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The Word of the Day for October 23rd is rebus, spelled R-E-B-U-S.

Rebus is a noun that means a representation of syllables or words by means of pictures or symbols, also a riddle made up of such pictures or symbols. Here‟s the word used in a sentence.

“An example of a rebus would be a picture of a man on an ark, followed by a picture of a spider web, followed by a picture of a spoon stirring coffee; those three pictures would represent Noah, web, stir, …Noah Webster‟.”

A rebus communicates its message by means of pictures or symbols whose names sound like various parts of a word, phrase, or sentence. For example, a picture of a can of tomatoes followed by the letters U and C, and a picture of a well means “Can you see well?” In Latin, the word “rebus” means by things. Rebus is a form of the Latin word “res”, which means thing. English speakers started using the word rebus for a picture writing in the early 1600s.

With your Word of the Day, I‟m Peter Sokolowski. Thanks for listen ing.

Words:

rebus: n. (1) a riddle made up of pictures or symbols 一种用音、画等表示的谜syllable: n. a word or part of a word which contains a single vowel sound 音节

Noah Webster: an American lexicographer, textbook author, spelling reformer, word enthusiast, and editor.

The Word of the Day for November 20th is elucidate, spelled E-L-U-C-I-D-A-T-E.

Elucidate is a verb that means to make lucid especially by explanation or analysis. It can also mean to give a clarifying explanation. Here is the word from an article by Benjamin Schwarz in The Atlantic.

"His stylish criticism, marked by an easy erudition, was invariably smooth and accessible; he compressed and elucidated but never reduced or oversimplified."

To "elucidate" is to make something clear that was formerly murky or confusing -- and it is perfectly clear how the modern term got that meaning. "Elucidate" traces to the Latin term "lucidus," which means "lucid." "Lucidus" in turn descends from the verb "lucēre," which means "t o shine." So "elucidating" can be thought of as the figurative equivalent of shining a light on something to make it easier to see. "Lucēre" has also produced other shining offspring in English. Among its descendants are "lucid" itself, which can mean "shining," "clear-headed," or "easily understood," "lucent" meaning "giving off light" or "easily seen through," and "translucent" meaning "partly transparent" or "clear enough for light to pass through."

I'm Peter Sokolowski with your Word of the Day.

The Word of the Day for November 19th is gargantuan, spelled G-A-R-G-A-N-T-U-A-N.

Gargantuan is an adjective that means tremendous in size, volume, or degree, gigantic, colossal. Here is the word used from a blog post by Brian Switek at .

"Contrary to my expectations, I did not have nightmares about gargantuan squid tangling with enormous ichthyosaurs in the shadowy reaches of the sea last night."

"Gargantua" is the name of a giant king in Francois Rabelais's 16th-century satiric novel Gargantua. All of the details of Gargantua's life befit a giant. He rides a colossal mare whose tail switches so violently that it fells the entire forest of Orleans. He has an enormous appetite -- in one memorable incident, he inadvertently swallows five pilgrims while eating a salad. The scale of everything connected with Gargantua gave rise to the adjective "gargantuan," which since Shakespeare's time has been used of anything of tremendous size or volume.

I'm Peter Sokolowski with your Word of the Day.

V ocabulary.

1. colossal: adj. used to emphasize that something is extremely large 巨大的，庞大的

2. squid: [C]n. a sea creature with a long soft body and ten arms around its mouth 鱿鱼

3. mare: [C]n. a female horse or donkey 母马，母驴