precipice, prattle, wreaking havoc, go to great lengths, careen, precipitous.Why Ukraine Is on a Precipice.Global Stockpile of Cholera Vaccine Is Gone as Outbreaks Spread One company is going to great lengths to build it up, but it will be years before it returns to the minimum level.

Daily Comment Why Ukraine Is on a Precipice A potential Russian troop withdrawal has not changed the four factors that U.S. officials assess have brought Europe to the brink of its largest conflict since the Second World War. By Robin Wright

A Complete Unknown will star Timothée Chalamet as a young Bob Dylan on the precipice of his music career: https://bbc.in/4a8MrGA

Springtime in Boston means swan boats in the Public Gardens, bars blasting WEEI all night, and wild turkeys getting up in your face.

Urban Turkeys Are Wreaking Havoc in Boston

They may attack people they consider "subordinate," officials say.

ATLASOBSCURA.COM

Global Stockpile of Cholera Vaccine Is Gone as Outbreaks Spread

One company is going to great lengths to build it up, but it will be years before it returns to the minimum level.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi fired off an unprecedented attack at Ayatollah Khamenei Sunday pushing Iran closer to the precipice as police again clashed with thousands of defiant protesters on Tehran's streets.



U.S. Envoy Notes Risks of Earlier Withdrawal From Iraq

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said that a precipitous withdrawal of U.S. troops could give al Qaeda in Iraq a chance to regenerate and provide an opening for hostile neighbors.





An ever-larger portion of the American workforce is on call -- which is wreaking havoc on childcare, relationships, additional schooling, and other commitments.

Trouble Trickles From Steep Drop in Oil Prices
The precipitous fall in the price of oil in recent months, while good for consumers, has contributed to the confusion in the global economy, wreaking havoc with the budgets and economies of oil-exporting nations and putting many expensive energy projects on hold.
(By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post)

In pictures: Harold Pinter

YOUR PICTURE GALLERY IS NOW LOADING...

Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter died aged 78 on Christmas Eve after suffering from cancer.

One of the most influential modern playwrights, he wrote over 30 plays including The Homecoming and The Birthday Party.

He married twice, first to actress Vivien Merchant with whom he had a son, Daniel, then biographer Lady Antonia Fraser in 1980.

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Lady Antonia Fraser, paid tribute to him, saying: "He was a great, and it was a privilege to live with him for over 33 years."

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Pinter was appointed CBE in 1966, a Companion of Honour in 2002, but turned down a knighthood from John Major.

The citation for his Nobel prize said "in his plays he uncovers the precipice in everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms".

In the weeks before it collapsed, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. went to great lengths to conceal how fast it was careening toward the financial precipice.

雷

曼兄弟控股公司(Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.)在崩潰前的幾周裡竭力掩飾自己正在飛速滑向金融懸崖。

Back in 2002 as I was about to share one evening at a particular location in the U.S. for the first time, the person who introduced me simply said: "Now it is time to listen to our speaker tonight prattle." Hence, this blog's name (hopefully he was joking).


prattle Show phonetics
verb [I]
to talk foolishly or childishly for a long time about something unimportant or without saying anything important:
She'd have prattled on about her new job for the whole afternoon if I'd let her.
Stop your prattling and go to sleep!━━ v., n. （子供が）片言をしゃべる; 片言（の話し方をする） ((away)); くだらないおしゃべり（をする）; さらさら流れる音.
 prat・tler　━━ n. 片言を言う人; おしゃべりをする人.

prattle
noun [U]
His speech contained nothing new and was full of political prattle and clichés.

Taiwan Prattler

prattler
noun [C]
Fiona's such a prattler - I wish she'd get to the point of what she wants to say.

wreak

Line breaks: wreak

Pronunciation: /riːk /VERB

[WITH OBJECT]

1Cause (a large amount of damage or harm):torrential rainstorms wreaked havoc yesterdaythe environmental damage wreaked by ninety years of phosphate mining

1.1Inflict (vengeance):he was determined to wreak his revenge on the girl who had rejected him

1.2ARCHAIC Avenge (someone who has been wronged):grant me some knight to wreak me for my son

Origin

Old English wrecan 'drive (out), avenge', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wreken and German rächen; compare with wrack⁴, wreck, and wretch.

go to great lengths (ALSO go to any lengths)
to try very hard to achieve something:
Some people go to great lengths to make their homes attractive.
He'll go to any lengths to get what he wants.

careen verb [I + adverb or preposition] MAINLY US
to go forward quickly while moving from side to side:
The driver lost control of his car when the brakes failed, and it went careening down the hill.

precipice Show phonetics
noun [C]
1 a very steep side of a cliff or a mountain:
The film opens with a shot of a climber dangling from a precipice.

2 a dangerous situation which could lead to harm or failure:
This latest tax increase may push many small companies over the financial precipice.

precipitous 
adjective
1 If a slope is precipitous, it is very steep:
a precipitous mountain path

2 If a reduction or increase is precipitous, it is fast or great:
Over the past 18 months, there has been a precipitous fall in car sales.

pre・cip・i・tous

->

━━ a. 断崖の, けわしい, 急勾(こう)配の; 性急な, 軽率な.

pre・cip・i・tous・ly　━━ ad.
pre・cip・i・tous・ness　━━ n.

precipitously Show phonetics
adverb
The price of shares in the company dropped precipitously with the news of poor sales figures.