Magnanimity is a fairly close synonym for
generosity, and the two are sometimes used interchangeably. However, the word also goes beyond ordinary generosity, to “(n)obility
or generosity of spirit; superiority to petty resentment or jealousy; noble or
generous disregard of insults or injuries; an instance of any of these” (Oxford
English Dictionary Online). (‘magna’ is
the Latin root for great; ‘anima’, the Latin word for spirit.)
- · “It made her grow in spiritual stature—to know the extent of her own magnanimity in her love for so uninspiring an object.” (from The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand)
- “The fact that the local planning authority has allowed him to build… is largely due to the magnanimity of the building inspector.” (OED online)
Affect
(v. and n.) As a
verb, affect means to influence,
to change the status of:
- · The damp and rainy day affected Harry’s mood.
- · The loud music on your boom-box affects my concentration.
(As a noun, affect is pronounced AF-fect, and it
commonly refers to one’s demeanor or outward expression:
·
His flat affect made him a good poker
player.
·
Her rude affect made it difficult for
others to trust her.)
Effect
(n. and v.) As a
noun, effect commonly means ‘a
result’:
- · The effect of the rainy day was to dampen Harry’s mood.
- · The effect of your loud music is annoyance! It wrecks my concentration.
(As a verb – used
quite rarely – effect means to bring
about something, to cause it to occur.
·
The queen effected a change in the
housing laws.
·
His goal as president was to effect new
policies for the economy.
Reiterate
(v.) means ‘to repeat’ or 'restate', usually to achieve emphasis or to
make a lasting impression.
- · Allow me to reiterate our policy: no dogs allowed.
- · The teacher used several blog entries to reiterate the importance of memorizing ten words
Unrequited
means ‘unrepaid’ or ‘unreturned’. It is often – but not always – used in
connection with lost or frustrated affection!
- · Kim, my dear lost Kim… the unrequited love of my youth.
- · His last-minute attempts to please his teacher were unrequited: he received an F for the term.
Insulate
(v.) literally means ‘to create an island’, as the Latin
word for island is insula. Most often, we create “islands” of warmth, insulating our homes or our bodies with
enclosures of warm air.
- · His father decided to insulate the family’s attic in order to create an extra bedroom at home.
- · Anticipating cold temperatures on our trip to Lutsen, my mother bought me an insulated parka.
Analogy
is a form of comparison in which the common features of two
separate processes are compared. Some
analogies include the features of similes (i.e., because simile is actually a
form of analogy).
- · My piano teacher made an analogy between the way I use my arms while playing the piano and the way a chicken flaps its wings.
- · "If you want my final opinion on the mystery of life and all that, I can give it to you in a nutshell. The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe." (Peter De Vries, Let Me Count the Ways. Little Brown, 1965) (copied from Grammar.About.Com, by Richard Nordquist).
- · "Cameron's house is like a museum. It's very cold, and very beautiful, and you're not allowed to touch anything." (Grammar.About.Com)
Vernacular
speech is
“(t)he language of a particular group, profession, region, or country,
especially as spoken rather than formally written” (Grammar.About.Com).
- · Some people call it Ebonics, but professional linguists call it African American Vernacular Speech.
- · A person in the audience might say, “He forgot his lines”; but another actor, familiar with backstage vernacular, would say, “He went up.”
Tumult
(n.) is uproar or commotion.
(‘tumultuous’ is the adjectival form of the word.)
- · The sound of the thunderstorm was tumultuous.
- · I heard a loud argument in the hallway, so I opened my door to discover the source of the tumult.
Patronize
(v.) can have both positive and negative connotations. As a positive word, it can mean ‘to be a
customer’ of something or someone.
- · We happily patronized our neighborhood movie theater.
- · My family patronizes the arts: we go to plays, dance recitals, and art museums.
In its negative connotation, however, ‘patronize’
can also mean ‘to adopt an air of condescension toward’ someone or something –
to treat haughtily or coolly.
- · “For the court to come around, at this late date, to acknowledging our existence as ‘free persons’ is shockingly patronizing; it's condescension that has been cast as liberation.” —John Cloud, Time, 7 July 2003 (Merriam-Webster Dictionary online).
- · He hated being patronized and pitied by those who didn’t believe his story. (Merriam-Webster.)
