9:1 - Batten

When & Where:  I recently read about Facebook's new (-est) privacy policy update which no longer allows people to opt out of being searchable by name.  The first thought that occurred to me was, Facebook keeps taking away options for people to protect their privacy.  I should really start battening down the hatches on my profile.  The second thought that occurred to me was, What does "batten" mean, anyway?

Level of Familiarity: I have used the phrase "batten down the hatches" many times, and I understand that it refers to safely securing something.  I have never used the word batten on its own though, even though I assume it means "make secure."

What it Means:  Merriam-Webster defines batten as "to fasten with or as if with battens."  While this gave me a sense of batten as a verb, I now needed to understand what batten meant as a noun.  On the same page, the noun is defined as "a thin, narrow strip of lumber used especially to seal or reinforce a joint."  Google describes the idiom "batten down the hatches" to mean literally "secure a ships hatch-tarpaulins, especially when rough weather is expected."

Reflective Commentary:  I don't think I will ever use the word batten on it's own other than in the metaphorical sense of "batten down the hatches."  But when I do use that phrase now, I do have a better sense of its significance.  It is interesting how many words and phrases are like this -- ones we routinely see or use and have a sense of their meaning but cannot actually articulate what they mean.  An example of this that comes immediately to mind in the Pledge of Allegiance.  I think I was in high school before I actually understood what it meant to pledge one's allegiance to something, but even in my youngest school years I understood it as a profession of my patriotism.  I am sure no one ever had this conversation with me, but I was able to glean it from my understanding of what it means to place one's hand to heart and it always being done with the American flag in sight.

8:1 - Carotid (Artery)

When & Where:  Driving into work today, there was a discussion on NPR about diagnostic tests people can get to screen for strokes and other health hazards.  One of the tests was an ultrasound of the carotid artery and was a test some professionals see as dangerous.

Level of Familiarity: I have heard heard reference to the carotid artery before, but as I listened today I thought about what an interesting word carotid was.  I had no idea how it was spelled.  I initially thought "carroted," and that led me to wonder whether the word had some meaning other than being the name of an artery. 

What it Means:  Merriam-Webster defines the carotid artery as either of the two large arteries, one on each side of the head, that carry blood to the head and that divide into an external branch supplying the neck, face, and other external parts, and an internal branch supplying the brain, eye, and other internal parts.

Reflective Commentary:  My research gave me no reason to believe that the word carotid refers to anything other than the name of this particular artery.  I don't see myself having the occasion to use this word as someone who does not routinely engage in discussions about anatomy.  However, learning this word helped me to generate some background knowledge that could someday be useful -- for example, if I am ever in a situation where I am talking to someone about health problems related to this part of the body, future news reporting, or in regards to my own personal wellness.  Because of my understanding of the critical role that background knowledge plays in new learning, I see very little knowledge as useless knowledge.

7:2 - Surreptitious

When & Where:  My friend, Melissa, gets another cameo in my vocabulary blog.  As we were driving home from a conference in Albany last week, she suggested that I "surreptitiously" tell someone something on her behalf that she didn't feel comfortable saying herself.

Level of Familiarity: I have heard this word and ascertained from context that it meant something like "on the sly."  However, I've never actually taken the time to confirm my assumption before this point and realized I wasn't completely sure.

What it Means:  Merriam-Webster defines surreptitious as "obtained, done, made, etc. by stealth; secret or unauthorized."

Reflective Commentary:  I really like this word because 1) I just like the way it sounds, but more importantly, 2) it's a word that I can see myself using a lot since I often find myself musing about others' (and my own!) scheming.  However, I also see it as a word I will always initially spell incorrectly since it sounds like it should have an i between the p and the t.  I am also beginning to realize just how many words I learn from Melissa, and I noticed that our conversations sometimes sound more like written discourse than they do spoken English!  It is likely because we both define ourselves, in part, as people who are wordy and writerly. 

7:1 - Pentafoil

When & Where: I saw the word pentafoil in isolation with an image of a certain shape as I was playing a Melissa & Doug Memory game with my daughter, Grace.  

Level of Familiarity: I have never seen or heard this word before, which in itself is interesting to me since Grace and I have been playing this memory game for over two years now.  I wonder if I only noticed it because I am now on the lookout for unfamiliar words?  The word was paired with a clover-like shape with five "leaves." I do know that the prefix penta- means five.  I am not sure what the suffix -foil refers to.  I understand, though, based on the context of the memory game, it refers to a shape.

What it Means:  It was actually very difficult to find a definition of pentafoil.  The best I could do (in a limited amount of time) was to locate references to a "molecular pentafoil knot" on various science-focused websites. According to the website Science Debate, it is a knot which looks like a five-pointed star.

Reflective Commentary:  I don't actually see this as a very useful word.  I had originally thought, upon seeing it on my daughter's game, that it was a shape I should already have been familiar with.  But considering how difficult it was to find information about it, I now instead question Melissa & Doug for including it.  Not only that, but the shape in the game did not look anything like a knot.  However, I supposed my daughter is not any worse off for now having some knowledge of this obscure vocabulary, especially since it gave me the opportunity to talk with her about how the prefix penta- refers to "five."

6:2 - Retinue

When & Where:  Retinue was a word I read/heard in a reading at church this morning.  It was from 2 Kings 5:14-17.  In the reading, Naaman, a man with leprosy, jumps into the Jordan at the behest of Elisha and his leprosy was cleared.  It said that "Naaman then returned with his retinue to the man of God (Elisha)."

Level of Familiarity: I have heard this word before but I have never realized that it was unknown to me.  Perhaps in prior exposures it was used in a more comprehensible context?  In this instance, I was unable to discern the meaning from context.  My guess is that it refers to something like a posse, but there was no indication Naaman had one in this passage.

What it Means:  Merriam-Webster defined retinue as "a group of retainers or attendants."  (When I read this, I also searched for a definition of "retainers" which refers to a servant or an employee)

Reflective Commentary:  I was glad to see that my assumption about the meaning of the word was correct, though I didn't classify the members of the group as employees.  However, if I had seen the word void of context, I am not sure the correct association would have been triggered in my mind.  After I heard retinue in the reading, I began to notice many other words that are part of the mass (in which I have been participating since I was a small child) that I don't know and have never thought to investigate (e.g., "consubstantial").  This made me think about all of the texts in our lives that become so familiar and even comforting--like prayers, the pledge of allegiance, etc.--even when we don't actually understand what it is we are saying.  It makes me wonder if it's not the words that are important at all but the community in which they are said?

6:1 - Copacetic

When & Where:  I was watching a DVR'd Parenthood, a show that I just love.  Zeek (Craig T. Nelson's character) was talking to his son, Crosby, about parenting girls. He remarked that if a boy has a problem you take him to a ballgame, buy him a hotdog and everything is copacetic.  He went on to talk about how girls will spend most of their time hating and ignoring their fathers.

Level of Familiarity: I have heard and possibly used this word before in conversation.  However, I'm not sure I've ever seen it in print since I initially spelled it incorrectly (I was surprised to see it spelled with a "c" in the middle instead of an "s").  When Zeek used the term, however, I thought about what a funny word it is and how it sounds like something used to treat a medical condition.  This prompted me to include it here so that I could find out more about it.

What it Means:  Merriam-Webster defined copacetic as "very satisfactory."

Reflective Commentary:  I don't mean to be overly critical, but "very satisfactory?" Satisfactory to me implies that something is moderately good, maybe slightly beyond "mediocre."  I find it interesting that Merriam-Webster would use this phrase, as if to say that copacetic means very moderately good.  I was sorry to see that, at least on this website, the origin is unknown.  It sounds so unlike most words in conversational English to me.

5:2 - Furlough

 When & Where:  When I am driving, I always listen to NPR on the radio, and this is the main way that I stay on top of current events in the world.  Not surprisingly, most of what has been dominating the airwaves in recent days has been related to the government shutdown.  It seems that in each conversation, there is mention of furloughed workers and government employees on furlough. 

Level of Familiarity: I have heard this word used before and it seems to usually be used in relationship to U.S. military.  I have a sense that it refers to workers who are not being paid for service, just based on context clues.  However, I don't feel confident in my understanding.

What it Means: An article in TIME entitled, "8 Essential Shutdown Words You Need to Know" defines furlough as a verb meaning to force an employee not to come to work and often dock his or her pay accordingly.  The reason I chose to focus on this definition from the article is because I wanted a definition closely related to the context in which it was being used (i.e., the government shutdown) rather than a general definition.  I felt that Googling it would give me more precise and relevant information than the dictionary would.  

Reflective Commentary:  What I had assumed furlough meant wasn't so much incorrect as it was incomplete, though I must admit that I thought furloughed workers were expected to report to work.  Instead, furloughed workers are basically laid off for a while.  The article estimates that over 800,000 workers have been furloughed as a result of this shutdown, but as I understand it the congress people who caused it are still getting paid, which serves to further enrage me.  Given this time of unrest and the frequency of the discussion of the shutdown in the media, I see this as a very useful term to understand.  Without knowing this word, we really can't get a very accurate sense of the huge impact this shutdown is having on families, on individuals, and on the economy.