TED Talk of the week: Ann Morgan and her 'Reading the World in a Year" adventure.

Ann Morgan - My year reading a book from every country in the world
 
http://www.ted.com/talks/ann_morgan_my_year_reading_a_book_from_every_country_in_the_world?language=en

VOCABULARY: 

primed to do sth : prepared to act in a situation (because one has been given relevant information on it)  -> to prime: make sth ready for action or use

Having received a report on the situation on the front, the troop was primed to attack the enemy. 

Wooden furniture should be primed before painting. 

upshot (the upshot is that...) : the final or eventual outcome or conclusion of an action, discussion, series of events etc.

The discussion turned out to be completely pointless, as there was no upshot of it. 

The upshot of the series of terrorist attacks in France will remain unknown until the French government decides what measures should be implemented as a response. 

go to (great) lenghts to do sth : to work very hard to accomplish sth, to make great efforts trying to do sth

Mark went to great lenghts to succeed in his bar examination - he barely slept and spent most of his time craming.

If you want to lose weight, prepare for going to great lenghts to reach your goal - it always is a huge struggle. 

to go out of one's way to do sth : to do sth that inconveniences one, to make an unusual effort to accomplish sth

Please don't go out of your way to make me feel better. I have to handle my problems on my own.

Although I didn't feel like preparing a birthday party for my mother-in-law, I went out of my way to do it, because I wanted my wife to be happy. 

 

wordsmith : a skilled user of words

I love reading Shakespeare! In my opinion, he was the greatest wordsmith in the history of the English literature!

This boyfriend of yours is a true wordsmith, but I'm afraid that behind his sophisticated speech there's not much relevant content. 

 

cumulatively :1) in a way that increases in quantity, degree or force by successive additions

 Blogbogs are a great way to expand cumulatively your range of English vocabulary.

2) taken as a whole, in combination

Cumulatively, we have earned 19,000,000 zlotys this year, taking into account all sources of income.

 

incentive  : a thing that motivates or encourages sb to do sth

Young people in ageing european societies need a proper incentive to be more willing to have children.

I felt ashamed to come up and speak to Joseph, but seeing Madeleine approaching to him was a sufficient incentive to get my act together. 

TED Talk - Andrew McAfee - What will future jobs look like?

TED Talk of the week - Andrew McAfee - What will future jobs look like? 

https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_mcafee_what_will_future_jobs_look_like 

VOCABULARY:

gratuitous - being without apparent reason, cause, or justification

You really shouldn't charge him with such gratuitous accusations.

The assumptions behind the Hay diet remain gratuitous - there has been no scientific proof that avoiding mixing carbohydrates and proteins in one meal slows down metabolism. 

troubleshooter - 1) skilled worker employed to locate trouble and make repairs in machinery and technical equipment; 2) a person skilled at solving or anticipating problems, difficulties or disagreements

He has worked as a diplomatic troubleshooter in the Middle East conflict. 

The servers are down again, I'm afraid. I've already called the troubleshooter to help us fixing the problem. 

drudgery - hard or dull work, esp. not requiring a lot of skill and lacking prestige

Nowadays, mechanisation of agriculture largely relieved the farmers from their drudgery. 

I was fed up with that corporate drudgery, so I quitted and now, I'm happy as a freelance worker. 

toil – exhausting physical labour

 

Used to everyday toil but not fit for dance, he felt clumsy at the party thrown by Lady Susan. 

 She seemed feeble and delicate, but she dealt well with the toil of the country life.

 

dystopian vision – an imaginary perception of a place where everything is as bad as it can be

People fear that in the future, robots will take over our jobs, but I wouldn't produce such dystopian visions - I believe that the human factor will remain a fundament of economy. 

Orwell's visions of the future society were characteristic for dystopian novels.  

turn sb out – fig. to train or produce someone with certain skills or talents. 

 

 Nowadays, public universities turn out too many philosophers and psychologists, while the demand for these specialists has already been met. 

Eton College turned out many prominent personalities, among which we count numerous British Prime Ministers, writers, scientists and actors.  

Swearing - BBC.com - The Brits and the Americans swear in different languages

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20151109-english-speakers-or-not-brits-and-americans-swear-in-different-languages

VOCABULARY:

banter - The playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks (also as a V).

 John must have a thing for Mary - whenever they meet, he can't help bantering with her.

Our kids are playful and they like a good banter - we often burst out laughing when we hear them teasing one another.

puritanical streak - the element of a very strict or censorious moral attitude towards self-indulgence

American culture is often associated with flashy images and moral indulgence, so many people are surprised to discover a puritanical streak in its society. 

 Karen's family reguralry attends masses and never takes part in revelries, but their friends say that behing this puritanical streak, they are friendly, fun-loving people. 

coarseness - the quality of being rough and harsh; vulgarity, rudeness; coarse language - vulgar language

The coarsness of my hair gives my much trouble, especially in the morning - they don't give up to styling.

A true gentleman should, by any means, avoid using coarse language.

expletive - a swear word 

When I heard him producing a stream of expletives, I knew that the situation made him very angry. 

Stop with these expletives of yours! I won't put up with this kind of language!

to lay into sth  - to attack, consume, or scold someone or something 

I was so hungry that I laid into a plate of chicken nuggets as soon as I entered the kitchen.

My sister laid into me for using her precious make-up foundation. 

[definitions: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ ] 

TED Talk of the week: Frances Larson - Why public beheadings get millions of views

 Frances Larson - Why public beheadings get millions of views

http://www.ted.com/talks/frances_larson_why_public_beheadings_get_millions_of_views?language=en

VOCABULARY

unequivocal (e.g. answer, effect) - leaving no doubt, unambiguous

He gave me an unequivocal answer to my request - he said he wasn't there to do things for anyone. 

With extreme temperatures and violent weather phenomenons, we can see that the climate change is unequivocal. 

unbeknownst to sb - without the knowledge of sb

My coworker copied the files unbeknownst to me.

to hack sth off - to cut sth off with rough or heavy blows  ;  [PHR-V] to hack sb off - to infuriate  sb

Before the invention of the guillotine, it was the executioner who would cut off with a sword or an axe the heads of convicts.

It really hacks me off when you keep repeating that I should lost weight. 

 

 
contraption - a device that seem strange or unecessarily complicated, often badly made or unsafe.

I hate this computer contraption! It never acts the way I want it  to and it's always freezing when I'm in a hurry!

What's this monstruous contraption? I can't possibly imagine how it works! 

 

gallows - a structure for the hanging of criminals.

In the Nuremberg Trials after the World War II, Hans Frank, the Governor-General of occupied Poland's General Government territory,  was sentenced to the gallows and hung soon afterwards.

He was pardoned and saved from the gallows when the actual murderer made a plea of guilty. 

suicide baiting - a situation when witnesses to a suicide attempt maliciously encourage that person to commit it.

There were reports of suicide baitings in each of three cases - the crowd shouted at the suicides "Go on and jump!" and "Hurry up, won't you?!". 

to stumble upon sth inadvertently - 1) to trip upon sth accidentally, 2) to encounter sth by chance







 Walking in the dark, I inadvertently stumbled upon my son's tricycle and almost fell down the stairs.

Searching for a book in the library, I inadvertently stumbled upon my ex. There was a moment of awkward silence between us before I quickly wandered off.

to be a pawn in sb else's show/game - to be used by others for their own purposes

Gary thought himself to act independently, but in reality, he was only a pawn in the gang's game.

You should stand up your rights in the company instead of just being a pawn in your manager's show of his power over everybody!