and Vicki Daitch

(任何傳記當然值得一讀....何況作者是寫此傳之心人 Bardeen是名人)

這本傳記的首尾兩章試圖找當代少數研究"天才學( On Genius)之實例。 這方面不太成功 不過它告訴我們相當多寶貴資訊 整體"學術和產業"圈內的氛圍
(現在 還有諸如”Broken Genius: The Rise And Fall of William Shockley, Creator of the Electronic Age”讓我們了解傳主對他在Bell Lab的主管之合得諾貝爾獎很不滿。)

《曠世奇才：巴丁傳》中文版缺失:無索引， 編輯劣--頁眉猛貼叢書名， 真不可思議 ， 注解馬虎



我舉一例可以了解翻譯的"能力:
(their preface), "We are painfully aware that this book merely scratches the surface of its subject."
"我們痛苦地意識到，這本書只能對 巴丁的研究對象隔靴搔癢而已。 " (此處 中文版無頁碼)

1Q Grp Net Pft Y17.87B Vs Y5.89B Pft Yr Earlier

Japan Daiwa Securities 1Q Grp Net Pft Y17.87B Vs Y5.89B Pft Yr Earlier
Wall Street Journal
Japan's second-largest securities business group by revenue said its net profit in the fiscal first quarter soared to Y17.87 billion from Y5.89 billion a ...

carriage,grande dame,clientele, immaculate

Time Warner Cable said it reached a deal with Viacom on carriage fees, avoiding a blackout of 19 cable channels including MTV and Comedy Central.

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: A life in the name of fashion

Germany's grande dame of fashion would have celebrated her 100th birthday on Tuesday, July 28. In post-war Germany, Aenne Burda won the hearts of women with a simple idea: a magazine with sewing patterns.

Once a Hostess, Now a Bar’s Grande Dame

By SUSAN DOMINUS

Published: May 12, 2008

Show up at the storied Café des Artistes anytime after 6:30 most evenings, and you might notice an elderly woman nursing a glass of red wine at the bar, her carriage erect, her suit jacket immaculate, her gaze resting nowhere in particular. Her small smile suggests that she’s not waiting for anyone, and that she’s comfortable with that. She’s old enough that even among the restaurant’s graying clientele, she stands out. Maybe you’d even avoid an empty seat next to her, for fear it might open the door to a rambling tirade about some government conspiracy involving vitamins or aluminum foil.

grande dame

(grănd' dăm', gränd' däm')
n., pl. grandes dames also grand dames (grănd' dăm', gränd' däm').

1. A highly respected elderly or middle-aged woman.
2. A respected woman having extensive experience in her field: the grande dame of women's professional tennis.

[French : grande, great + dame, lady.]

carriage (BODY MOVEMENT) Show phonetics
noun [U] FORMAL
the way in which a person moves or keeps their body when they are standing, sitting or walking
carriage
n.

1. A wheeled vehicle, especially a four-wheeled horse-drawn passenger vehicle, often of an elegant design.
2. Chiefly British. A railroad passenger car.
3. A baby carriage.
4. A wheeled support or frame for carrying a heavy object, such as a cannon.
5. A moving part of a machine for holding or shifting another part: the carriage of a typewriter.
6. 1. The act or process of transporting or carrying.
   2. (kăr'ē-ĭj) The cost of or the charge for transporting.
7. The manner of holding and moving one's head and body; bearing. See synonyms at posture.
8. Archaic. Management; administration.

[Middle English cariage, from Norman French, from Old North French carier, to carry. See carry.]

car・riage

━━ n. 乗物, 馬車; 〔英〕 （鉄道の）客車; 台車; 乳母車; （機械の）往復台, （タイプライターの）キャリッジ, 運び台; 【コンピュータ】紙送り機構; （車輪付の）砲架; 運搬; 運賃; 身のこなし, 姿勢, 態度.

immaculate Hide phonetics
adjective APPROVING
1 perfectly clean or tidy:
dressed in an immaculate white suit
an immaculate garden

2 perfect and without any mistakes:
He gave an immaculate performance as the aging hero.

immaculately Hide phonetics
adverb
immaculately dressed

cli・en・tele

━━ n. ((集合的に；単複両扱い)) 訴訟依頼人; 顧客, 常連.

scraper

scraper
n.

One that scrapes, especially a tool for scraping off paint or other adherent matter such as ice on a windshield.

Sherwin-Williams Recalls Purdy Scrapers Due to Laceration Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Purdy 2 ½” 4-Edge Scrapers

Units: About 76,000

Distributor: The Sherwin-Williams Co., of Cleveland, Ohio

Manufacturer: Allway Tools Inc., of Bronx, New York

Hazard: The recalled scraper’s body can break away from the handle when struck against a hard object. This poses a laceration hazard to users.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received four reports of the scraper’s body separating from the handle. There have been no reported injuries.

Description: The recalled scraper is a 2 ½” wide steel tool with a four-sided edge. The handle has a soft black grip with “Purdy” printed in red letters on the side of the handle.

Sold at: Sherwin-Williams Paint stores, Duron Paint stores, MA Bruder Paint stores, United Paint Stores, Norfolk Paint Stores, Mercury Paint Stores, Old Quaker Paint Stores, Flex Bon Paint Stores and Columbia Paint Stores nationwide from February 2009 through June 2009 for about $9.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled scraper immediately and return it to any Sherwin-Williams store or the place of purchase for a free replacement.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Sherwin-Williams at (888) 304-3769 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at www.sherwin-williams.com

CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx

---

profanity, obscenity, graffiti

Art | 29.07.2009

For Cologne artists, light is their paint and the world their canvas

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Stark contrast is characteristic of Lichtfaktor's work

They use flashlights instead of spray cans: A new generation of graffiti artists is putting city landscapes in a whole new light. For a group of light writers from Cologne, the world is - literally - their canvas.

Cruising through the streets in the dark of night, a trio of young men is out to leave their mark on Europe's cities - at least temporarily, with neon lights. The new trend known as light graffiti, or light writing, has one-time spray painters exchanging their paint cans for flashlights.

As far as I'm concerned, all phone calls are obscene.



BM Counters Microsoft's Software Seat-stealing Boast
Washington Post - United States
Microsoft may be targeting Notes users, but they won't be switching without a fight from IBM. Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other ...

obscene Hide phonetics
adjective
1 offensive, rude or shocking, usually because too obviously related to sex or showing sex:
In the raid, police found several boxes of obscene videotapes.
He was jailed for making obscene phone calls (= ones in which unwanted sexual suggestions were made to the listener).
obscene language/graffiti塗鴉




2 morally wrong, often describing something that is morally wrong because it is too large:
to make obscene profits
The salaries some company directors earn are obscene.

obscenely Hide phonetics
adverb
He's obscenely rich/fat/cruel.

obscenity Hide phonetics
noun
1 [C or U] when someone or something is obscene:
The people who made that film could be prosecuted for obscenity.
Such deliberate destruction of the environment is an obscenity (= an offensive and shocking situation or event).
obscenity laws

2 [C usually plural] a very offensive or sexually shocking word or sentence:
He was shouting and screaming obscenities.

profane (AGAINST RELIGION) Hide phonetics
adjective FORMAL
showing a lack of respect for a god or a religion, often through language:
profane language
Funny, profane and fearless, she has become one of America's biggest television celebrities.

profanity Hide phonetics
noun FORMAL
1 [U] (an example of) showing a lack of respect for a god or a religion, especially through language

2 [C] an offensive or obscene word or phrase:
It was the song's opening line, a series of profanities, that caused the record to be banned on the radio station.

pro・fane

━━ a. 冒涜(ぼうとく)の, 不敬な; 世俗的な; 異［邪］教的な.
━━ vt. （神聖を）けがす, 冒涜する; 濫用する.
prof・a・na・tion
　━━ n. （神聖）冒涜(ぼうとく).
pro・fane・ly　━━ ad.
pro・fane・ness　━━ n.
pro・fan・i・ty
　━━ n. 冒涜(ぼうとく), 不敬; 冒涜的なことば（の使用）.

drone, wherefore, ungrateful , grateful

The LAT leads with word that the military is shifting some of its Predator drone aircraft away from hunting al-Qaida operatives toward tracking the Taliban and aiding the general war effort in Afghanistan. The scarce drones are one of the military's "most precious intelligence assets," and the increased focus on the Taliban shows how U.S. officials now believe that the best way to beat al-Qaida is stabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan rather than hunting down individuals, although that will also continue.

5 Years After It Halted Weapons Programs, Libya Sees the U.S. as Ungrateful
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Libyan officials insist that Washington has done too little to reward the country for giving up its nuclear and chemical weapons programs in late 2003.

His ads, for everything from Schweppes to Rolls-Royce, helped start the creative revolution of the 1960's. The ads were in marked contrast to the droning, repetitious style of those they supplanted.

As always, the government is running under a tight budget. Instead of just droning on about the importance of education, the government must steadily increase its investment in education.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 2(IHT/Asahi: July 3,2008)

So what does he like? The cool sound of US hip hopper Busta Rhymes. But what makes the girls of Debbie rockt! rock? RX Queen by the California band Deftones has a drone that drummer Tan couldn't get out of her head until she got it right. And we have our own vote for favorite song du jour.



The Gipper 雷根總統別號 as Diarist
Anyone hungering for historical disclosure and nuance in Ronald Reagan’s presidential diaries will have to settle for a prosaic and amiably unrevealing drone.



Wherefore feed and clothe and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who would
Drain your sweat -nay, drink your blood?

drone²

(drōn)

v., droned, dron·ing, drones. v.intr.

1. To make a continuous low dull humming sound: “Somewhere an electric fan droned without end” (William Styron).
2. To speak in a monotonous tone: The lecturer droned on for hours.
3. To pass or act in a monotonous way.

v.tr.

To utter in a monotonous low tone: “The mosquitoes droned their angry chant” (W. Somerset Maugham).

n.

1. A continuous low humming or buzzing sound.
2. Music.
   1. Any of the pipes of a bagpipe that lack finger holes and produce a single tone.
   2. A long sustained tone.
   3. Any of various instruments that produce only a constant pitch.

[From DRONE¹ (from the bee's humming sound).]

drone Show phonetics
verb [I]
An airplane droned in the background.

（リモコン式の）無人機

n.a vehicle designed to be remotely controlled during operations on land or sea or in the air. See also remotely piloted vehicle; unmanned aerial vehicle.

wherefore

adv.

1. For what purpose or reason; why.
2. Therefore.

n.

A purpose or cause: wanted to know all the whys and wherefores.

Munich Robot Digitizes Priceless Books

The Bavarian State Library now has its own book drone: a robot that is to scan around 37,000 antique works in the next two years. »Mehr zu: title"

; （バグパイプの）ドローン管.
━━ v. ぶーんという （buzz）; ものうげ［単調］な声で話す; なまける.

drone
━━ n. 【虫】ミツバチの雄(蜂) ; なまけ者 （idler）; （ハチ・飛行機の）ぶーん（といううなり）; 低いけだるい［単調な］音, ものうげで単調な話しぶり［説教，話し手など］;

noun [S]
a low continuous noise which does not change its note:
the drone of an engine
Outside the tent I could hear the constant drone of insects.
The drone of his voice made me feel sleepy.

Definition

grateful Show phonetics
adjective
showing or expressing thanks, especially to another person:
I'm so grateful (to you) for all that you've done.
If you could get that report finished by Thursday I'd be very grateful.
After the earthquake we felt grateful to be alive.
I'm just grateful that I'm not still working for him.
FORMAL I would be most grateful if you would send me the book immediately.
NOTE: The opposite is ungrateful.

gratefully Show phonetics
adverb
She smiled at me gratefully.

pound key

* Sprint: "[Phone number] is not available right now. Please leave a detailed message after the tone. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press pound for more options."



with the pound key (#).

with the pound key (#). 370 x 321 - 22k - jpg geocities.com

settlement, Act of Settlement, blatant

Last week, in The Times and on my blog, I've been ranting about one particularly blatant money-grab by U.S. cellphone carriers: the mandatory 15-second voicemail instructions.

7 references to settlement in this book

1.	on Page 8:
	" ... failed to do. Many contemporaries hoped fora radical revision of the Church settlement of the 166os"
2.	on Page 9:
	"important to maintain the substance of the Restoration Settlement. The Prayer Book of 1662 was to remain the liturgical basis of Anglican worship until the twentieth century"
3.	on Page 14:
	" ... than they need have been, and generally threatened to reshape the Revolution settlement"
4.	on Page 43:
	"laws of settlement provided for compulsory residence in the parish of birth for those not occupying a house worth at least E1o per annum, a not insubstantial sum"
5.	on Page 82:
	"reinforced by settlement in Canada and the Floridas, would form a vast, loyal market for British manufactures, a continuing source of essential raw materials"
6.	on Page 97:
	"given a settlement which was to endure, albeit uneasily, until 1867. In many ways, Pitt's supremacy had a very traditional appearance"
7.	from Back Matter:
	"Act of Settlement settles the royal succession on the descendants of Sophia of Hanover 1702 Death of William III"

Dialogue | 23.01.2009 | 05:30

Some ancient laws in Britain concerning inter-religious relations are up for change

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Old traditions are hard to get rid of

In Britain, it is not always easy to change ancient traditions

In Britain a new attempt is being made to change ancient laws which bans the monarch from marrying a Catholic. The Act of Settlement, introduced by King William III in 1701 states anyone who marries a Catholic cannot become king or queen. It also gives legal precedence to male heirs in the line of succession, and it is these two aspects that a British lawmaker wants to change. Dr Evan Harris, from the country's third political party the Liberal Democrats says this blatant religious and sex discrimination is outdated and must go.

(Report: Catherine Drews)

1.	on Page 15:
	"new king's foreign policy caused severe strains by its blatant use of England's naval power to secure Hanover's Baltic ambitions. There was also ... "

blatant Hide phonetics
adjective
describes something bad that is very obvious or intentional:
a blatant lie
The whole episode was a blatant attempt to gain publicity.

blatantly Hide phonetics
adverb
It was blatantly obvious that she was telling a lie.

set・tle・ment

━━ n. 身を落ち着かせる［固める］こと, 定住, 定着; 植民［居留］（地）; 解決, 決定; 【法】（紛争・裁判での）和解, 示談; 返済, 決算; 贈与（財産）; 【法】遺産の配分確定; 【法】（英国での）継承的財産設定（証書）, 継承的不動産処分（証書）; セツルメント, 社会福祉事業（団）; （建物などの）沈下; 澄むこと, 沈殿（物）.
Act of Settlement　【英史】王位継承法.
settlement day　【株】決算日, 決済日.
⇒settle¹

Yo-Yo

悠悠球也能職業化

前美林員工Pat Cuartero辭掉了高薪工作，一心撲在他熱衷的極限悠悠球(Yo-Yo，也稱作溜溜球)運動上。他成為了一個玩悠悠球的高手，並創辦了“全民悠悠”組織(Yo-Yo Nation)《華爾街日報》Mary Pilon報道。

joint-stock, privatization

French Cabinet Moves Closer to Privatization of La Poste

The French cabinet approved a bill that will turn the country's postal service, La Poste, into a joint-stock company on Jan. 1.

joint-stock
株式組織; 共同出資.
joint-stock　a. 株式共有の.
joint-stock bank　〔英〕 株式銀行 ((略 JSB)).
joint-stock company　〔英〕 株式会社.
⇒joint
n.

Stock or capital funds of a company held jointly or in common by its owners.

status symbol deletion

Judge sets status call
in UBS vs. U.S. case

A Miami judge said he would reassess the progress of talks between UBS AG and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service ahead of a major court hearing tied to possible tax evasion by U.S. citizens on Monday.

The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with, and the WP fronts, claims by a former Environmental Protection Agency official that Vice President Cheney's office sought deletions to a federal official's prepared testimony about health threats posed by global warming.

Wikipedia page the latest status symbol

By Jennifer Ablan Mon Oct 22, 3:41 PM ET 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters) - They say if you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere. But these days, it seems you haven't really made it unless you have that most prized of status symbols -- your very own page on Wikipedia.

"It's something of an honor," said journalist Howard Altman of being added to the world's largest online encyclopedia. "I actually had somebody say to me at a baseball game that I was the first person he knew on Wikipedia ... it was pretty cool."

Steve Knight, an American musician whose biography was created only several days ago, said, "I appreciate being considered a notable person ... This is pretty exciting."

Unlike popular networking sites MySpace and Facebook, Wikipedia doesn't allow people to post profiles of themselves.

Instead, Wikipedia entries are earned.

"If someone is notable or successful in their field, they'll end up in Wikipedia," Jim Wales, the 41-year-old who founded Wikipedia in January 2001, said in an interview.

Altman ended up in Wikipedia because of his claim to fame six years ago for reporting on an American numerologist, John Patrick Ennis, thought to have predicted a large number of major events, including the 9/11 attacks. "I gained a following all over the world because of that ... I think that's why I got on Wikipedia," Altman, 47, said.

Knight's Wikipedia entry says he is "best known as the keyboardist for Mountain, a rock band of the early 1970s" and notes that the 72-year-old who now lives in Woodstock, New York, and serves on Woodstock's Town Board.

The number of individuals profiled on the site is growing rapidly. As of late September there were 224,785 biographies of living people on the site, up from 177,512 in January and 93,392 in January 2006.

And those biographies get read. Wikipedia is the eighth most-visited U.S. destination on the Internet with 52.8 million unique visitors in September, according to comScore Media Metrix. Worldwide it attracted 210.8 million visitors.

FIRST FAME, THEN EVICTION

But the thrill of being included comes with a price.

Anybody can write an entry on the site, or update and edit an existing one. Each entry has pointers to a "history" page, where previous versions are stored, and a "discussion" page, where contributors can haggle over changes or whether the article or biography should be kept or dumped.

"It can be an unpleasant experience if ... it gets deleted because the (community) decides you aren't important enough," said Wales.

Chelsea Kate Isaacs -- a budding actress and model who earned top dollar as a hand model between the ages of 11 and 12 -- knows the pleasure and pain of Wikipedia.

Last week someone created an entry calling the 19-year-old "1998's most desirable hand model in the United States and Canada." Isaacs told Reuters last week she was shocked to see her life on Wikipedia. "It's absolutely shocking but the information (on me) is accurate. I have no clue who did this."

"I guess I do have a fan club out there," Isaacs said.

But then after just a few days, contributors to Wikipedia dumped Isaacs' page.

"That's so sad!" Isaacs said on Monday about her eviction. "I kind of liked the idea of being on Wikipedia."

The site is governed by three basic policies: Entries should not include any original research; facts must be verifiable via a published and reputable source; and all entries should be written from a neutral point of view.

Wikipedia isn't without its critics. Because anyone can edit it, documents are vulnerable to endless mistakes.

But a series of incidents has led to changes, including Wales appointing a small group of administrators to serve as chief watchdogs who can delete articles or protect them from further changes and block certain users from editing.

"What's on there about me is highly accurate," said Knight. "I don't want to be taken down. Who does? I hope the people who loved me before Wikipedia will still love me if I am taken off."

Definition

delete Hide phonetics
verb [I or T]
to remove or draw a line through something, especially a written word or words:
They insisted that all expletives be deleted from the article.
Here is a list of possible answers. Please delete (= draw a line through them) as appropriate.

deletion Hide phonetics
noun [C or U]
In 1982, the management ordered the deletion (= removal and loss) of all computer files on this subject.
There have been some deletions (= words have been removed) from this text.


status

n.

1. Position relative to that of others; standing: Her status is that of a guest.
2. High standing; prestige: a position of status in the community.
3. Law. The legal character or condition of a person or thing: the status of a minor.
4. A state of affairs; situation. See synonyms at state.

[Latin.]

USAGE NOTE In a recent survey of the Usage Panel, 53 percent of the Panelists preferred the pronunciation (stăt'əs), 36 percent preferred (stā'təs), and 11 percent said they use both pronunciations. The pronunciation (stā'təs) is the older, more traditional pronunciation, and it remains the most common one in British English.

status symbol noun [C]（社会的）地位の象徴.
any thing which people want to have because they think other people will admire them if they have it:
Among young people, this brand of designer clothing is the ultimate status symbol.

restriction, circumvent,barrack

Car bomb in Spain injures dozens and heavily damages Civil Guard barracks



China's Geely Auto Weighs Acquisitions

Geely said it is interested in using international acquisitions to gain access to technologies and sales networks, and to circumvent trade barriers it might otherwise face as a Chinese auto maker.

Unrestricted Warfare (超限战, literally "warfare beyond bounds") is a book on military strategy written in 1999 by two colonels in the People's Liberation Army, Qiao Liang (乔良) and Wang Xiangsui. Its primary concern is how a nation such as China can defeat a technologically superior opponent (such as the United States) through a variety of means. Rather than focusing on direct military confrontation, this book instead examines a variety of other means. Such means include using International Law (see Lawfare) and a variety of economic means to place one's opponent in a bad position and circumvent the need for direct military action.^[1]
中文

restrict Show phonetics
verb [T]
to limit the movements or actions of someone, or to limit something and reduce its size or prevent it from increasing:
measures to restrict the sale of alcohol
The government has restricted freedom of movement into and out of the country.
Having small children really restricts your social life.
See also restrict to.

restricted Show phonetics
adjective
1 limited, especially by official rules, laws, etc:
Building in this area of town is restricted.
Membership is restricted to (= It is only for) chief executive officers.
Our view of the stage was restricted (= objects prevented us from seeing the whole stage).

2 describes an area which you need official permission to enter because the authorities want to keep it secret, or because it is considered dangerous:
Wellington Barracks is a restricted area and anyone who enters should have identification.

3 describes a document which you need official permission to read because the authorities want to keep it secret

restriction Show phonetics
noun [C or U]
import/export/currency restrictions
speed/parking restrictions
At the turn of the century, Congress imposed/placed a height restriction of 13 storeys on all buildings in Washington.
The president urged other countries to lift the trade restrictions.

restrictive Show phonetics
adjective OFTEN DISAPPROVING
limiting the freedom of someone or preventing something from growing:
He is self-employed because he finds working for other people too restrictive.
The college is not able to expand because of restrictive planning laws.

circumvent Hide phonetics
verb [T] FORMAL
to avoid something, especially cleverly or illegally:
Ships were registered abroad to circumvent employment and safety regulations.

circumvention Hide phonetics
noun [U] FORMAL

circumvent

barrack

tr.v., -racked, -rack·ing, -racks.

To house (soldiers, for example) in quarters.

n.

1. A building or group of buildings used to house military personnel. Often used in the plural.
2. A large, unadorned building used for temporary occupancy. Often used in the plural.

[From French baraques, barracks, from Spanish barracas, soldiers' tents or huts.]

bar·rack² (băr'ək)

v., -racked, -rack·ing, -racks. v.intr.

1. Chiefly British. To jeer or shout at a player, speaker, or team.
2. Australian. To shout support for a team.

v.tr. Chiefly British.

To shout against; jeer at.

[Perhaps from Irish dialectal barrack, to brag; akin to BRAG.]

barracker bar'rack·er n.1.
v. tr. - 使駐兵營內
n. - 兵舍, 軍營

2.
v. intr. - 住入營房
v. tr. - 向...提供營房, 使住入營房

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 兵舎に収容する, 兵舎で暮らす
n. - 兵舎, 大きく殺風景な建物

inject, insulin

The Los Angeles Times says the negotiations were able to move quickly partly due to "to the presence of a team from the White House, which injected itself deeply in the process."


Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are close to announcing the formation of a WiMax joint venture funded in part by a $2 billion injection from Intel, TheStreet.com reported.

Unneeded at Any Speed
IF YOU didn't know Ralph Nader was running for president, you do now. The man who built a rock-solid reputation agitating for consumer rights and watched his standing diminish after he injected himself into the 2000 presidential contest as an independent candidate reemerged Wednesday with a off-k...
(The Washington Post)




這 injection（注入等） 除了打針（譬如說糖尿病每天打鼻胰島素：Daily insulin injections are necessary for some diabetics.）之外，在20世紀中葉還有類似「射出成形機」（injection machne）；將衛星等注入軌道（INJECTION orbit） 的時間；數學中一對一映射也稱為 injection。


INJECTION專名（編譯館有650詞：INJECTION laser 注入雷射）
藥學INJECTION 注射劑 ； Intradermic ~ 皮內注射 ； Intramscular ~ 肌肉注射 ； Intravenous ~ 靜脈注射 ；Subcutemeous ~皮下注射


****

比喻用法在17世紀初就開始使用：
inject (SOMETHING NEW)
verb [T]
to introduce something new that is necessary or helpful to a situation or process:
A large amount of money will have to be injected into the company if it is to survive.
I tried to inject a little humour into the meeting.

injection noun [C or U]
A cash injection of £20 million will be used to improve the health service.
an injection of humour/excitement




政經英文例：約2007/6/25—這則值得詳細查查你不認識的單字/詞
Hillary Clinton is set to get a cash injection from Wall Street for her presidential campaign coffers Tuesday night at a fundraising event hosted by Warren Buffett and organized by Morgan Stanley chief John J. Mack, as well as a slew of other bankers, private equity executives and hedge fund managers, The Financial Times reported.


insulin
n.

1. A polypeptide hormone secreted by the islets of Langerhans and functioning in the regulation of the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats, especially the conversion of glucose to glycogen, which lowers the blood glucose level.
2. Any of various pharmaceutical preparations containing this hormone that are derived from the pancreas of certain animals or produced through genetic engineering and are used in the medical treatment and management of diabetes mellitus (type I).

[New Latin īnsula, island (of Langerhans) (from Latin, island) + –IN.]

Bouncer

1. BabySwede LLC Recalls Bouncer Chairs Due to Laceration Hazard: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09287.html

Bouncer (from 'bounce' - changing the direction of motion after contact) may refer to:

• Bouncer (cricket), a type of delivery in cricket
• Bouncer (doorman), a person who provides security and deals with disorderly people in a public venue

Meaning #1: a person whose duty is to throw troublemakers out of a bar or public meeting
Synonym: chucker-out

• Bouncer (networking), an IRC program functioning as a proxy between an IRC client and one or many IRC servers

even-handed and arms-length, uncontested, turnout

Mr. Ma ran uncontested on Sunday in the election for Kuomintang party chief. He won 92.5 percent of about 300,000 votes cast, with a turnout of 58 percent, the party said.



These are indictments of capitalists, not of capitalism. Capitalism comes in many varieties and the cavalier thesis that less regulation is always better has been exposed as false; but the main features of the liberal market economy – private property rights, smart but even-handed and arms-length regulation, and democratic politics – are uncontested. Capitalism's worst crisis in 70 years has not prompted a serious alternative vision of society.




The arm's length principle (ALP) is the condition or the fact that the parties to a transaction are independent and on an equal footing. Such a transaction is known as an "arm's-length transaction". It is used specifically in contract law to arrange an equitable agreement that will stand up to legal scrutiny, even though the parties may have shared interests (e.g., employer-employee) or are too closely related to be seen as completely independent (e.g., the parties have familial ties).

uncontested
adj.

Not contested: an uncontested divorce; the uncontested leader.

repository

For now, Mr. Kovacs has elected to make his iPhone application available through Cydia, a popular repository for thousands of unauthorized iPhone applications and modifications. “I’d rather just make it available for free, instead of just not having it available to anyone,” he said.


Managing Nuclear Waste

Scientists around the world are investigating safe and long-term solutions
to manage nuclear waste. One possible solution is to dispose of the
radioactive waste - produced by nuclear power plants - deep underground in
so-called geological repositories.

The DW-WORLD Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evzl09I44va89pI2

Spectrum | 19.08.2008 | 04:30

Problems at Germany's Asse II Nuclear Waste Repository

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:

A former salt mine in the German state of Lower Saxony is giving authorities and local residents cause for alarm.

In 1965 the Asse-II mine was turned into a temporary storage and research facility for nuclear waste. As the development of nuclear energy boomed, the 1000-metre-deep mine became a permanent disposal site for nuclear material. Between 1967 to 1978, hundreds of thousands of barrels of radioactive waste were disposed in the mine and remain there today. In June this year, news broke that brine, known to be leaking from the mine since 1988, is radioactive – at some eight times above safe levels. As Leah McDonnell reports, poor maintenance also means the mine is unstable and in danger of collapsing.





Google announced an online repository where consumers can store their health information -- a move that could boost the nation's fledgling efforts to adopt electronic medical records.


repository
noun ━━ n. 容器, 倉庫, 地下納骨所; （資源・情報の）宝庫 ((of)); 腹心.
1 [C] FORMAL a place where things are stored and can be found

2 [C usually singular] a person who has, or a book that contains, a lot of information or detailed knowledge:
She's a repository of knowledge about our family history.

escalating, inflate, unprecedented, precedent-setting

Googlers Get The Gift Of The G1; Probably Won't Inflate HTC Sales (Tricia Duryee)

UN sets up food crisis task force

The United Nations and the World Bank have announced the creation of
a task force to deal with an unprecedented rise in global food
prices. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a news conference in
Berne, Switzerland that the task force would help to provide a
coordinated response to the food crisis. World Bank president Robert
Zoellick called on countries not to ban exports on food, saying it
only worsened the current situation. After two days of meetings of
agency heads, the UN said in a statement that escalating food prices
have become a crisis for the world's most vulnerable, including the
urban poor.



EU Imposes Tariffs on Imports of Steel Pipe From China

EU officials approved pre-emptive penalties on imports of steel pipe from China, a precedent-setting move that suggests the trading bloc is growing more protectionist.

Definition

escalate Hide phonetics
verb [I or T]
to make or become greater or more serious:
The decision to escalate UN involvement has been taken in the hopes of a swift end to the hostilities.
His financial problems escalated after he became unemployed.
The escalating rate of inflation will almost certainly bring escalating prices.

escalation Hide phonetics
noun [C or U]
It's difficult to explain the recent escalation in/of violent crime.

<– Back to results

inflate (MAKE LARGER) Show phonetics
verb [T]
to make something larger or more important:
They inflated their part in the rescue every time they told the story.

inflated Show phonetics
adjective
Inflated prices, costs, numbers, etc. are higher than they should be, or higher than people think is reasonable.

remission, remits

Hillary Clinton’s involvement, alongside her treasury counterpart, Timothy Geithner, raises the status of America’s participation, which, the Americans hope, will encourage more progress on issues—especially climate change—that straddled the remits of the forum’s precursors.


Online Health Data in Remission
The $19 billion prescribed in Congress's economic stimulus package to bring America's health-care records into the electronic age is a welcome opportunity for information technology firms seeking to build market share in a still-young industry.
(By Anita Huslin, The Washington Post)



remission (ILLNESS) Hide phonetics
noun [C or U] FORMAL
a period of time when an illness is less severe:
Her cancer has been in remission for several years.
See also remission at remit (REDUCE).


remit
v., -mit·ted, -mit·ting, -mits. v.tr.

1. To transmit (money) in payment.
2. 1. To refrain from exacting (a tax or penalty, for example); cancel.
   2. To pardon; forgive: remitted their sins.
3. To restore to a former condition or position.
4. Law.
   1. To refer (a case) to another court for further consideration or action.
   2. To refer (a matter) to a committee or authority for decision.
5. To allow to slacken: The storm remitted its fury.
6. To desist from; give up.
7. To put off; postpone.

v.intr.

1. To transmit money.
2. To diminish; abate.

n. (rĭ-mĭt', rē'mĭt)

1. The act of remitting, especially the referral of a case to another court.
2. A matter remitted for further consideration.

[Middle English remitten, to send back, from Latin remittere : re-, re- + mittere, to send.]

remitment re·mit'ment n.
remittable re·mit'ta·ble adj.
remitter re·mit'ter n.
v. tr. - 寬恕, 免除, 赦免
v. intr. - 緩和, 匯款, 減輕
n. - 移交的事物

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 免除する, 軽減する, 送る, 送金する, 付託する

multinational transfer pricing, MNC , gray market goods,multinational corporation

Russia, China Clash Over Billions in 'Gray Trade'

The abrupt shutting of a giant wholesale market in Moscow dominated by Chinese merchants has stirred trade tensions between Moscow and Beijing.

俄羅斯與中國爆發“灰色貿易”沖突
俄羅斯突然關閉莫斯科一個以中國商人為主的巨型批發市場的舉動造成中俄貿易緊張關係﹐彰顯兩鄰國間走私活動的規模之大。


A grey market or gray market is the trade of a commodity through distribution
channels which, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, ...

multi・national
━━ a., n. 多国籍の, 多国家（間）の, 多国籍企業（の）.

multinational corporation to globally integrated enterprise

multinational corporation（有時簡記為MNC）【経済】'跨國公司'或'多国籍企業'.（multi・national ━━ a., n. 多国籍の, 多国家（間）の, 多国籍企業（の）.）



IBM執行長Sam Palmisano提出'全球性整合企業'(globally integrated enterprise)概念，以取代20世紀的'跨國公司'理論。不過我認為名字太難，似乎不及其他諸如Global Company 等來得簡單。


參考
The Globally Integrated Enterprise by Sam Palmisano (111KB)



在這種'全球性整合企業'模式下，思想、制度。技術等等都是無國界的，決策和績效必須以全球為基礎來考慮。

Working paper: Gray Markets and Multinational Transfer Pricing

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6136.html
Download the PDF.

Gray market goods are brand-name products that are initially sold into a designated market but then resold through unofficial channels into a different market. Gray markets can arise when transaction and search costs are low enough to allow products to "leak" from one market segment back into another. Examples of industries with active gray markets include pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and electronics. HBS professor Romana L. Autrey and Francesco Bova investigate the optimal price of a multinational's internal transfers and the consequences of regulations mandating arm's-length transfer pricing.

gray market goods, 文 中說明

multinational transfer pricing 多國籍企業計算彼此之間的貨品移轉之價格

multinational corporation

A corporation that has its facilities and other assets in at least one country other than its home country. Such companies have offices and/or factories in different countries and usually have a centralized head office where they co-ordinate global management. Very large multinationals have budgets that exceed those of many small countries.

跨國公司﹐北京歡迎你
北京正加入到與香港﹑新加坡和上海的競爭中來﹐努力加大對跨國公司在北京設立亞洲總部的吸引力度﹐提出了一系列的新優惠措施。

tiara,thunderous

“Life has been fun, and I want to keep on having fun,” Ms. Hayashi said, placing a tiara in her hair. She talks of plans to retire next year and travel abroad.

Her 17-year-old sister, who also wants to be a hostess, may succeed her. Ms. Hayashi is supportive. “I just want her to be happy,” she said.

Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) in early papal tiara, Fresco at the cloister Sacro Speco, about 1219.

In Japan, Miss Universe highlights new idea of beauty

18 hours ago

TOKYO (AFP) — Covering her face with her hands, 20-year-old Riyo Mori of Japan heard the MC's voice and the thunderous cheering of the crowd telling one year ago that she was the new Miss Universe.

With a 250,000-dollar tiara on her head, Mori walked confidently on the stage as Japan's first Miss Universe in 48 years as an estimated one billion people watched around the world on television.

thunderous Hide phonetics
adjective [before noun]
extremely loud:
thunderous applause
a thunderous reception

tiara

(tē-ăr'ə, -âr'ə, -är'ə)
n.

1. An ornamental, often jeweled, crownlike semicircle worn on the head by women on formal occasions.
2. The triple crown worn by the pope.

[Latin tiāra, turban, headband, from Greek tiārā.]

ti・a・ra

,

━━ n. ローマ教皇の3重冠; （金・宝石・花などをつけた婦人用の）装飾冠, ティアラ; 古代ペルシアの男子の冠［ターバン］.

earthy, versatile, sickbed, unwinding, clientele

The club’s clientele is diverse, including workaday salarymen, business owners and other men unwinding after work.


PepsiCo announced early Monday that it is offering to buy the shares in its two main bottlers that it does not already own for about $6 billion, in an unwinding of its decade-long strategy of separating bottling from its main soft-drink business.

The Reckoning

A Champion of Wall St. Reaps the Benefits

By ERIC LIPTON and RAYMOND HERNANDEZ 50 minutes ago

Shawn Thew/European Pressphoto Agency

Senator Charles Schumer meeting with Neel T. Kashkari, center, the official in charge of the $700 billion federal bailout.

In Washington, Senator Charles E. Schumer is beneficiary, advocate and overseer of an industry that is his hometown’s most important business.

• Schumer's Stands
• Previous Articles in the Series »

The Man Who Is Unwinding Lehman Brothers

By JONATHAN D. GLATER

A 75-year-old lion of the bankruptcy bar, Harvey R. Miller has been consumed by the largest corporate liquidation in U.S. history.

Lawyer Seen as Bold Enough to Cheat the Best of Investors

By ALISON LEIGH COWAN, CHARLES V. BAGLI and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM 5 minutes ago

Authorities say that Marc S. Dreier, one of New York’s most accomplished lawyers, brazenly swindled the city’s savviest investors, in a fraud estimated at $380 million.

• Times Topics: Marc S. Dreier

Nascar’s Sponsors, Hit by Sticker Shock

By SUSANNA HAMNER

Nascar, which relies on corporate sponsorships more than other sports, is particularly vulnerable in an economic crisis.

Economic View

To Build Confidence, Aim for Full Employment

By ROBERT J. SHILLER

If the new president had a target of full employment, and if Americans believed that he could reach it, the confidence problem could be quickly solved.

Asian Leaders Focus on Growth at 3-Nation Summit Meeting

By MARTIN FACKLER

The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea held their nations’ first joint summit meeting, which focused on a joint Asian response to the global economic crisis.

Slipstream

A Software Secretary That Takes Charge

By JOHN MARKOFF

A new generation of Internet technologies is making meaningful progress in anticipating your needs without you pressing a key.

Digital Domain

Advertisers Face Hurdles on Social Networking Sites

By RANDALL STROSS

Web advertising experts see a myriad of difficulties in making brand advertising work on social networking sites.

Everybody’s Business

Before the Fear, There Was Foolishness

By BEN STEIN

Before the credit crisis, lenders lent with unimaginable foolishness and made incredibly risky bets. And the bets busted.

Measuring the Shock Waves in Bond Funds

By JEFF SOMMER

Many middle-of-the-road bond mutual funds that seemed to promise stable returns in a difficult market have recently taken gut-wrenching plunges.

The Feed

Wait. Why Is the F.T.C. After Whole Foods?

By ANDREW MARTIN

The F.T.C. once feared Whole Foods would dominate the market for organics. Now, that looks unlikely.

New Jersey

The Divorced Find a Housing Niche

By ANTOINETTE MARTIN

New complexes offer tenants the ability to sign a lease for any time period 30 days or longer, and move in within 48 hours.

Week 52: What Sense Does It Make?

By ALEX WILLIAMS

This year, the week between Christmas and New Year, a week that is usually just carefree and unproductive, is likely to be positively dead.

Ventures: A Year of Tumult for REITs

Fresh Starts: Up on the Roof, New Jobs in Solar Power

Robert Chandler, 80, a Creator of the ’60 Minutes’ Format, Dies

Mortgages: A Possible Drag on Bank Lending

Preoccupations: A Baby and a Book, and a New Definition of Success

In These Classrooms, a G.E.D. Is Only a Start

The Count: When Housing Fell, It Took Others Along

The Boss: Trained to Find a Way

Letters: Repealing the Tax Cuts

Letters: Fundamentals of Saving

From Week in Review and Sunday Magazine

The Remedist

By ROBERT SKIDELSKY

Why John Maynard Keynes is the man of the year.

By KEVIN SACK

Health care and the economy share a sickbed. Barack Obama placed a heavy bet last week that they can recover together.

earth (SUBSTANCE) Hide phonetics
noun [U]
the usually brown, heavy and loose substance of which a large part of the surface of the ground is made, and in which plants can grow; the land surface of the Earth rather than the sky or sea:
The ploughed earth looked rich and dark and fertile.
See also earthen.

earthy Hide phonetics
adjective
like or relating to earth:
an earthy smell

Trend-Setting sounds from North America's Native People

Earthy music, roots or world music? The music of North America's native peoples remains mysterious and difficult to grasp. But indigenous music (as Native Americans themselves call it) plays a vital role in that continent's music scene. Contemporary indigenous music has little to do with traditional chanting and earthy sounds but instead - versatile, innovative and full of talent - is moving in a very modern direction. Its popularity has grown steadily over the past years. Melanie Aberle, who compiled this half hour in Toronto, traces new developments in native American music in good part from a Canadian perspective.




The dining room of one of them, Laris, is drenched in white - white marble, white tablecloths, white orchids. "The food and clients provide the color here," said the man at its helm, David Laris, formerly chef at Mezzo in London. As befits someone of Greek ancestry, he serves great fish, including raw oysters from three continents, scallops with basil and Kalamata olives, and a fabulously earthy cauliflower and caviar soup, not unlike the brew served by Jean Joho in Chicago.



earthy Hide phonetics
adjective
referring to sex and the human body in a direct way:
She has an earthy sense of humour.
Compare earthy at earth (SUBSTANCE).

A Picasso play also attracted attention, not to say notoriety. It was "Desire Caught by the Tail," which he had written in three days on a sickbed in 1941. It was produced privately in Paris three years later with a cast that included the playwright, Simone de Beauvoir, Valentine Hugo, Albert Camus, Raymond Queneau and Jean-Paul Sartre. The main prop was a big black box that served as a bed, bathtub and coffin for the two principal characters, Fat Anxiety and Thin Anxiety. The play's action was earthy.

When "Desire" was commercially staged in St. Tropez in 1967, it aroused protests even in that resort town's atmosphere of tolerance. The objection was that some of the characters were expected to urinate on stage. Although this did not take place, the play was thought overly suggestive.

earthiness Hide phonetics
noun [U]
I like the earthiness of her writing.

ver・sa・tile

━━ a. 多芸［多才］の, 多方面の; 用途の広い; 変りやすい, 気まぐれな.
ver・sa・tile・ly　━━ ad.
ver・sa・tile・ness　━━ n.
ver・sa・til・i・ty

sickbed Show phonetics
noun [C]
the bed of a person who is ill:
We visited my grandmother on her sickbed.

<– Back to results

unwind (UNFASTEN) Hide phonetics
verb [I or T] unwound, unwound
If you unwind something that is wrapped around an object, you unfasten it, and if it unwinds, it becomes unfastened:
In a nearby medical tent, a US Army doctor gently unwinds Metruk's bandage.


unwind (RELAX) (unwound, unwound) Hide phonetics
verb [I] (ALSO wind down)
to relax and allow your mind to be free from anxiety after a period of work or some other activity that has made you anxious:
A glass of wine in the evening helps me to unwind after work.

v., -wound (-wound'), -wind·ing, -winds. v.tr.

1. To reverse the winding or twisting of: unwind a ball of yarn.
2. To separate the tangled parts of; disentangle.
3. To free (someone) of nervous tension or pent-up energy.

v.intr.

1. To become unwound.
2. To become free of nervous tension; relax: liked to unwind with a cocktail before dinner.

clientele (klī'ən-tĕl', klē'än-)
n.

1. The clients of a professional person or practice considered as a group.
2. A body of customers or patrons: a restaurant's clientele.

[French clientèle, from Latin clientēla, clientship, from cliēns, client. See client.]

stiff,hike, tramp, stiffen, censure

Vote in Kyrgyzstan Gets Harsh Criticism

European observers issued a stiff censure of presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan, where President Bakiyev claimed a landslide victory that would cement his hold on power.

Clinton Speaks of Shielding Mideast From Iran
By MARK LANDLER and DAVID E. SANGER
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stiffened the American line against Iran.


THEATER REVIEW | 'WAITING FOR GODOT'
Tramps for Eternity
By BEN BRANTLEY
Anthony Page’s smart, engaging production of “Waiting for Godot” makes it clear that this greatest of 20th-century plays is also entertainment of a high order.

U.N. conference delegates rejected banning toxic waste exports, instead encouraging countries to institute their own controls. The proposal ran into stiff opposition from the U.S., Japan, Canada and India.

Toyota to hike price of Prius, luxury models in Japan
The Daily Yomiuri - Osaka,Japan
Toyota Motor Corp. has begun discussions on raising retail prices of its hybrid engine-powered Prius and luxury models in Japan in response to rising steel ...

<– Back to results

hike (INCREASE) Show phonetics
noun [C]
an increase in the cost of something, especially a large or unwanted increase:
The recent hike in train fares came as a shock to commuters.

hike Show phonetics
verb [I or T]
The Chancellor has hiked (up) interest rates again.

hike (WALK) Show phonetics
noun [C]
a long walk, especially in the countryside

hike Show phonetics
verb [I]
to go for a long walk in the countryside

hiking Show phonetics
noun [U]
We're going hiking in the Lake District next weekend.

hiker Show phonetics
noun [C]
On sunny days the trails are full of hikers.

stiff

(stĭf)
adj., stiff·er, stiff·est.

1. Difficult to bend; rigid.
2. 1. Not moving or operating easily or freely; resistant: a stiff hinge.
   2. Lacking ease or comfort of movement; not limber: a stiff neck.
3. Drawn tightly; taut.
4. 1. Rigidly formal.
   2. Lacking ease or grace.
5. Not liquid, loose, or fluid; thick: stiff dough.
6. Firm, as in purpose; resolute.
7. Having a strong, swift, steady force or movement: a stiff current; a stiff breeze.
8. Potent or strong: a stiff drink.
9. Difficult, laborious, or arduous: a stiff hike; a stiff examination.
10. Difficult to comprehend or accept; harsh or severe: a stiff penalty.
11. Excessively high: a stiff price.
12. Nautical. Not heeling over much in spite of great wind or the press of the sail.

adv.

1. In a stiff manner: frozen stiff.
2. To a complete extent; totally: bored stiff.

n. Slang.

1. A corpse.
2. A person regarded as constrained, priggish, or overly formal.
3. A drunk.
4. A person: a lucky stiff; just an ordinary working stiff.
5. A hobo; a tramp.
6. A person who tips poorly.

tr.v. Slang., stiffed, stiff·ing, stiffs.

1. To tip (someone) inadequately or not at all, as for a service rendered: paid the dinner check but stiffed the waiter.
2. 1. To cheat (someone) of something owed: My roommate stiffed me out of last month's rent.
   2. To fail to give or supply (something expected or promised).

[Middle English, from Old English stīf.]

stiffish stiff'ish adj.
stiffly stiff'ly adv.
stiffness stiff'ness n.

SYNONYMS stiff, rigid, inflexible, inelastic, tense. These adjectives describe what is very firm and does not easily bend or give way.

Stiff, the least specific, refers to what can be flexed only with difficulty (a brush with stiff bristles); with reference to persons it often suggests a lack of ease, cold formality, or fixity, as of purpose: “stiff in opinions” (John Dryden).

Rigid and inflexible apply to what cannot be bent without damage or deformation (a table of rigid plastic; an inflexible knife blade); figuratively they describe what does not relent or yield: “under the dictates of a rigid disciplinarian” (Thomas B. Aldrich). “In religion the law is written, and inflexible, never to do evil” (Oliver Goldsmith).

Inelastic refers largely to what will not stretch and spring back without marked physical change: inelastic construction materials. Tense means stretched tight and figuratively applies to what is marked by tautness or strain: “that tense moment of expectation” (Arnold Bennett).

tramp

v., tramped, tramp·ing, tramps.

v.intr.

1. To walk with a firm, heavy step; trudge.
2. 1. To travel on foot; hike.
   2. To wander about aimlessly.

v.tr.

1. To traverse on foot: tramp the fields.
2. To tread down; trample: tramp down snow.

n.

1. 1. A heavy footfall.
   2. The sound produced by heavy walking or marching.
2. A walking trip; a hike.
3. One who travels aimlessly about on foot, doing odd jobs or begging for a living; a vagrant.
4. 1. A prostitute.
   2. A person regarded as promiscuous.
5. Nautical. A tramp steamer.
6. A metal plate attached to the sole of a shoe for protection, as when spading ground.

[Middle English trampen, to walk heavily, from Middle Low German.]

tramper tramp'er n.
trampish tramp'ish adj.
trampy tramp'y adj.

censure

n.

1. An expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism.
2. An official rebuke, as by a legislature of one of its members.

tr.v., -sured, -sur·ing, -sures.

1. To criticize severely; blame. See synonyms at criticize.
2. To express official disapproval of: “whether the Senate will censure one of its members for conflict of interest” (Washington Post).

[Middle English, from Latin cēnsūra, censorship, from cēnsor, Roman censor. See censor.]

━━ a. 堅い, 硬直した; 窮屈な, すらすら動かない, きつい; （綱など）張りつめた; 堅ねりの, 粘りのある; ぎこちない, 形式張った; （風など）激しい; 困難な; 頑固な; （アルコール分の）強い; 高価な; 【商業】強含みの; 〔話〕 ひどい, 途方もない.
━━ ad. ひどく.
bore … stiff　（人）をひどく退屈させる.
scare … stiff　（人）をひどく脅かす.
━━ n. 〔俗〕 死体; 〔俗〕 …なやつ; 堅苦しい［融通のきかない］人.
stiff・en　━━ v. 堅くする［なる］; 強くする［なる］; 硬化［直］させる［する］ ((up)); よそよそしくなる; 〔俗〕 殺す.
stiff・en・er　n. 芯(しん).
stiff・en・ing　n. stiffener の材料.
stiff・ly　━━ ad.
stiff-necked　━━ a. 首筋がこわばった; 頑固な.
stiff・ness　━━ n.

distracting, prospect, dreadful texting

In Study, Texting Lifts Crash Risk by Large Margin
By MATT RICHTEL
For truck drivers videotaped for 18 months during a study, texting was found to be the riskiest distraction.



The Los Angeles Times leads with the prospect that the worst could be yet to come in California's budget crisis as companies, disenchanted by the state government's inability to mitigate the damage, take their business elsewhere.



Mr. Whitmore said that he was surprised by the prospect of a deal because such a major integration can be so distracting, particularly because, he said, H.P. has done such a fine job of re-organizing its business in the last few years.
The sale came just after the bank's chief executive, Kenneth D. Lewis, joined the growing ranks of top banking executives who are giving up their annual bonuses after a dreadful year in the financial industry.

Motorola, however, refused the request and called the move a distraction. "Motorola rejected Mr. Icahn's demand for extensive access to its books and records, as the company's does not believe that Mr. Icahn's demand sets out a proper purpose to support a right of inspection under Delaware Law," a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

dreadful
adj.

1. Inspiring dread; terrible.
2. Extremely unpleasant; distasteful or shocking: dreadful table manners; this dreadful heat.

dreadfully dread'ful·ly adv.
dreadfulness dread'ful·ness n.

n. (名詞 noun)

1. 分心,注意力分散[U]
2. 困惑;焦躁不安[U]
3. 分散注意的事物[C]
There are too many distractions here to work properly.
這兒叫人分心的事太多,使人無法好好工作。
4. 娛樂,消遣;散心[C]
He complained that there were not enough distractions in the town.
他抱怨城裡娛樂場所不夠多。
5. 精神錯亂,發狂[U]
The child's continual crying drove me to distraction.
孩子不停地啼哭,吵得我快要發瘋了。

distracted Hide phonetics
adjective
nervous, anxious or confused because you are worried about something:
Gill seems rather distracted at the moment - I think she's worried about her exams.

distractedly
adverb

distraction
noun [U]
His lessons bore me to distraction (= bore me very much).
That dreadful noise is driving me to distraction (= annoying me so much that it will make me angry).
prospect
n.

1. Something expected; a possibility.
2. prospects
   1. Chances.
   2. Financial expectations, especially of success.
3. 1. A potential customer, client, or purchaser.
   2. A candidate deemed likely to succeed.
4. The direction in which an object, such as a building, faces; an outlook.
5. Something presented to the eye; a scene: a pleasant prospect.
6. The act of surveying or examining.
7. 1. The location or probable location of a mineral deposit.
   2. An actual or probable mineral deposit.
   3. The mineral yield obtained by working an ore.

v., -pect·ed, -pect·ing, -pects. v.tr.

To search for or explore (a region) for mineral deposits or oil.

v.intr.

To explore for mineral deposits or oil.

[Middle English prospecte, from Latin prōspectus, distant view, from past participle of prōspicere, to look out : prō-, forward; see pro–¹ + specere, to look at.]

distract Hide phonetics
verb [T] ━━ vt. （心を）紛らす; 迷わす; 取り乱させる, 狂乱させる.
to make someone stop giving their attention to something:
Don't distract her (from her studies).
He tried to distract attention from his own illegal activities.

distracting Hide phonetics
adjective
Please turn your music down - it's very distracting.

distraction Hide phonetics
noun [C or U]
I can turn the television off if you find it a distraction.
See also distraction at distracted.
dis・tract・ed　━━ a. 取り乱した, 迷った; 狂乱の.

combo

Paris & Amsterdam combo package
Round-trip airfare + 6 hotel nights + airfare between Paris and Amsterdam + continental breakfast daily + hotel taxes and service charge….starting at $1,029!

Suomen Kuvalehti

Earnings Reality Check
Suomen Kuvalehti - Finland
In this combo made from file photos, logos for IBM Corp., left, and Ford Motor Co. are shown. At IBM, layoffs, automating of tasks and other cost-cutting ...


combo (MIXTURE) Show phonetics
noun [C] plural combos INFORMAL
a combination of different things:
That's a funny combo - pink and orange.
I'll have the burrito and taco combo, please.

General Electric Recalls Microwave Combo Wall Ovens Due to Fire Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Built-in Combination Wall and Microwave Ovens

Units: About 92,000

Manufacturer: GE Consumer & Industrial, of Louisville, Ky.

Hazard: The door switch in the microwave oven can overheat and ignite plastic components in the control area, posing a fire hazard to consumers. The lower thermal oven does not pose a hazard.

Incidents/Injuries: GE is aware of 35 incidents of minor property damage and one incident in which a fire damaged adjacent kitchen cabinets. No injuries have been reported.

Description: The recall includes GE combination microwave and conventional built-in wall ovens sold under the following brand names: GE, GE Profile® and Kenmore. The ovens were sold in white, black, bisque and stainless steel. The brand name is printed on the lower left corner on the front of the microwave door. The following model and serial numbers can be found inside the microwave oven on the left interior wall.

	Recalled Models	Serial number begins with:
GE / GE Profile	JKP85B0A3BB, JKP85B0D1BB, JKP85W0A3WW, JKP85W0D1WW, JKP86B0F1BB, JKP86C0F1CC, JKP86S0F1SS, JKP86W0F1WW, JT965B0F1BB, JT965C0F1CC, JT965S0F1SS, JT965W0F1WW, JTP85B0A2BB, JTP85B0A3BB, JTP85B0A4BB, JTP85B0A5BB, JTP85B0D1BB, JTP85W0A2WW, JTP85W0A3WW, JTP85W0A4WW, JTP85W0A5WW, JTP85W0D1WW, JTP86B0F1BB, JTP86C0F1CC, JTP86S0F1SS, JTP86W0F1WW, JTP95B0A2BB, JTP95B0A3BB, JTP95B0A4BB, JTP95B0A5BB, JTP95B0D1BB, JTP95W0A2WW, JTP95W0A3WW, JTP95W0A4WW, JTP95W0A5WW, JTP95W0D1WW	AZ, DZ, FZ, GZ, HZ, LZ, MZ, RZ, SZ, TZ, VZ, ZZ, AA, DA, FA, GA, HA, LA, MA, RA, SA, TA, VA, ZA, AD, DD, FD, GD, HD, LD, MD, RD, SD, TD, VD, ZD, AF, DF, FF, GF, HF, LF, MF, RF, SF, TF, VF, ZF
Kenmore (All model numbers start with 911)	41485991, 41485992, 41485993, 41485994, 41489991, 41489992, 41489993, 41489994, 49485992, 49489992, 47692100, 47699100, 47862100, 47869100, 47812200, 47813200, 47814200, 47819200, 47792200, 47793200, 47794200, 47799200	0, 1, 2, 3

Sold at: Department and appliance stores from January 2000 to December 2003 for between $1,500 and $2,000.

Manufactured in: United States

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the microwave oven immediately. Consumers should contact GE regarding their GE/GE Profile micro-oven combo or Sears for their Kenmore unit. GE is offering a free repair or rebate on a new product, a $300 rebate toward the purchase of a new GE brand unit, or a $600 rebate toward the purchase of a new GE Profile brand unit. Sears is offering a free repair or $300 rebate toward the purchase of a new Kenmore brand unit. Consumers can continue using the lower thermal oven.

Consumer Contact: For additional information on GE /Profile units, contact General Electric toll-free at (888)-240-2745 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET Saturday, or visit GE’s Web site at www.geappliances.com. For additional information on Kenmore units, contact Sears toll-free at (888) 679-0282 from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday, or visit Sears’ Web site at www.sears.com

personify

Rio Tinto Sales Executive Found Success in China's Changes

Stern Hu, the Australian mining executive whom China detained for allegedly stealing state secrets, personifies China's recent history of opening to the outside world.

personify
tr.v., -fied, -fy·ing, -fies.

1. To think of or represent (an inanimate object or abstraction) as having personality or the qualities, thoughts, or movements of a living being: “To make history or psychology alive I personify it” (Anaïs Nin).
2. To represent (an object or abstraction) by a human figure.
3. To represent (an abstract quality or idea): This character personifies evil.
4. To be the embodiment or perfect example of: “Stalin now personified bolshevism in the eyes of the world” (A.J.P. Taylor).

[French personnifier, from personne, person, from Old French persone. See person.]

personifier per·son'i·fi'er n.

electrification

The plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt, due out in November 2010, will carry 16 kilowatt-hours and go up to 40 miles on a full charge; if estimates from Mr. Miller hold when it goes into mass production, the battery pack alone would run from $9,600 to $16,000. And that does not count related parts like the system that maintains the temperature of the cells within an acceptable range and manages the charging and discharging.

G.M. would not disclose the price of the battery pack but expressed optimism that it would fall.

“We believe electrification is the future if the industry,” said Bob Kruse, the company’s executive director for global vehicle engineering, hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries.

“The mastery of battery technology is key,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do.”

electrify
tr.v., -fied, -fy·ing, -fies.

1. To produce electric charge on or in (a conductor).
2. 1. To wire or equip (a building, for example) for the use of electric power.
   2. To provide with electric power.
   3. Music. To amplify (music) by electronic means.
3. To thrill, startle greatly, or shock: a powerful performance that electrified the audience.

[ELECTRI(C) + –FY.]

electrifiable e·lec'tri·fi'a·ble adj.
electrification e·lec'tri·fi·ca'tion (-fĭ-kā'shən) n.
electrifier e·lec'tri·fi'er n.
electrifyingly e·lec'tri·fy'ing·ly adv.

antic

Richard Rutledge

Merce Cunningham in "Antic Meet," with design by Robert Rauschenberg, in 1958. More Photos »

antic
n.

1. A ludicrous or extravagant act or gesture; a caper.
2. Archaic. A buffoon, especially a performing clown.

adj.

Ludicrously odd; fantastic.

[From Italian antico, ancient (used of grotesque designs on some ancient Roman artifacts), from Latin antīquus, former, old.]

antically an'ti·cal·ly adv.

claustrophile, claustrophobia

Asimov was a claustrophile; he enjoyed small, enclosed spaces.^[16] In the first volume of his autobiography, he recalls a childhood desire to own a magazine stand in a New York City Subway station, within which he could enclose himself and listen to the rumble of passing trains while reading.<sup>[17]


claustrophobia</sup>

n.

An abnormal fear of being in narrow or enclosed spaces.

[Latin claustrum, enclosed place; see cloister + –PHOBIA.]

claustrophobe claus'tro·phobe' n.

put a damper on, hefty, sleek

Young Japanese Women Vie for a Once-Scorned Job

Yuli Weeks for The New York Times

Eri Momoka is a single mother who turned her hostess career into a lucrative fashion business, where she designs and sells hostess clothing and often appears on television. More Photos >

By HIROKO TABUCHI

Published: July 27, 2009

TOKYO — The women who pour drinks in Japan’s sleek gentlemen’s clubs were once shunned because their duties were considered immodest: lavishing adoring (albeit nonsexual) attention on men for a hefty fee.

sleek
adj., sleek·er, sleek·est.

1. Smooth and lustrous as if polished; glossy: brushed her hair until it was sleek.
2. Well-groomed and neatly tailored.
3. Healthy or well-fed; thriving.
4. Polished or smooth in manner, especially in an unctuous way; slick.

tr.v., sleeked, sleek·ing, sleeks.

1. To make sleek; slick: sleeked his hair with pomade.
2. To gloss over; conceal.

[Variant of SLICK.]

sleekly sleek'ly adv.
sleekness sleek'ness n.

SYNONYMS sleek, glossy, satiny, silken, silky, slick. These adjectives mean having a smooth gleaming surface: sleek black fur; glossy auburn hair; satiny gardenia petals; silken butterfly wings; silky skin; slick otters.

damper Show phonetics
noun INFORMAL
put a damper/dampener on sth to stop an occasion from being enjoyable:
Both the kids were ill while we were in Boston, so that rather put a damper on things.




くじくもの; 【楽】（ピアノの）響きどめ［ダンパー］; （弦楽器の）弱音器; （ストーブの）空気調節弁; （切手などの）湿し器; 興ざまし ((人, 物)).
put a damper on　…の興をそぐ.




A robust economy, an increasingly clear political landscape and promises of hefty state spending make Russian stocks an attractive bet, but any slowdown in the global economy could put a damper on that performance.


China's largest personal computer maker swung to a fiscal fourth quarter loss due to hefty restructuring charges and weak demand.

hefty
adj., -i·er, -i·est.

1. Of considerable weight; heavy.
2. Rugged and powerful. See synonyms at heavy.
3. Informal. Of considerable size or amount: a hefty serving of mashed potatoes; received a hefty bonus.

heftily heft'i·ly adv.
heftiness heft'i·ness n.

umbrage

Google Responds To UK MP's Critical Column
Wall Street Journal
By John Letzing Google Inc. took umbrage with a blistering criticism of the Internet giant by a Conservative member of the UK's Parliament published Monday, ...

umbrage
(ŭm'brĭj)
n.

1. Offense; resentment: took umbrage at their rudeness.
2. 1. Something that affords shade.
   2. Shadow or shade. See synonyms at shade.
3. A vague or indistinct indication; a hint.

[Middle English, shade, from Old French, from Latin umbrāticum, neuter of umbrāticus, of shade, from umbra, shadow.]

at close quarters, loophole, fine point

In Gubernatorial Race, It's About Who's More Pro-Gun

Background Check Loophole Puts Fine Point on Policies

Walking the jam-packed aisles of Virginia's biggest gun show, Richard Begay carried a .30-06 Sauer hunting rifle and a hand-lettered cardboard sign on his back asking $1,199.



The Europeans knew revolution at close quarters.


at close quarters　接近して, 間近に.

dioms:

at close quarters

Crowded, in a confined space, as in We could use a lot more room; this tiny office puts us at close quarters.

This idiom makes figurative use of quarters in the sense of "military lodgings" but originated in 18th-century naval warfare. When the enemy boarded a ship, the crew would retreat behind wooden barriers erected for this purpose and would continue to fire through loopholes. They thus were very near the enemy, fighting in close quarters. [c. 1800]

fine
adj., fin·er, fin·est.

1. Of superior quality, skill, or appearance: a fine day; a fine writer.
2. Very small in size, weight, or thickness: fine type; fine paper.
3. 1. Free from impurities.
   2. Metallurgy. Containing pure metal in a specified proportion or amount: gold 21 carats fine.
4. Very sharp; keen: a blade with a fine edge.
5. Thin; slender: fine hairs.
6. Exhibiting careful and delicate artistry: fine china. See synonyms at delicate.
7. Consisting of very small particles; not coarse: fine dust.
8. 1. Subtle or precise: a fine difference.
   2. Able to make or detect effects of great subtlety or precision; sensitive: has a fine eye for color.
9. Trained to the highest degree of physical efficiency: a fine racehorse.
10. Characterized by refinement or elegance.
11. Satisfactory; acceptable: Handing in your paper on Monday is fine.
12. Being in a state of satisfactory health; quite well: I'm fine. And you?
13. Used as an intensive: a fine mess.

adv.

1. Finely.
2. Informal. Very well: doing fine.

tr. & intr.v., fined, fin·ing, fines.

To make or become finer, purer, or cleaner.

[Middle English fin, from Old French, from Latin fīnis, end, supreme degree.]

fineness fine'ness n.
fine² (fīn)
n.

1. A sum of money required to be paid as a penalty for an offense.
2. Law.
   1. A forfeiture or penalty to be paid to the offended party in a civil action.
   2. An amicable settlement of a suit over land ownership.
3. Obsolete. An end; a termination.

tr.v., fined, fin·ing, fines.

To require the payment of a fine from; impose a fine on.

idiom:

in fine

1. In conclusion; finally.
2. In summation; in brief.

[Middle English fin, from Old French, settlement, compensation, from Medieval Latin fīnis, from Latin, end.]

finable fin'a·ble or fine'a·ble adj.
fi·ne³ (fē'nā)
n. Music.

The end.

[Italian, from Latin fīnis, end.]

loophole

n.

1. A way of escaping a difficulty, especially an omission or ambiguity in the wording of a contract or law that provides a means of evading compliance.
2. A small hole or slit in a wall, especially one through which small arms may be fired.

[LOOP² + HOLE.]

gouging the system and“price gouging"

6. Did Babies "R" Us Gouge Mommy and Daddy?

By Sean Gregory

A class-action suit asserts that the retailer coerced baby-product companies into fixing their prices. Smart business or a not-so-cute conspiracy?

Settlement companies are under fire from regulators, who say they promise much and deliver little. But their ubiquitous ads, which make a settlement seem not only easy but also a moral victory over shamelessly gouging card companies, have done much to spread the idea.

Although there are few independent statistics on the settlement industry, there is no doubt that some generous deals are being done.

{紐約時報}報導美國煉油廠事故連連，造成油價大漲。文中用到gouge一字，它的俚語意思為欺騙；

gouge

its slang meaning (to cheat, defraud, swindle or extort)

n.

1. A chisel with a rounded, troughlike blade.
2. 1. A scooping or digging action, as with such a chisel.
   2. A groove or hole scooped with or as if with such a chisel.
3. Informal. A large amount, as of money, exacted or extorted.

tr.v., gouged, goug·ing, goug·es.

1. To cut or scoop out with or as if with a gouge: “He began to gouge a small pattern in the sand with his cane” (Vladimir Nabokov).
2. 1. To force out the eye of (a person) with one's thumb.
   2. To thrust one's thumb into the eye of.
3. Informal. To extort from.
4. Slang. To swindle.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin gubia, variant of gulbia, of Celtic origin.]

gouger goug'er n.

中文（繁體）n. - 圓鑿, 以圓鑿刨, 溝
v. tr. - 用圓鑿子削除, 挖出, 欺騙

v. - 丸のみで彫る, くり抜く
n. - 丸のみ, 穴, 詐欺, ペテン

例
But with a third summer of high gasoline prices, lawmakers are debating legislation they claim would punish oil companies for exploiting the tight supply situation and engaging in “price gouging.” At the same time, they are pressing refiners to produce more fuel.

“Refiners want to keep running in today’s economic environment,” said Mr. Drevna of the refiners association. “But when they shut down they are accused of gouging the system. When they don’t, they are criticized for overrunning their facilities.”

barnstorming, aloof

Forget Aloof, Bernanke Goes Barnstorming
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
The chairman of the Federal Reserve is on a campaign to prove that the central bank is here to help, and is not as mysterious as people might think.

barnstorming
adj. - 鄉間巡迴演說家或藝人的

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 国中を演説や演技をして回る

aloof
adj.

Distant physically or emotionally; reserved and remote: stood apart with aloof dignity.

adv.

At a distance but within view; apart.

[A–² + LUFF, windward part of a ship (obsolete).]

aloofly a·loof'ly adv.
aloofness a·loof'ness n.

crackdown, fake, quarantine, employing strict controls

British school pupils have been quarantined in China because the country is employing strict controls to contain swine flu.

China to extend crackdown on shoddy food products

2 days ago

BEIJING (AFP) — China will extend a nationwide crackdown on shoddy food products into the New Year as it seeks to restore confidence in the "made in China" label, according to a government statement seen Monday.

From January 1, the crackdown will focus on 28 categories of food, including rice, cooking oil, meat, dairy products, instant noodles, tea and beer, the nation's product quality watchdog said on its website.

The sale of such food products without the required quality and inspection certificates would also be curbed and violators severely punished, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said.

China has been embarrassed, and its vital exports sector threatened, in 2007 by mounting reports of shoddy, fake or dangerous food and other products.

Chinese-made goods ranging from seafood to car tyres to children's toys have been hit with bans and recalls overseas amid safety fears.

In response, China in August launched a four-month crackdown, which the official Xinhua news agency said had resulted in 192,400 unlicensed food shops being closed and some 1,254 tons of substandard food withdrawn from domestic markets.

The government had earlier also reported hundreds of arrests in the campaign, which had been set to conclude at year-end but will now continue.

The product watchdog's announcement made no mention of how the extended crackdown was expected to affect export products.

Definition

quarantine Hide phonetics
noun [U]
a period of time during which a person or animal that might have a disease is kept away from other people or animals so that the disease cannot spread:
The horse had to spend several months in quarantine when it reached Britain.

quarantine Hide phonetics
verb [T]

此 blog 多處使用crackdown

crack・down

━━ n. 取締り ((on)).

http://word-watcher.blogspot.com/search?q=CRACKDOWN


crack down phrasal verb
to start dealing with bad or illegal behaviour in a more severe way:
The library is cracking down on people who lose their books.

crackdown Hide phonetics
noun [C]
There has been a series of government crackdowns on safety in factories.

Fake

<– Back to results

fake (OBJECT) Show phonetics
noun [C]
1 an object which is made to look real or valuable in order to deceive people:
Experts revealed that the painting was a fake.
The gun in his hand was a fake.

2 someone who is not what or whom they say they are:
After working for ten years as a doctor, he was exposed as a fake.

fake Show phonetics
adjective
not real, but made to look or seem real:
He was charged with possessing a fake passport.
fake fur/blood
a fake suntan

fake Show phonetics
verb [T]
to make an object look real or valuable in order to deceive people:
to fake a document/signature

faker Show phonetics
noun [C]

n. - 騙子
v. tr. - 偽造, 冒充, 捏造, 假裝
adj. - 假的, 冒充的
n. - 冒牌貨, 冒充者, 仿造品
v. tr. - 偽造, 冒充, 捏造, 假裝
v. intr. - 假裝, 做假動作, 佯攻

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 偽物, 虚報, ぺてん師
adj. - 偽の
v. - 偽造する, でっち上げる, ふりをする, フェイントをかける

━━ v. ごまかす; 偽造する ((up)); ふりをする; 【スポーツ】フェイントをかける.
━━ n., a. いんちき（の）; 模造品; 模造の; いかさま師.
fak・er　━━ n. いかさま師; 大道商人.
fak・er・y
　━━ n. いかさま.

ramshackle autonomous

Where Soldiers Slept, a Cultural Enclave Rises

BY KATIE KITAMURA

Metelkova City, a ramshackle collection of nightclubs, galleries, nonprofit organizations and studios, is a self-declared autonomous culture zone.

A robot that can open doors and find electrical outlets to recharge itself. Computer viruses that no one can stop. Predator drones, which, though still controlled remotely by humans, come close to a machine that can kill autonomously.

Silesia steps up its bid for more autonomy in Poland

Poland’s southern industrial province of Silesia, is putting pressure on
the government to grant the region more autonomy.

The DW-WORLD Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evyoy6I44va89pI5

Definition

ramshackle Hide phonetics
adjective
1 DISAPPROVING badly or untidily made and likely to break or fall down easily:
There's a ramshackle old shed at the bottom of the garden

2 badly organised:
We need to reorganize this ramshackle system.

autonomy Hide phonetics
noun [U]
the right of a group of people to govern itself, or to organize its own activities:
Demonstrators demanded immediate autonomy for their region.
The universities are anxious to preserve their autonomy from central government.

autonomous Hide phonetics
adjective
independent and having the power to make your own decisions:
an autonomous region/province/republic/council

unruly Democratic caucus

Pelosi Vows Passage of Health-Care Overhaul
Defying skeptics in her party, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed Sunday to overcome lingering obstacles and pass health-care reform in the House, restoring momentum to President Obama's top domestic priority and order to her own unruly Democratic caucus.
(By Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane, The Washington Post)

Obama-Clinton Meeting Fest

By JEFF ZELENY 57 minutes ago

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton introduced Senator Barack Obama to her leading contributors in Washington


此BLOG有不少 這字眼

cau・cus

━━ n., vi. 〔米〕 （政党などの）幹部会（を開く）.

libido, anima, animus., neuroses.

Carl Jung, the father of analytical psychology, was born on this date in 1875. Jung believed that extroversion and introversion were integral in the study of personality types. He also theorized that there is a female element in the unconscious of men — the anima — and a male element in the unconscious of women — the animus. Jung believed that people share a collective unconscious, appearing as archetypes, including mythology, and symbols and patterns that appear in dreams. Although he worked closely with Sigmund Freud for some five years, and was thought to be Freud's likely successor, Jung finally broke with Freud over their different definitions of the word "libido," and their diverging belief in the part sexuality plays in the development of neuroses.

crummy, runny nose

One British pupil currently on a trip to China said a friend was taken away for extra checks after admitting on the form to having a runny nose.

18 and Under

The Cough-and-Sniffle Question: When to Keep a Child Home?

By PERRI KLASS, M.D.

Keep your child home from school if there’s fever, or if the child feels too crummy to participate -- but don’t worry so much about the runny nose in the row behind.

crummy Hide phonetics
adjective INFORMAL
of very bad quality:
a crummy old carpet


runny Hide phonetics
adjective
1 more liquid than usual:
The sauce looked runny so I added some more flour.

2 If your nose is runny, it is producing more mucus than usual, usually because you are ill:
I've got a runny nose today.

-bashing, Bible-bashing, Bible-thumping, harangue

I originally published Deming's 14-Point Theory in my 1993 book, Adbashing: Surviving the Attacks on Advertising.

The police say Professor Gates was arrested and briefly charged with disorderly conduct after he ignored warnings to stop haranguing an officer who had asked him for identification inside his home.

<– Back to results

bash (CRITICIZE) Show phonetics
verb [T]
to criticize someone severely:
He kept bashing local government officials.

-basher Show phonetics
suffix DISAPPROVING
union-basher someone who strongly criticizes trade unions and tries to limit their power

-bashing Show phonetics
suffix DISAPPROVING
union-bashing strong criticism of trade unions

<– Back to results

Bible-basher Hide phonetics
noun [C] (MAINLY US Bible-thumper) INFORMAL DISAPPROVING
someone who tries in a forceful or enthusiastic way to persuade other people to believe in the Christian religion and the Bible

Bible-bashing Hide phonetics
adjective [before noun] (MAINLY US Bible-thumping)
She was born in the Bible-thumping Arkansas town of Lonoke.

n.
Offensive.

Used as a disparaging term for a Christian, especially a fundamentalist or evangelical Christian, considered to be overly zealous in haranguing or censuring others.

Bible thumper (also Bible beater, Bible basher, Bible humper) is a pejorative term used to describe Christians in general, especially someone perceived as aggressively pushing their Christian beliefs upon those who do not share them. Its target domain is broad and can often extend to anyone engaged in a public show of religion, fundamentalist or not.

The term alludes to a preacher thumping his hand hard down on the Bible to emphasize a point during a sermon.

thump Hide phonetics
verb [T]
1 to hit someone with your fist (= closed hand), or to hit something and cause a noise:
He thumped him in the face.
He thumped on the door but nobody came.

2 heart thumps If your heart thumps, it beats more strongly and quickly than usual, because of exercise, fear or excitement:
She stood outside his room, her heart thumping.

3 head thumps If your head is thumping, you can feel pain in strong beats in your head:
When I woke up my mouth was dry and my head was thumping.

thump Hide phonetics
noun [C]
If he does that again I'm going to give him a thump (= hit him with my closed hand).
She fell to the floor with a thump (= the sound of something heavy falling).

thumping Hide phonetics
adjective INFORMAL
thumping headache a pain in the head which is felt in strong beats



harangue
(hə-răng')
n.

1. A long pompous speech, especially one delivered before a gathering.
2. A speech or piece of writing characterized by strong feeling or expression; a tirade.

v., -rangued, -rangu·ing, -rangues. v.tr.

To deliver a harangue to.

v.intr.

To deliver a harangue.

[Middle English arang, a speech to an assembly, from Old French harangue, from Old Italian aringa, from aringare, to speak in public, probably from aringo, arringa, public square, meeting place, of Germanic origin.]

haranguer ha·rangu'er n.

morale, thumbs up, all thumbs, esprit de corps

A380 boost as Europe and US give it the thumbs-up

Workers at Airbus Broughton factory have been given another morale boost after the A380 superjumbo was given the seal of approval from aviation chiefs.

新聞2006/12/14：歐洲巴士380超級巨無霸機工廠的員工士氣大振，因為他們知道公司取得歐美航空安全管理機構的適航證書。

I am just all thumbs.

Wikipedia article "Thumbs up".

morale

(mə-răl')

teacher ~教師士氣；aircrew ~空勤人員士氣

The state of the spirits of a person or group as exhibited by confidence, cheerfulness, discipline, and willingness to perform assigned tasks.

[French, morality, good conduct, from feminine of moral, moral, from Old French. See moral.]

SYNONYMS　morale, esprit, esprit de corps. These nouns denote a spirit, as of dedication to a common goal, that unites a group: the high morale of the troops; the esprit of an orchestra; the esprit de corps of the swim team.

日文━━ n. 士気, 元気; 風紀.

morale survey

Wikipedia article "Morale".


all thumbs
Physically awkward, especially with respect to the hands, as in When it comes to knitting, Mary is all thumbs. The notion of this idiom derives from a proverb in John Heywood's collection of 1546: "When he should get aught, each finger is a thumb."

back down

But in Brooklyn, a 24-year-old officer, with three years on the force, seemed less inclined to walk away from verbal abuse.

“We say, ‘Back down,’ ” he said. “If they don’t back down and start making direct threats, that’s an offense. They don’t get a free pass.”

back down

1. Reverse one's upward course, descend. For example, When she saw the wasps' nest on the roof, she hastily backed down the ladder. This literal usage usually refers to something one has climbed, such as a ladder or mountain. [Mid-1800s]
2. Also, back off. Retreat or yield. For example, As the watchdog began to snarl the letter carrier backed off, or You have a good point; now don't back down when you present it to the board. [First half of 1900s] Also see back away, def. 2.

Kevlar

Police departments issue their officers Kevlar vests to stop bullets, and thick helmets and even shields to protect them from bottles and bricks. But there is nothing in the equipment room to give an officer thicker skin.


Kevlar 杜邦公司的強力纖維

CPI, wholesale

Producer Price Index (PPI)　生產者物價指數

「生產者物價指數」是用來衡量生產者在生產過程中，所需採購品的物價狀況；因而這項指數包括了原料，半成品和最終產品等（美國約採3000種東西）三個生產階段的物價資訊。（過去或稱躉售物價指數wholesale price index WPI）它是消費者物價指數(CPI：以消費者的立場衡量財貨及勞務的價格)之先聲。

將食物及能源去除後的，稱為「核心PPI」（corePPI）指數，以正確判斷物價的真正走勢---這是由於食物及能源價格一向受到季節及供需的影響，波動劇烈。

理論上來說，生產過程中所面臨的物價波動將反映至最終產品的價格上，因此觀察PPI的變動情形將有助於預測未來物價的變化狀況，因此這項指標受到市場重視。

*****

"中國企業的利潤率已經穩定在了上升之後的水平上﹐而生產價格指數(PPI)增速高於消費價格指數(CPI

)增速的局面並沒有導致利潤收縮。如果我們以淨利潤總額對銷售額的比率來表示中國企業的平均利潤率﹐那麼可以看到﹐2003年以來中國企業的利潤率開始上升。而近年來雖然原材料成本大增﹐但利潤率仍處於週期高位。從經驗性研究來看﹐企業利潤率和PPI-CPI增速差額之間存在明顯的正相關關係﹐這與許多人認為的情況恰恰相反﹐而且下游產業同樣存在這種正相關關係。如果說企業利潤率和PPI-CPI增速差額之間確實存在著經驗性因果關係﹐那麼從數據來看﹐事實是PPI增速的加快往往意味著利潤增速的上升。" (梁紅)

Fleet Street (London) was for centuries the home of the newspaper industry and the name is still used to describe the national press. It ran from the Fleet river, a noisome ditch, to the Strand—strategically between the city and the court. In the 1980s there was a wholesale exodus of newspapers to less-congested sites elsewhere.

wholesale

n.

The sale of goods in large quantities, as for resale by a retailer.

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or engaged in the sale of goods in large quantities for resale: a wholesale produce market; wholesale goods; wholesale prices.
2. Made or accomplished extensively and indiscriminately; blanket: wholesale destruction.

adv.

1. In large bulk or quantity.
2. Extensively; indiscriminately.

v., -saled, -sal·ing, -sales. v.tr.

To sell in large quantities for resale.

v.intr.

1. To engage in wholesale selling.
2. To be sold wholesale.

wholesaler whole'sal'er n.

some

10 Save 標本調查の理論(B 德明(William Edwards, Deming)撰 齋藤金一郎譯 德明 (Deming, W. Edwards (William Edwards), 1900- ) 1953 再版 16,439面 像 22公分 完整記錄 1953

11 Save Some theory of sampling / W. Edwards Deming Deming, W. Edwards (William Edwards), 1900- New York : Wiley, [1950] xvii, 602 p. : diagrs. ; 24 cm

some
adj.

1. Being an unspecified number or quantity: Some people came into the room. Would you like some sugar?
2. Being a portion or an unspecified number or quantity of a whole or group: He likes some modern sculpture but not all.
3. Being a considerable number or quantity: She has been directing films for some years now.
4. Unknown or unspecified by name: Some man called.
5. Logic. Being part and perhaps all of a class.
6. Informal. Remarkable: She is some skier.

pron.

1. An indefinite or unspecified number or portion: We took some of the books to the auction. See Usage Note at every.
2. An indefinite additional quantity: did the assigned work and then some.

adv.

1. Approximately; about: Some 40 people attended the rally.
2. Informal. Somewhat: some tired.

[Middle English, from Old English sum, a certain one.]

━━ a. ある, だれかの, 何かの; （ある）一部の; いくらかの ((数・量)); およそ; 相当な; 〔話〕 大した ((しばしば皮肉的)).
in some way (or other)　どうにかして.
some day　いつか, そのうち.
some few [little]　少しの; かなり多くの.
some more　もう少し多く（の）.
some one　ある人, だれか; どれか一つ（の）.
some or other　…か何か, …かだれか.
some other day [time]　いつかそのうちに.
some time　しばらく, いつか.
━━ pron. ある人々［物］; いくらか, 多少.
and then some　〔話〕 さらにもっと（うんと）.
━━ ad. 〔話〕 いくらか, 多少; 〔話〕 相当に.

satisficing

Herbert Simon (1916-2001) is most famous for what is known to economists as the theory of bounded rationality, a theory about economic decision-making that Simon himself preferred to call “satisficing”, a combination of two words: “satisfy” and “suffice”. Contrary to the tenets of classical economics, Simon maintained that individuals do not seek to maximise their benefit from a particular course of action (since they cannot assimilate and digest all the information that would be needed to do such a thing). Not only can they not get access to all the information required, but even if they could, their minds would be unable to process it properly. The human mind necessarily restricts itself. It is, as Simon put it, bounded by “cognitive limits”.

front stage

究竟哪一個社會、文化的人群最注重歷史？這個問題就算讓全世界頂尖的歷史學家、社會學家、人類學家、旅行家們齊聚一堂吵翻天，恐怕也難有具體結果。但是除了一般透過旅遊行為形塑而成的「前臺」(Front stage)所進行的觀光文化展演之外，歷史的具體重現(Reenactment)活動，除了滿足參加者的角色扮演(Role Playing)欲之外，倒也在某種程度上扮演了保存歷史遺產、延續文化傳承的功能....

front stage
The forepart of the stage in a theater, nearest the footlights.

hair-pin turns,sheer overhangs

Crossing the Carpathians using just pedal power

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The Carpathian mountains provide a steep challenge to cyclists Cycling up the highest mountain pass in Romania, a treacherous stretch of road that includes hair-pin turns and sheer overhangs, might not be everyone's idea of fun. But that's exactly what Tom Wilson did!

Road D2204 ascends to the Col de Braus using hairpin bends in the Alpes Maritimes in the French Alps (43°41′58″N 7°22′50″E / 43.69944°N 7.38056°E / 43.69944; 7.38056)

The type of hair pin (bobby pin) from which a 'hairpin turn' takes its name.

Some of the 48 hairpin turns near the top of the northern ramp of the Stelvio Pass in Italy.

Hairpin turn on the Mont Ventoux in France

One of the most famous NASCAR tracks with hairpin turns was the old Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.

A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend, hairpin corner, etc.), named for

A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend, hairpin corner, etc.), named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy with switchback railways. In British English 'switchback' is more likely to refer to a heavily undulating road—a use extended from the rollercoaster and the other type of switchback railway.


overhang

v., -hung (-hŭng'), -hang·ing, -hangs. v.tr.

1. To project or extend beyond.
2. To loom over: The threat of nuclear war overhangs modern society.
3. To ornament with hangings.

v.intr.

To project over something that lies beneath. See synonyms at bulge.

n. (ō'vər-hăng')

1. A projecting part, such as an architectural structure or a rock formation.
2. An amount of projection: an overhang of six inches.
3. Nautical. The part of a bow or stern that projects over the water.
4. A supply of a commodity in excess of what can easily be disposed of: An unusually warm winter created an overhang in oil stocks.

gluttony

'Cold'

By BILL STREEVER
Reviewed by MARY ROACH

The adventures in Bill Streever’s book take place in colder and stranger lands than the Arctic, and touch on everything from the physics of absolute zero to the cold-resistant gluttony of small birds.

gluttony

n., pl. -ies.

Excess in eating or drinking.

passito

Word of the Day:

passito

[pah-SEE-toh] An Italian term used both for a method of making sweet wines and for the sweet wines made this way. Passito wines begin by laying freshly picked grapes on mats (or hanging them in bunches) so that they can partially dry. This process eliminates much of the grape's water and concentrates its sugar and flavor components. Depending on the technique used, the drying time can vary from several weeks (in the hot sun) to several months (in a cool ventilated room). When the grapes are crushed and fermentation begins, the sugar content is usually high enough to take the wine to a reasonable alcohol level (see alcohol by volume) and still end up with enough residual sugar to make these wines fairly sweet.

tipping point, critical mass

Caroline Isaac, Deep Computing Executive at IBM said, “Supercomputers are enabling the world to become increasingly interconnected, instrumented and intelligent. We have now reached a tipping point in price/performance that's allowing breakthroughs in university research that were previously unimaginable”.

Mainland tempts makers to set up shop and offers vital market

The mainland is a growing force in chip manufacturing.

Intel's first semiconductor plant in China is expected to begin production next year.

Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp, the world's second-biggest contract chipmaker, plans to acquire the rest of Hejian Technology, a Chinese foundry in which it holds a 15 per cent stake.

“We believe a production base in China is essential,” said Richard Yu of UMC.

“China's market was relatively strong even during [the global economic crisis], attracting many customers that preferred the option of local production.”

But China's domestic foundries are years away from mounting a serious challenge to their Taiwan counterparts, partly because of restrictions on technology transfer by the US and Taiwan governments.

Nearly all China's domestic foundries are struggling to stay profitable.

An advantage of being in Taiwan, according to Mr Yu, is that “the critical mass of semiconductor companies in Taiwan has really helped us optimise our operating efficiency.

“Within Taiwan's dedicated science parks in Hsinchu and Tainan, there are companies that represent the full spectrum of the semiconductor supply chain to fulfil industry needs”.

But China is becoming a vital market for Taiwan's semiconductor groups.

Donald Lu at Goldman Sachs estimates that China accounts for 13 per cent of demand for the contract chipmakers, meaning “demand from China and other emerging markets has become as important as demand from developed countries”.

tipping point
The point in time in which a technology, procedure, service or philosophy has reached critical mass and becomes mainstream. See network effect. See also tip and ring.

critical mass
n.

1. The smallest mass of a fissionable material that will sustain a nuclear chain reaction at a constant level.
2. The amount of matter needed to generate sufficient gravitational force to halt the current expansion of the universe.
3. An amount or level needed for a specific result or new action to occur: “The sudden national uproar over drugs and drug abuse has reached politically critical mass in Washington” (Tom Morganthau).

a plodding mediocrity, predictable

Building a Bench
A Supreme Court nomination is perhaps the least predictable event in political life. A president never knows when a justice might decide to give up his or her lifetime appointment. It did not happen in Jimmy Carter's four years or in the first term of President Bush.
(The Washington Post)

The Washington Post leads with an overview of the continuing health care battles in Congress as lawmakers appear ready to ignore President Obama's Aug. 7 deadline. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's announcement that his colleagues wouldn't be able to vote on legislation before the August recess confirmed the "growing consensus on Capitol Hill that the White House's fast-track approach has failed, and that a more plodding and contentious process has taken hold," reports the paper.


plod (WORK) Show phonetics
verb [I + adverb or preposition] -dd-
to work slowly and continuously, but without imagination, enthusiasm or interest:
For years, he's plodded away at the same dull routine job.
Alex is just plodding along at school, making very little progress.

plodder Show phonetics
noun [C]
Dennis is a bit of a plodder, but he gets the job done in the end.

plodding Show phonetics
adjective
━━ a. とぼとぼ歩く; こつこつ働く［努力する］.

a.Progressing in a slow, toilsome manner; characterized by laborious diligence; as, a plodding peddler; a plodding student; a man of plodding habits. --Plod·ding·ly, adv.



mediocre Show phonetics
adjective DISAPPROVING
not very good:
The film's plot is predictable and the acting is mediocre.
Parents don't want their children going to mediocre schools.

mediocrity Show phonetics
noun [C or U]
A goal just before half-time rescued the match from mediocrity.
These people are just mediocrities (= people who do not have much skill or ability at anything).

━━ n. 凡庸, 平凡（な人）.


談 a plodding mediocrity：兼談做為舌人，職責就是；遣辭用句，努力忠實以赴
2005


「職責」有意思。參考昨日貼文：「關於CXO
讀『朝日新聞』，知道他們如此翻譯，可參考。
「井原勝美・副社長兼最高財務責任者＝ＣＦＯ＝（５４）」」

---
「努力以赴」也有意思。參考昨日貼文：「關於美國大法官的自述」：（Cardozo's opinion of himself shows somewhat of the same flair as his opinions:）

In truth, I am nothing but a plodding mediocrity--please observe, a plodding mediocrity--for a mere mediocrity does not go very far, but a plodding one gets quite a distance. There is joy in that success, and a distinction can come from courage, fidelity and industry.

在真理的追求，我的才能也不過是認真的中器者（取「大器晚成」義）。不過請注意我的遣辭 a plodding mediocrity-- mediocrity只是"泛泛之輩"，我則是個終生「努力以赴」的凡人，所以成就雖然有限，可還是路遠知馬力。此「不凡」之成就，來自個人真誠無畏的努力， 聊可自賀。
---
參考昔日，胡適、趙元任等做的『努力歌』，他們真正的努力過。他們的言行、發言遣辭，往往有情致、內容。

Definition

predict
verb [T]
to say that an event or action will happen in the future, especially as a result of knowledge or experience:
It's still not possible to accurately predict the occurrence of earthquakes.
[+ that] Who could have predicted that within ten years he'd be in charge of the whole company?
[+ to infinitive] The hurricane is predicted to reach the coast tomorrow morning.
[+ question word] No one can predict when the disease will strike again.

predictable Hide phonetics
adjective
1 Something which is predictable happens in a way or at a time which you know about before it happens:
Comets appear at predictable times.
NOTE: The opposite is unpredictable.

2 DISAPPROVING happening or behaving in a way that you expect and not unusual or interesting:
The ending to the film was just so predictable.

predictably
adverb
as expected:
Predictably, after the initial media interest, the refugees now seem to have been forgotten.

predictability
noun [U]
the state of knowing what something is like, when something will happen, etc:
Although her job is boring and monotonous, she likes the sense of predictability and security that it gives her.

predictive
adjective FORMAL
relating to the ability to predict:
The predictive value of this new method of analysis has still to be proven.

venue,prohibit, suppression, repression

Strategic Aims, Not Abuses, Are U.S. Focus in Kyrgyzstan
By CLIFFORD J. LEVY
Despite repressive practices, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was praised by President Obama after reversing a decision to close an American air base.

China Still Presses Crusade Against Falun Gong
By ANDREW JACOBS
The repression of a spiritual group continues, with perhaps 8,000 practitioners detained in the past year — some of them fatally.


Bone marrow transplant suppresses AIDS in patient

German doctors have made a breakthrough in the fight against AIDS. A bone marrow transplant using adult stem cells from a donor with natural genetic resistance to the AIDS virus left an HIV patient free of infection for nearly two years. The patient, an American living in Berlin, was infected with HIV and also had leukemia. Doctors at Charite hospital in the German capital said the team sought a bone marrow donor who had a genetic mutation known to help the body resist AIDS infection. At a news conference, researchers stressed however that the procedure would never become a standard treatment for HIV.

China halts shipment of Bibles from Vision Beyond Borders, a US ...
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
China is hosting the Olympics through Aug. 24, which has intensified the global spotlight on the country's suppression of religious freedom and violation of ...


China stepping up Tibet repression, activists say
guardian.co.uk - UK
BEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) - China has stepped up repression in its ethnic Tibetan regions to prevent any protests during the Beijing Olympics, ...





http://word-watcher.blogspot.com/search?q=venue


A Buddhist temple in the central Japanese city of Nagano has
withdrawn as the starting venue of the Japanese leg of the Olympic
torch relay. A spokeswoman for the Zenkoji Temple said the decision
was in protest of China's suppression of the Tibetan people, who are
primarily Buddhist.


香港 某公園
"此場地全面禁煙"Smoking is prohibited in the venue.

prohibit Hide phonetics
verb
1 [T often passive] to officially forbid something:
Motor vehicles are prohibited from driving in the town centre.
The government introduced a law prohibiting tobacco advertisements on TV.
Parking is strictly prohibited between these gates.

2 [T] to prevent a particular activity by making it impossible:
The loudness of the music prohibits serious conversation in most nightclubs.

prohibition Hide phonetics
noun [C or U]
1 when something is officially forbidden, or an order forbidding something:
London Transport has announced a prohibition on smoking on buses.
The environmental group is demanding a complete prohibition against the hunting of whales.
It's my feeling that the money spent on drug prohibition would be better spent on information and education.

2 Prohibition the period from 1920 to 1933 when the production and sale of alcohol was forbidden in the US




venue
noun [C]
1 the place where a public event or meeting happens:
The hotel is an ideal venue for conferences and business meetings.
The stadium has been specifically designed as a venue for European Cup matches.

2 US SPECIALIZED the city or county in which a trial happens

<– Back to results

suppress (END BY FORCE) Show phonetics
verb [T]
to end something by force:
The Hungarian uprising in 1956 was suppressed by the Soviet Union.

suppression Show phonetics
noun [U]
brutal police suppression of the riot


ssuppress (PREVENT) Show phonetics
verb [T]
to prevent something from being seen or expressed or from operating:
She couldn't suppress her anger/annoyance/delight.
His feelings of resentment have been suppressed for years.
The government tried to suppress the book because of the information it contained about the security services.
The virus suppresses the body's immune system.

suppression Show phonetics
noun [U]
suppression of evidence/emotions/free speech, etc.

suppressor Show phonetics
noun [C]
a thing or person that prevents something bad from happening:
Plastic is a good weed suppressor (= a substance which stops them from growing).


repress Show phonetics
verb [T]
1 to not allow something, especially feelings, to be expressed:
He repressed a sudden desire to cry.

2 to control what people do, especially by using force

repressed Show phonetics
adjective
repressed anger/sexuality
English people are notoriously repressed and don't talk about their feelings.

repression Show phonetics
noun [U]
1 when people are controlled severely, especially by force:
The political repression in this country is enforced by terror.

2 the process and effect of keeping particular thoughts and desires out of your conscious mind in order to defend or protect it:
an attitude of unhealthy sexual repression

repressive Show phonetics
adjective
a repressive (= cruel) military regime
sexually repressive

liquoreux

Word of the Day:

liquoreux

[lee-koh-REUH] A French wine descriptor meaning "rich and sweet," generally used when referring to dessert wines, such as those of sauternes.

(© Barron's Educational Series, Inc.)

porch, astronaut

Reuters

Astronauts install porch on space stationReuters - USAIn four additional spacewalks scheduled for the mission, astronauts will work on an equipment cart and prepare a docking port for Japan's new cargo ship, ...


astronaut (ăs'trə-nôt')

n.

A person trained to pilot, navigate, or otherwise participate as a crew member of a spacecraft.

[ASTRO- + Greek nautēs, sailor (from naus, ship).]

Spells Trouble for Leading Party

Economy Spells Trouble for Leading Party in Japan
By MARTIN FACKLER
A growing frustration over mass layoffs and tough times breeds an unusual call for change in parliamentary elections in risk-averse Japan.

artisan, antithesis, noirish, Pinot noir, pinto, champagne, funky

Audio Slide Show: A New Breed in California Pinots Eric Asimov discusses a small rebellion taking place in California. Related Article

A Weekend in Cincinnati

The city is getting hip with noirish dive bars and kitschy cafes.

noir
(nwär)

adj.

1. Of or relating to the film noir genre.
2. Of or relating to a genre of crime literature featuring tough, cynical characters and bleak settings.
3. Suggestive of danger or violence.

[Short for FILM NOIR + Sense 2, short for French roman noir, black novel.]

noirish noir'ish adj.

As Thomas writes, Google is the antithesis of Microsoft. Where Microsoft is closed, Google is open. Where Microsoft is limiting, Google is expansive. Where Microsoft is desktop, Google is the Web.

Travel

Frugal Portland

By MATT GROSS In this beguiling Pacific Northwest city of artisanal cafes, offbeat museums, funky neighborhoods and food carts from every corner of the world, the good life comes cheap.

Spotlight

Pop!
View Poster

When wine goes through a second fermentation, it develops bubbles; the sparkling wine that is made from pinot noir grapes grown in France's Champagne region is called... champagne. The 17-century Benedictine monk, Dom Pierre Pérignon, developed a way to blend the wine, choosing to store it bottles, rather than casks. This created more bubbles and there was a constant danger of bursting bottles, so Dom Pérignon used a cork which was secured to the bottle with a wire thread. Lawrence Welk, born on this date in 1903, was a band leader and accordionist. The music he favored was so light and bubbly it was compared to champagne and the tag "champagne music" stuck. While Welk's band played big-band era pop songs and polkas, bubbles floated gently over the singers and dancers on stage.

Regardless of the stability that Bu