2008年4月6日星期日

to boot, mitigate, calvities

To boot, he was in many ways a fantastic conductor. He had his shortcomings, as many people do. But what he did well, he did extremely well. And he had at that time one of the world's greatest orchestras, if not the world's greatest orchestra, performing for him.

to boot OLD-FASHIONED
in addition; also:
He's kind, handsome and wealthy to boot.

It's a very unfortunate aspect of his biography, but it doesn't mitigate his music making in any way, I don't think. There were a lot of bad things happening in those days, and he was part of it.

mitigate Show phonetics
verb [T] FORMAL
to make something less harmful, unpleasant or bad:
It is unclear how to mitigate the effects of tourism on the island.

mitigating Show phonetics
adjective
1 FORMAL making something less harmful, unpleasant or bad:
Are there any mitigating circumstances/factors which might help explain her appalling behaviour?
Compare unmitigated.

2 LEGAL causing you to judge a crime to be less serious or to make the punishment less severe:
The jury must take into account any mitigating circumstances presented by the defense, such as previous good character.

mitigation Show phonetics
noun [U] FORMAL
'I was very young at the time, ' he said in mitigation.