The dreams of Lincoln and Booth

Lincoln’s family and friends remembered that the President had a prescient dream in March,

several weeks before the fatal day, and provided them with a verbatim account. He told of

entering the East Room in the White House where a throng* of people were gathered around

an open coffin. In his reverie, Lincoln asked a soldier, “Who is dead in the White House?”

“The President,” was the reply. “He was killed by an assassin.”

Mrs. Lincoln said, “I’m glad I don’t believe in dreams or I should be in terror from this

time forth.” Lincoln’s was the calming voice, “Let’s try to forget it. I think the Lord in His

own good time and way will work this out all right.”

Of course, all who loved Abe Lincoln would have been deeply agitated if they had known

what John Wilkes Booth was planning. As a Southern secessionist, he despised the President.

As a thespian, he romanticized the action that he could take to rid the nation of a cruel

warmonger. Although he had not taken an active part in the Civil War, he was convinced that

he could contribute to the Confederate cause by kidnapping the bearded despot. It wasn’t

exactly clear in his mind whether he would “capture” Lincoln and take him to Richmond

where he could be exchanged for Confederate prisoners of war—or whether he would just put

a bullet in the President’s head.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

1. Yearning to be a ________________, Roger took lessons from a dramatic coach.

2. When he lost control of the militia, the ________________ was forced to flee.

3. Claiming to be ________________, the fortune teller took advantage of the gullible*

woman.

4. With remarkable talent, the reporter was able to quote speeches ________________.

5. In her ________________, Ellen saw herself as the next U.S. President.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

6. prescient a. dream

7. verbatim b. actor

8. reverie c. able to predict

9. thespian d. word for word

10. despot e. tyrant

T ODAY ’ S I DIOM

to carry coals to Newcastle —a waste of time (since Newcastle had a great deal of coal)

Telling the racing car driver how to drive is like carrying coals to Newcastle.

N EW W ORDS

Pathological

path´ ə loj i kal

Articulate

ar tik´ yə lit

Grandeur

gran´ jər

Polemic

pə lem´ ik

Impasse

im´ pas

BONUS W EEK B D AY 3

THE ASSASSINS MAKE READY

The pathological yet articulate Booth had rounded up several co-conspirators and shared his

delusions of grandeur with them. He had produced a polemic that convinced his crew that it

would be a patriotic thing to capture the President. One of them was assigned to shut off the

master gas valve at Ford’s Theatre when Mr. and Mrs Lincoln were seated there at the play.

With all the lights out, Booth would bind and gag the President. Two men would lower

Lincoln onto the stage, and then carry him out the rear door to a covered wagon waiting in the

alley. They would head for Port Tobacco and then ferry across the Potomac to their ultimate*

destination, Richmond, Virginia.

Several dry runs* had not worked out for the cabalists* who were about to reach an

impasse when Booth learned that Lincoln would be celebrating General Grant’s victories with

a party at Ford’s Theater on the night of April 14. He promised the small group that destiny

was at hand; their bold act, he said, would make their names famous forever in the annals of

U.S. history.

In the late afternoon of April 14, Booth watched a rehearsal of the play that would be

performed that evening. He had reviewed his action plan and the escape route, and he believed

it to be foolproof. He mouthed the phrase he would use after killing Lincoln, “Sic Semper

Tyrannis” (“Thus always to tyrants”).

The curtain was about to go up on one of the darkest days in the country’s history.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

1. The ________________ was broken when the union agreed to management’s offer.

2. In history class, we studied the ________________ of Greece and the glory of Rome.

3. Hal was surprisingly ________________ for a high school freshman.

4. The defense lawyer admitted that his client was a ________________ liar.

5. The team captain’s ________________ led to a fist fight in the locker room.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

6. pathological a. well-spoken

7. articulate b. magnificence

8. grandeur c. disordered in behavior

9. polemic d. deadlock

10. impasse e. controversial argument

T ODAY ’ S I DIOM

an axe to grind —to pursue a selfish aim

Senator Smith was in favor of the bill, but we knew that he had an axe to grind.

N EW W ORDS

Regimen

rej´ ə mən

Denigrated

den´ i grāt ed

Guile

gīl

Mortal

mor´ tl

Inflicted

in flikt´ ed

BONUS W EEK B D AY 4

“NOW HE BELONGS TO THE AGES”

At 8:25 the Lincolns arrived at the theater. When they entered Booths 7 & 8, as regimen

dictated, the band played “Hail to the Chief.” The 1675 members of the audience stood to

honor the great man, and then the play commenced. It is reported that Booth said to a drunk

who had denigrated his acting skill, “When I leave the stage, I will be the most famous man in

America.”

At about 10 P.M., with extreme guile, Booth had managed to be behind Box 7 in the darkness

of the hallway. He saw the silhouette of a head above the horsehair rocker. Derringer in his

hand, he aimed it between the President’s left ear and his spine. The shot was drowned out by

laughter on the stage. Shouting “Revenge for the South,” Booth climbed over the ledge of the

box and jumped onto the stage, breaking his leg in the process.

In pain, Booth limped out the stage door where his horse was waiting and made his

getaway. Days later, however, he was cornered in a Virginia barn and shot. Three of the

cabal* members were arrested and hanged.

At the theater, a 23-year-old doctor attended to the wounded President. He found that the

lead shot had lodged in Lincoln’s brain, a bad sign. Several soldiers carried Mr. Lincoln

across the street to a private house. His family physician came and so did the Surgeon

General. The President struggled throughout the long night, but it was apparent that a mortal

wound had been inflicted, and he could not be saved.

At 7:22 A.M. it was over; two silver coins were placed on the assassinated President’s eyes.

Then Secretary Stanton uttered the famous words, “Now he belongs to the ages.”

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

1. The blow to the boxer ’s jaw turned out to be a ________________ one.

2. Using ________________, the magician pulled the wool over the spectators’ eyes.

3. Aunt Ethel’s morning ________________ called for three cups of coffee.

4. When her boss ________________ Martha’s stenographic ability, she quit.

5. The prison guards ________________ torture on some of the inmates.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

6. regimen a. leading to death

7. denigrated b. defamed

8. guile c. a system of control

9. mortal d. trickery

10. inflicted e. imposed upon

T ODAY ’ S I DIOM

to throw one’s hat in the ring —to run for political office

Before a gathering of the party’s faithful, the local congressman threw his hat in the ring

for the position of senator.

BONUS W EEK B D AY 5

REVIEW

REVIEW WORDS DEFINITIONS

1. articulate a. absolute ruler

2. cabal b. hateful, despicable

3. denigrated c. secret group of plotters

4. despot d. actor

5. dolorous e. disordered in behavior

6. enervated f. defamed one’s character

7. grandeur g. a controversial argument

8. guile h. able to speak clearly

9. impasse i. able to know beforehand

10. inflicted j. greatness of character, magnificence

11. mortal k. word for word

12. odious l. worn out

13. pathological m. a system of control

14. polemic n. to impose something painful

15. prescient o. deadlock

16. regimen p. a daydream

17. reverie q. subject to death

18. suffrage r. the right to vote

19. thespian s. sorrowful

20. verbatim t. trickery, deceit

IDIOMS

21. an axe to grind u. a waste of time

22. to carry coals to Newcastle v. to spoil a good deal

23. to throw one’s hat in the ring w. to pursue a selfish aim

24. to kill the goose that laid the golden egg x. to run for office

Study the words you missed.

*For reference only

WORDS FOR

FURTHER STUDY MEANINGS

1. ________________________ ________________________

2. ________________________ ________________________

3. ________________________ ________________________

WORDSEARCH B

Using the clues listed below, fill in each blank in the following story with one of the new

words you learned this week.

Clues

3rd Day

1st Day

1st Day

4th Day

2nd Day

Perks Are In

Do you know what a “perk” is? Simply put, it’s an extra reward, a special benefit given to

sweeten the job for an employee. Now an staffer at Serus, a software maker in

California’s Silicon Valley, has skillfully described an incredible perk given to him and his

fellow workers—a thrill-packed parachute plunge as they jumped from a plane 14,000 feet

above the ground.

“Our employees work hard and can become,” said a Serus executive, “and we want

to invigorate them with sky dives, as well as cruises, beauty treatments at spas, birthday

parties, maid services, and other creative perks that our might conjure up.”

Of course, company executives are deeply interested in keeping productive staff members

from quitting and going to work for competitors. And so, the host of perks they offer reflect

the behind their generosity. “Cash bonuses won’t have the same effect,” a CEO said.

In a remark he declared, “It’s like a parent who throws money at his child when what

the youngster really wants is attention.”

SENTENCE COMPLETIONS

(From Weeks A and B)

Each sentence below has two blanks, indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the

sentence are five sets of words labeled A through E. Choose the set of words that, when

inserted, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

1. The ________ dictator used ________ to achieve his goals.

a. rapacious...guile

b. articulate...protocol

c. odious...regimen

d. dilatory...ramifications

e. prescient...polemics

2. Having overcome the ________ ________, the executive had high hopes for the future.

a. specious...cabal

b. circuitous...knells

c. dolorous...forebodings

d. mortal...reverie

e. toxic...insurgents

3. The ________ ________ fled the country with the millions he had stolen from the

treasury.

a. impregnable...neophyte

b. pathological...despot

c. dilatory...miscreant

d. risible...insurgent

e. articulate...patriarch

4. The ________ circumstances were clearly explained by the play’s ________.

a. extenuating...denouement

b. prescient...knell

c. macabre...forebodings

d. circuitous...protocol

e. odious...polemic

5. “We have had a ________ of ________ tactics,” the judge declared, “and I will not put

up with it.”

a. regimen...toxic

b. glut...dilatory

c. cabal...odious

d. grandeur...verbatim

e. impasse...suffrage

VOC/QUOTE

Select the best word from the five choices to fit in the blanks below.

1. “There are no political ________ except in the imagination of political quacks.”

—Francis Parkman

a. compounds b. panaceas c. milieus d. ethics e. diatribes

2. “The effect of my ________ is that always busy with the preliminaries and antecedents,

I am never able to begin the produce.”

—Henri Amiel

a. genre b. expedient c. iniquity d. bias e. prognostication

3. “Once philosophers have written their principal works, they not infrequently simply

become their own ________.”

—Theodore Haecker

a. accomplices b. disciples c. cynics d. arbiters e. badgers

4. “I hate the aesthetic game of the eye and the mind, played by those ________ who

‘appreciate’ beauty.”

—Pablo Picasso

a. connoisseurs b. charlatans c. rustics d. stentorian e. paragons

5. “Anglo-Saxon ________ takes such very good care that its prophecies of woe to the

erring person shall find fulfillment.”

—George Gissing

a. foreboding b. morality c. protocol d. polemic e. guile

6. “The universe is not friendly to ________ and they all perish sooner or later.”

—Don Marquis

a. icons b. patriarchs c. despots d. insurgents e. perennials

7. “________ means influence.”

—Jack London

a. Affluence b. Cupidity c. Complicity d. Decorum e. Proximity

8. “No one wants advice—only ________.”

—John Steinbeck

a. corroboration b. alacrity c. delineation d. dissent e. jurisdiction

9. “If by the time we’re sixty, we haven’t learned what a knot of ________ and

contradiction life is, we haven’t grown old to much purpose.”

—John Cowper Powys

a. vertigo b. surmise c. sophistry d. privation e. paradox

10. “The concept of ‘Momism’ is male nonsense. It is the refuge of a man seeking excuses for

his own lack of ________.”

—Pearl Buck

a. regimen b. virility c. grandeur d. temerity e. satiety

11. “________ is the dabbling within a serious field by persons who are ill equipped to meet

even the minimum standards of that field, or study, or practice.”

—Ben Shahn

a. Amnesty b. Artifice c. Decadence d. Propriety e. Dilettantism

12. “Accustomed to the ________ of noise, public relations, and market research, society is

suspicious of those who value silence.”

—John Lahr

a. realm b. veneer c. surfeit d. diatribe e. cacophony

13. “In almost every act of our lives we are so clothed in ________ and dissemblance that we

can recognize but dimly the deep primal impulses that motivate us.”

—James Ramsey Ullman

a. volition b. rationalization c. sophistry d. impunity e. heresy

14. “When men talk honestly about themselves, one of the themes that crops up is a ________

for the old days, at least for an idealized version of them.”

—Myron Brenton

a. pretext b. landmark c. nostalgia d. fetish e. candor

15. “We love a congenial ________ because by sympathy we can and do expand our spirit to

the measure of his.”

—Charles H. Cooley

a. egotist b. nonentity c. iconclast d. ascetic e. disciple

16. “Man is certainly a ________ animal. A never sees B in distress without thinking C ought

to relieve him directly.”

—Sydney Smith

a. discreet b. benevolent c. banal d. whimsical e. somber

17. “I cannot tolerate ________. They are all so obstinate, so opinionated.”

—Joseph McCarthy

a. arbiters b. culprits c. dregs d. expatriates e. bigots

18. “We look upon ________ as degrading. Our mothers’ voices still ring in our ears: ‘Have

you done your homework?’”

—Wilhelm Stekhel

a. indolence b. opulence c. levity d. invective e. histrionics

19. “By far the most dangerous foe we have to fight is ________ —indifference from

carelessness, from absorption in other pursuits.”

—Sir William Osler

a. umbrage b. apathy c. repose d. nepotism e. histrionics

20. “One who sees the ________ everywhere has occasion to remember it pretty often.”

—Oliver Wendell Holmes

a. inevitable b. precedent c. efficacy d. idyllic e. mundane

21. “There’s life for a ________ in the characters he plays. It’s such a beautiful physical

escape. I enjoy the transformation of personality.”

—Sir John Gielgud

a. thespian b. miscreant c. termagant d. tyro e. sage

22. “The writing of a biography is no ________ task; it is the strenuous achievement of a

lifetime, only to be accomplished in the face of endless obstacles.”

—Havelock Ellis

a. paltry b. facile c. lucrative d. impious e. egregious

23. “Cleanliness, said some ________ man, is next to godliness. It may be, but how it came to

sit so near is the marvel.”

—Charles Lamb

a. abstemious b. banal c. comely d. sage e. devout

24. “I should like most candid friends to be anonymous. They would then be saved the painful

necessity of making themselves ________.”

—J. A. Spender

a. venial b. odious c. sanctimonious d. fractious e. benevolent

25. “A stricken tree is beautiful, so dignified, so admirable in its ________ longevity; it is,

next to man, the most touching of wounded objects.”

—Edna Ferber

a. rash b. vulnerable c. potential d. singular e. omnipotent

26. “Grandparents are frequently more ________ with their grandchildren than with their

children. A grandparent cannot run with his son but can totter with his grandson.”

—Andre Maurois

a. raucous b. congenial c. sedate d. tenacious e. vexatious

27. “It is unjust to the child to be born and reared as the ‘creation’ of the parents. He is himself,

and it is within reason that he may be the very ________ of them both.”

—Ruth Benedict

a. veneer b. requisite c. antithesis d. profuse e. anathema

28. “This, indeed, is one of the eternal ________ of both life and literature—that without

passion little gets done; yet without control of that passion, its effects are largely ill or

null.”

—F. L. Lucas

a. trends b. subterfuges c. harbingers d. fiats e. paradoxes

29. “What has maintained the human race if not faith in new possibilities and courage to

________ them.”

—Jane Addams

a. divulge b. flout c. advocate d. initiate e. mandate

30. “No sooner do we take steps out of our customary routine than a strange world ________

about us.”

—J. B. Priestly

a. surges b. wanes c. recants d. juxtaposes e. galvanizes

31. “As the two ________ cultures began to mingle, they encountered some revealing and

shocking truths.”

—Nelson DeMille

a. venerable b. transient c. sedentary d. disparate e. servile

32. “Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so mired in ________.”

—Bertrand Russell

a. futility b. vituperation c. subterfuge d. foment e. iniquity

33. “Most quarrels are ________ at the time, incredible afterwards.”

—E. M. Forster

a. rash b. salient c. trenchant d. inevitable e. whimsical

34. “We live at the mercy of a ________ word. A sound, a mere disturbance of the air sinks

into our very soul sometimes.”

—Joseph Conrad

a. reviled b. malevolent c. vexatious d. innocuous e. evanescent

35. “There must be some good in the cocktail party to account for its immense ________

among otherwise sane people.”

—Evelyn Waugh

a. vogue b. cupidity c. calumny d. audacity e. asperity

36. “One drifting yellow leaf on a windowsill can be a city dweller ’s fall, ________ and

melancholy as any hillside in New England.”

—E. B. White

a. somber b. cryptic c. pungent d. aloof e. doleful

37. “For generations of German plutocrats, duelling was a bastion against weakness,

effeminacy, and ________.”

—Arthur Krystal

a. redress b. sophistry c. decadence d. temerity e. vituperation

38. “No one weeps more ________ than the hardened scoundrel as was proved when a

sentimental play was performed before an audience of gangsters whose eyes were seen

to be red and swollen.”

—Hesketh Pearson

a. copiously b. vapidly c. raucously d. nominally e. laudably

39. “My greatest problem is my dislike of ________, of battle. I do not like wrestling matches

or arguments. I seek harmony. If it is not there, I move away.”

—Anais Nin

a. artifice b. avarice c. celerity d. belligerence e. diversity

40. “The only agreeable existence is one of idleness, and that is not, unfortunately, always

________ with continuing to exist at all.”

—Rose Macauley

a. bogus b. compatible c. culpable d. felicitous e. inviolable

41. “Diaries are sometimes meant to be a ________ record of one’s daily waking hours.

Sometimes they are an unconscious relief from the day’s tensions.”

—Edna Ferber

a. zealous b. tacit c. terse d. supine e. prudent

42. “Was there ever a wider and more loving conspiracy than that which keeps the ________

figure of Santa Claus from slipping away into the forsaken wonderland of the past?”

—Hamilton Mabie

a. vigilant b. venerable c. sedate d. frenetic e. factitious

43. “For him who has no concentration, there is no ________.”

—Bhagavad Gita

a. tranquility b. respite c. solace d. equanimity e. humility

44. “Real excellence and ________ are not incompatible; on the contrary, they are twin

sisters.”

—Jean Lacordiare

a. potential b. inhibition c. propinquity d. equanimity e. humility

45. “Children are cunning enough behind their innocent faces, though ________ might be a

kinder word to describe them.”

—Nan Fairbrother

a. recondite b. prudent c. fatuous d. incisive e. inexorable

46. “It is not easy to ________ of anything that has given us truer insight.”

—John Spalding

a. repent b. rue c. recant d. eschew e. cant

47. “There is no diplomacy like ________. You may lose by it now and then, but it will be a

loss well gained if you do. Nothing is so boring as having to keep up a deception.”

—E. V. Lucas

a. hyperbole b. chicanery c. serenity d. candor e. opprobrium

48. “In America I was constantly being introduced to ________ persons by people who were

unmistakably superior to those notables and most modestly unaware of it.”

—John Ayscough

a. eminent b. ostentatious c. mendacious d. intrepid e. garrulous

49. “It is because nature made me a ________ man, going hither and thither for conversation

that I love proud and lonely things.”

—W. B. Yeats

a. magnanimous b. fastidious c. doleful d. banal e. gregarious

50. “My greatest problem here, in a ________-loving America, is my dislike of polemics, of

belligerence, of battle.”

—Anais Nin

a. docile b. polemic c. fastidious d. implacable e. nebulous

THE LIGHTER TOUCH 100

The following jokes contain some of the words you have been taught in this book. Even the

humorists know how to make use of a challenging vocabulary.

1. Henry joined Alcoholics Anonymous. He still imbibes, but under an assumed name.

2. A hapless man was run over by a steamroller. He’s in the hospital, in Rooms 36-42.

3. My father ’s accountant treats people with compassion. His office has a recovery

room.

4. Samson must have been quite a thespian, because he brought down the house.

5. Inanimate owls don’t give a hoot.

6. You’re probably an octogenarian if dialing long distance wears you out.

7. You have a right to be wary on a cheap airline if the oxygen mask has a meter on it.

8. The magnanimous husband bought his wife a clothes dryer—50 feet of clothesline.

9. He’s so proud of his longevity, he has an autographed Bible.

10. Victor has a voracious appetite; his favorite food is seconds.

11. With a pugnacious wife, it’s always better to give than to receive.

12. Henry Ford had millions, and yet he never had a yen for a Cadillac.

13. A woman in Tibet looked at her stove and quipped, “Oh, my baking yaks.”

14. The rabbit’s progeny consisted of ten bunnies. It beat the record by a hare.

15. My astute fish swims backwards. It keeps the water out of his eyes.

16. He made a bogus claim about the surgery to remove an ingrown cell phone.

17. The intrepid paratrooper spent three years climbing down trees he never climbed

up.

18. Van Gogh had a voluminous output. As of today, Americans own 423 of his 72

paintings.

19. The frugal man complained about the cost of raising a baby. The nurse said, “Sure,

but look how long they last.”

20. The maladjusted baby just started to eat solids—his crib, blanket, pillows.

21. My old neighborhood bristled with trouble; even the candy store had a bouncer.

22. Uncle Eddie is not bereft of curly locks. He’s just taller than his hair.

23. Today’s financial phenomenon —a dollar saved is a quarter earned.

24. “What is the name of your bank?” I asked the timorous investor. “Piggy,” he replied.

25. I don’t like my garrulous barber, because he talks behind my back.

26. The prudent girl found the key to looking beautiful—she hangs out with real ugly

people.

27. The pigeons in our neighborhood are quite prescient, because they always know

when my Dad has polished our car.

28. “Do boats sink often?” I asked the laconic sailor. “Only once,” he replied.

29. I’m such a dilatory reader that it takes me six weeks to read the Book of the Month.

30. Some make sporadic payments when their bills are due, some when overdue, some

never do.

31. I asked the literary dilettante, “Have you read all of Shakespeare?” “I think so,” he

replied, “unless he’s written something lately.”

32. A flying goose in a quandary asked, “Why do we always follow the same leader?”

The goose next to him answered, “Because he’s got the map.”

33. A bore is the guy who, when you ask him how he feels, he tells you so with gusto.

34. The pertinent advice my father was given was to buy a used car when it was new.

35. A trenchant remark: a cat has nine lives, but a bullfrog croaks every night.

36. My family had to jettison our car. It had low mileage, but most of it from being

towed.

37. The charity was reputed to have raised three million dollars. Now they are going

out in search of a disease.

38. Squeamish about paying a restaurant check, he reached for it as though it were a

subpoena.

39. He’s so parsimonious he tosses money around like manhole covers.

40. Han’s parents weren’t too thrilled with him. His mother had a penchant for

wrapping his lunch in a road map.

41. The pompous actor ran the gamut from A to B.

42. Our glib doctor is a humorist. He said my uncle has the body of a 20-year-old—a

twenty-year-old Chevy.

43. We call our vigilant dog Rolex, because he’s a watchdog.

44. My artless neighbor lost her dog but refused to put an ad in the newspaper—he said

his dog can’t read.

45. Our doctor has a lucrative practice; he just bought a cemetery.

46. We heard of the asinine chicken who sat on an ax, trying to hatchet.

47. Mark asked his sage waiter, “What do you call two thousand pounds of Chinese

soup?” The answer was, “Won ton.”

48. Last Christmas I told Santa what I wanted. His retort was, “Me, too.”

49. The abstemious young man boasted that he had finally given up trying to quit

smoking.

50. P.T. Barnum’s grotesque two-headed man asked him for a raise. “After all,” he said,

“I have two mouths to feed.”

51. Eddie is a paragon of style. He has a suit for every day of the year—and this is it.

52. It was so cold that, when the thermometer plunged to its nadir, I sneezed and broke

my Kleenex.

53. My profligate brother was a two-letter man in college. Monday and Friday he wrote

home for money.

54. She comes from a confused family. During the Civil War they were fervid

supporters of the East.

55. Aunt Helen underwent plastic surgery after Uncle Ted, the martinet, cut up her

credit cards.

56. Dr. Grill gave me an infallible cure for insomnia: “Get lots of sleep.”

57. My inebriated uncle stopped drinking recently. Two bars sued him for nonsupport.

58. The teenage driver is alleged to have received a ticket for making a U-turn in the

Lincoln Tunnel.

59. The new miracle drug is a hoax. It keeps you alive only until your bill is paid.

60. What a fiasco was his attempt to raise eggplants by burying a chicken!

61. When I scrutinize the obituary column, it seems that everybody dies in alphabetical

order.

62. I enjoyed the levity of the bumper sticker: DYSLEXICS OF THE WORLD UNTIE!

63. You know that bad times are rampant when couples get married because they need

the rice.

64. An egotist is a man who doesn’t go around talking about other people.

65. Cousin Randy was in the sixth grade so long, they thought he was the pedagogue.

66. I’ve got a lot of frozen assets —ten T.V. dinners.

67. The English complain about nepotism, but the Queen got her job through family.

68. I caught a fish so mammoth that the picture required two cameras.

69. Jerry was frustrated trying to find his glasses without his glasses.

70. Never make an undertaker your adversary. Sooner or later he’ll have you dead to

rights.

71. My affluent uncle always gives me cash for Christmas because it always will be the

right size.

72. There was an awesome mishap at the circus yesterday. The lion tamer needs a tamer

lion.

73. Did you hear of the plight of the new human cannonball? He was hired and fired the

same night.

74. My brother made his first income since college. He had the audacity to sell the car

my father gave him for graduation.

75. A conscience is that ominous inner voice that warns you someone is watching.

76. There’s no need to revere Jeff as a speaker; he never opens his mouth unless he has

nothing to say.

77. The judge asked, “What bizarre reason can you have for freeing this defendant?” A

juror replied, “Insanity.” The judge asked, “All twelve of you?”

78. In our neighborhood we don’t worry about crime in the street. The felons make

house calls.

79. My parents went on an opulent cruise. The smokestacks had filter tips.

80. You can expedite your weight loss by giving up only two things: a knife and a fork.

81. Roger is so phlegmatic that he puts more people to sleep than ether.

82. She’s such a dupe that she put a zip code on the Gettysburg Address.

83. My erudite neighbor has a B.A., an M.A., a Ph.D., but no J.O.B.

84. We flew on a pecuniary airline. To save money, they use student drivers.

85. Our cuckoo clock is old and decrepit. All it does now is come out and shrug.

86. Eloise is a child prodigy; she can describe how an accordion works without using

her hands.

87. Our neighbor had the temerity to borrow our car and then say, “Your air bag

works.”

88. Dad’s birthday gift to Mom was not conducive to connubial bliss. She expected a

Mercedes but got a toaster.

89. I read about the corpulent jockey who kept putting a la carte before the horse.

90. On our vacation, my father asked the imperturbable hotel clerk, “Do you take

children?” “No,” the clerk answered, “only cash and credit cards.”

91. He had universal bad luck. He spent years paying off a funeral plot, and then he died

at sea.

92. My grandfather used to suffer from senility, but he forgot all about it.

93. Now I know why we could never keep up with our neighbors. The Joneses were just

indicted for tax evasion.

94. In all candor, the movie was so bad that people were waiting in line to get out.

95. Aunt Minnie is so fastidious that when she’s having guests, she runs around putting

in fresh lightbulbs.

96. There was such a paucity of money in his family that they couldn’t give his sister a

sweet sixteen until she was twenty-eight.

97. Procrastination has its good side—you always have something to do tomorrow.

98. We went sightseeing until our eyes were sore. Then they took us to an idyllic sight

for sore eyes.

99. Uncle Arthur acknowledged that Aunt Blanche must be descended from Noah

because whenever they went anywhere, she took two of everything.

100. I know it’s a clich é, but on a trip whatever you want is in the other valise.

PANORAMA OF WORDS

articulate “The senator ’s supporters were upset by the adjectives used to describe him: clean

and articulate.” Editorial, The New York Times

cabal “If a cabal’s secrets are revealed to the wind, you should not blame the wind for

revealing them to the trees.” Kahlil Gibran

circuitous “Although it took a cricuitous route, the curveball finally reached the catcher ’s

mitt.” Red Smith

denigrated “Napoleon’s henchmen denigrated the memory of Voltaire whose name the

Emperor abhorred.” Christopher Morley

denouement “We all sat awaiting the denouement of the play in silence.” Mayne Reid

despot “The universe is not freindly to despots, and they all perish sooner or later.” Don

Marquis, The Almost Perfect State

dilatory “Between dilatory payment and bankruptcy there is a great distance.” Samuel

Johnson

dolorous “Diabetic patients are constantly tormented by dolorous sensations.” William

Roberts

emanating “The feudal idea viewed all rights as emanating from a head landlord.” John

Stuart Mill

enervated “I have had one of my many spasms which has almost enervated me.” Lord

Nelson, Letters

extenuating “In Clive’s case there were many extenuating circumstances.” Dame Rose

Macaulay

foreboding “We are more disurbed by forebodings of a calamity which threatens us than by

one which has befallen us.” John Lancaster Spalding

glut “The world in that age had a glut rather than a famine of saints.” R. S. Fuller, Holy War

grandeur “I have studied the glories of Greece but am more impressed by the grandeur of

Rome.” Rainer Maria Rilke

guile “Oh, that deceit should steal such gentle shapes, And with a virtuous vizard hide foul

guile. ” Shakespeare, Richard III

impasse “We expect the impasse between Britain and Iran to be resolved this weekend.” United

Nations Press Release

impregnable “The Maginot Line, a French system of fortifications, was considered

impregnable at the start of World War II. The Columbia Encyclopedia

inflicted “Many of the cares that we are inflicted with are but a morbid way of looking at our

privileges.” Sir Walter Scott

insurgent “The insurgents’ improvised explosive devices killed six more American soldiers

yesterday.” Michael Ware, CNN TV Broadcast

knell “Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell / That summons thee to heaven or to hell.”

Shakespeare, Macbeth

macabre “The Mardi Gras parade featured rowdy celebrants wearing macabre masks and

colorful costumes.” Eliza Berman, Let the Good Times Roll

miscreant “This is the basic measure of damages, and it’s owed by the miscreants to the

company and shareholders.” Ben Stein, State of the Union

mortal “All is mortal in nature, so is all nature in love mortal in folly.” Shakespeare, As You

Like It

neophyte “The elaborate masked ritual of the courtroom holds attraction only for the

neophyte and layman.” David Riesman

odious “You told a lie, an odious damned lie.” Shakespeare, Othello

pathological “A pathological liar is one whose lies are suggestive of a mental disorder.”

Webster’s Medical Dictionary

patriarch “If a patriarch wants to put his foot down, the only safe place to do it in these days

is in a note-book.” Florida Scott-Maxwell

polemic “My greatest problem here, in a polemic -loving America, is my dislike of polemics,

of belligerence, of battle.” Anais Nin, The Diaries of Anais Nin

prescient “The Spanish Republic fell in April 1939, and World War II began soon after

because those prescient fighters had not been heeded.” Edward Rothstein, Spanish Civil War

protocol “The most advantageous protocol is very rarely the one I did follow.” Andre Gide

ramifications “I don’t live in a laboratory; I have no way of knowing what ramifications my

actions will have.” Hugh Prather

rapacious “Charles V levied fines with rapacious exactness.” James Robertson

regimen “I guarantee weight loss when my regimen is followed strictly.” Dr. Robert Atkins

reverie “All through the ages, people have regarded their reveries as sources of wisdom.”

Rollo May

risible “He is the most risible misanthrope I ever met with.” Tobias Smollett, Humphrey

Clinker

specious “It was a specious argument but delivered so effectively that it was convincing.”

Murray Bromberg, Wagers of Sin

suffrage “My successor was chosen by general suffrage. ” John Marsden

thespian “I regard Liev Schreiber as the outstanding thespian of our times.” Ben Brantley,

Theatre Critic, The New York Times

toxic “A hope, if it is not big enough, can prove toxic; for hope is more essentially an irritant

than a soporific.” William Bolitho

verbatim “Court reporters have to be able to take 250 words a minute in their verbatim

accounts.” Court Reporters’ Association Guide

ANSWERS

W EEK 1

Day 1 1. replete 2. eminent 3. steeped 4. voracious 5. indiscriminate 6. d 7. c 8. a 9. e 10. b

Day 2 1. prognosticate 2. automatons 3. matron 4. abound 5. technology 6. d 7. b 8. e 9. c 10.

a

Day 3 1. compounded 2. annals 3. paradoxes 4. tinge 5. realm 6. b 7. e 8. d 9. c 10. a

Day 4 1. drudgery 2. badgers or badgered 3. perceives or perceived 4. implored 5.

interminable 6. e 7. c 8. a 9. b 10. d

Day 5

REVIEW 1. n 2. o 3. r 4. d 5. g 6. l 7. i 8. h 9. e 10. t 11. j 12. s 13. p 14. b 15. c 16. q 17. a 18. f

19. k 20. m 21. v 22. u 23. w 24. x

SENSIBLE SENTENCES? 1. voracious 2. interminable 3. tinge 4. realm 5. eminent 6. abound

7. perceive 8. badgers 9. automatons 10. technology 11. yes 12. yes 13. yes 14. yes

WORDSEARCH 1 1. annals 2. replete 3. matron 4. implore 5. interminable

W EEK 2

Day 1 1. laconic 2. accost 3. reticent 4. throng 5. intrepid 6. a 7. d 8. b 9. c 10. e

Day 2 1. hapless 2. irate 3. furtive 4. plethora 5. felon 6. e 7. b 8. d 9. c 10. a

Day 3 1. vigilant 2. adroit 3. fabricate 4. pretext 5. gesticulate 6. c 7. a 8. b 9. e 10. d

Day 4 1. rudimentary 2. cajoled 3. enhance 4. nuance 5. avid 6. a 7. c 8. e 9. d 10. b

Day 5

REVIEW 1. f 2. l 3. b 4. s 5. t 6. m 7. k 8. r 9. p 10. h 11. e 12. i 13. o 14. q 15. d 16. g 17. a 18.

k 19. n 20. c 21. x 22. u 23. v 24. w

WORDSEARCH 2 1. felon 2. pretext 3. cajole 4. fabricate 5. vigilant

W EEK 3

Day 1 1. wrest 2. lackluster 3. caustic 4. loathe 5. reprimand 6. b 7. e 8. a 9. c 10. d

Day 2 1. incipient 2. infamous 3. dupe 4. jostle 5. inadvertent 6. a 7. c 8. d 9. b 10. e

Day 3 1. ominous 2. repudiate 3. bristle 4. tremulous 5. cessation 6. d 7. e 8. b 9. a 10. c

Day 4 1. stipulate 2. euphemism 3. condolence 4. mundane 5. incongruous 6. b 7. a 8. d 9. e

10. c

Day 5

REVIEW 1. g 2. h 3. d 4. n 5. m 6. t 7. j 8. e 9. q 10. c 11. l 12. s 13. a 14. i 15. b 16. o 17. r 18.

k 19. f 20. p 21. v 22. w 23. u 24. x

WORDSEARCH 3 1. cessation 2. wrest 3. infamous 4. bristle 5. caustic

W EEK 4

Day 1 1. intimidate 2. feint 3. alacrity 4. belligerent 5. disdain 6. e 7. a 8. c 9. d 10. b

Day 2 1. promulgate 2. brash 3. scoff 4. pugnacious 5. belittle 6. a 7. e 8. d 9. c 10. b

Day 3 1. laceration 2. tangible 3. castigate 4. octogenarian 5. sordid 6. a 7. c 8. b 9. d 10. e

Day 4 1. scurrilous 2. aspirant 3. frenzy 4. dregs 5. solace 6. c 7. e 8. a 9. d 10. b

Day 5

REVIEW 1. t 2. i 3. j 4. k 5. m 6. n 7. a 8. p 9. g 10. c 11. b 12. r 13. d 14. f 15. h 16. e 17. l 18.

o 19. s 20. q 21. w 22. v 23. x 24. u

SENSIBLE SENTENCES? 1. alacrity 2. aspirants 3. dregs 4. sordid 5. tangible 6. belligerent

7. belittled 8. disdain 9. promulgated 10. scoff

WORDSEARCH 4 1. aspirant 2. sordid 3. belittle 4. scurrilous 5. frenzy

W EEK 5

Day 1 1. rampant 2. clandestine 3. ethics 4. inane 5. concur 6. e 7. c 8. b 9. d 10. a

Day 2 1. culprit 2. inexorable 3. duress 4. admonish 5. flagrant 6. c 7. e 8. b 9. d 10. a

Day 3 1. egregious 2. acrimonious 3. duplicity 4. paucity 5. distraught 6. d 7. c 8. b 9. e 10. a

Day 4 1. impunity 2. elicit 3. tolerate 4. construe 5. pernicious 6. d 7. e 8. c 9. b 10. a

Day 5

REVIEW 1. t 2. e 3. p 4. o 5. q 6. r 7. f 8. a 9. l 10. j 11. h 12. n 13. k 14. m 15. c 16. b 17. s 18.

i 19. d 20. g 21. w 22. v 23. x 24. u

WORDSEARCH 5 1. ethics 2. pernicious 3. acrimonious 4. culprit 5. flagrant

W EEK 6

Day 1 1. sally 2. affluent 3. consternation 4. feasible 5. discern 6. d 7. b 8. e 9. a 10. c

Day 2 1. precocious 2. perfunctory 3. deride 4. perverse 5. chagrin 6. b 7. a 8. c 9. d 10. e

Day 3 1. laudable 2. disparaged 3. masticate 4. fiasco 5. eschews 6. a 7. d 8. e 9. c 10. b

Day 4 1. dubious 2. quell 3. c