freshen, tweak, oddment

Hotel-Room TV Tries to Freshen Itself Up
LodgeNet completed the acquisition of Ascent for $380 million in cash and stock. The merger brings together the two leading U.S. providers of paid-for entertainment in hotel rooms. 2007

2006
In late November, the museum broke ground on its new home on a decrepit strip of the Bowery on the Lower East Side. And while some of the design details are still being tweaked, it is now razor-clear that the building will do more to freshen the bond between Manhattan's art and architecture communities than any building since Marcel Breuer's Whitney Museum of American Art opened on Madison Avenue four decades ago.

This week Shinzo Abe fired off “three new arrows” for Abenomics, his plan to revive Japan’s economy. His domestic audience will welcome talk of economic growth, social security and financial support for families. But his existing programme of structural reform has so far disappointed http://econ.st/1MvZNMD

Shinzo Abe tweaks his economic programme for Japan

ALL summer Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, has battled to pass...

ECON.ST

Daily Highlights Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Spotlight

Glimpse of Universal Studio's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Source

Platform 9 ¾, the Sorting Hat and quidditch were introduced to the world 10 years ago this week, with the first publishing of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The Manichaean bildungsroman, which was later translated into American English, launched a billion-dollar empire. The final book will be published on July 21 and promises to answer questions such as "Will 'The Boy Who Lived' die?," "Is Snape good? " and "What is a Deathly Hallow?" The fifth movie will be released 2 weeks earlier. The amusement park doesn't open until at least 2009.

Quote

'Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!' — Albus Dumbledore in Philosopher's Stone


The noun oddment has 2 meanings:
Meaning #1: a piece of cloth that is left over after the rest has been used or sold
Synonyms: end, remainder, remnant, scrap
Meaning #2: something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting
Synonyms: curio, curiosity, oddity, peculiarity, rarity

n. - 零頭, 零碎物件, 碎屑

日本語 (Japanese)
━━ n. （普通pl.） 残り物; がらくた; 【印】付き物.

tweak Show phonetics
verb [T]
1 to pull and twist with a small sudden movement:
Standing in front of the mirror she tweaked a strand of hair into place.

2 to change slightly, especially in order to make more correct, effective, or suitable:
The software is pretty much there - it just needs a little tweaking.
You just need to tweak the last paragraph and then it's done.

tweak Show phonetics
noun [C]

(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says his goal is to let volunteers improve search technology collectively, the way Wikipedia lets anyone add or change entries, regardless of expertise.
"That reduces the sort ofbottleneck of two or three firms really controlling the flow of search traffic," said Wales, chairman of Wikia Inc., the for-profit venture behind the search project.
Engineers at Google and other search companies continually tweak their complex software algorithms to improve results and fight spammers — those who try to artificially boost the rankings of their own sites. Search companies have not disclosed many details to avoid tipping off competitors and spammers. dumping (rubbish),tipping


freshen
v., -ened, -en·ing, -ens. v.intr.

1. To become fresh, as in vigor or appearance: freshened up after the day's work.
2. To become brisk; increase in strength. Used of the wind.
3. To lose saltiness.
4. To calve and therefore begin to produce milk. Used of a cow.

v.tr.

1. To make fresh.
2. To add to or strengthen (a drink).

freshener fresh'en·er n.

v. intr. - 變得新鮮, 變強, 變得精神煥發, 變涼爽
v. tr. - 使新鮮, 使清新, 使精神煥發
idioms:

• freshen up 使精神飽滿, 梳洗一番

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 強くなる, 新鮮にする, 一新する