Free Rice II: Essays on Words

My hope is that now you understand how the "game" of "free rice" works and you are now ready to join me on the Everest quest for level 50. Their web site says: "There are 50 levels in all, but it is rare for people to get above level 48," but I think they are talking about mere mortals and not the word warriors that read my pages! So, let's continue now with level 45 words:

WAPITI

1. elk
2. balance
3. sea slug
4. gum

PANEGYRIC

1. aristocracy
2. drunkenness
3. praise
4. battleship

In order to learn words, and lots of them, you do have to be somewhat alert in life. For example, I still hear pronouncer David Lerner (the official pronouncer for the National Senior Spelling Bee) saying wapiti this past June 17 in Cheyenne. He said, "We have lots of them around Wyoming..." Well, that statement made me never forget that wapiti means 1, an elk. No sea slugs in WY. Easy. As for panegyric, well, you have to know your Greek again. Really, there isn't any substitute for knowing the Greek/Latin roots. But someone told you this in fourth grade, so you really have no excuse at all. It simply is 3, sort of like a paean from Level 41. But you can also learn it as a eulogy or encomium, two other good words. So, we have paeans, eulogies, panegyrics, encomiums (encomia) and elegies. Gradually build your words and you soon will have a marvelous structure. On to 46.

HABILE

1. uncompromising
2. solitary
3. adept
4. kingly

ZAX

1. roofing hatchet
2. something huge
3. booty
3. desertion

Now we are getting harder, don't you think? The first shouldn't be too difficult. We see all kinds of words "behind" habile, and it has something to do with a habit or a habiliment or is related to our word "able." And, presto, 3 is the answer. I have to confess that I guessed on zax. I got it right, number 1, but I still had to guess. Actually, it is sort of an obsolete word that is often spelled "sax," but the OED defines it as: "a chopping tool used for trimming slates." I wonder if roofers know the word.

Thus, since zax is kind of a fluke word, I will give you the third word at 46:

KOBOLD. 1. double negative; 2. flute; 3. pup; 4. gnome.

For some reason, I remember reading the word, or hearing term in relation to some kind of Wagnerian opera...so, it had to be a gnome. He loves to talk about all kinds of weird creatures like that. You can easily confirm it. So, we are on to 47.

CLOACA

1. computer program
2. villainy
3. sewer
4. love-potion

MARMOREAL

1. like marble
2. concealed
3. assorted
4. primitive

Well, how did you do on these? These are both classical terms, derived from Latin rather than Greek. It does repay you to know your classical history and a bit about the languages. Though you might not have much time for that mastery as you are raising kids and trying to learn how the world of employment works, you have to come to a point in life where you just say, "I will learn it," and so it becomes a sort of fun game--even though it is hard work. So, you would have known that one of the greatest Roman works of city planning in the late Republic was the cloaca maxima--the big sewer. That gives you your answer. With respect to the latter, well you see the word "marble," or portions of it, right in the word. The Latin word is marmoreus. Simple as pie--eating it, that is. On to 48, the level that it is very "rare" to attain.

SUPERCILIUM

1. fortification
2. eyebrow
3. cellar
4. ravine

GRIOT

1. site
2. notice
3. flirtation
4. African story teller

Let me start with a confession. I got griot wrong. This mistake immediately plunged me back to 47, though I quickly clambered not just to 48 (by getting three consecutive words correct) but on to 49 and 50. I was so chagrined at myself for missing a word that I quickly had to get to and stay at the top. No question. I am embarrassed even narrating the story to you. But, let's look at the words.

Actually supercilium is a great word, and I have written on it elsewhere in my website. We get the wonderful word "supercilious" from it. Super doesn't mean copacetic (another great word); it means "above" in Latin. Cilium in Latin is hair; I think we have loads of terms in English using it, though they are mostly in botany and relate to wormy-sorts of creatures making their way through water. Cilia are hair. Something supercilium is therefore "above the hair." Or, the eyebrows. They are "above the hair" of the eyelashes. You have to know a few things to get this right, but not many. As for griot, I confused it with brio, an instruction in music for the orchestra to play with vivacity, and so I thought that the nearest word was "flirtation." But I had made the wrong first move, and so I got it wrong. I still feel terrrible about it. But you just have to learn griot: a "member of a class of travelling poets, musicians, and entertainers in North and West Africa..." Bingo.

Conclusion

Even though I am mortified that I made a mistake, I actually am glad I did. Since I learn much more from my mistakes in life than when I get things right, I ought to cultivate the fine art of making mistakes. Actually, I think I am pretty good in that department. And, the benefit this time around? I know I will never forget griot. Yikes! I need one more essay to get you to "50" with me...

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