Unit 6: Freeman and Freeman Application Questions

Melissa Stanton: Freeman and Freeman Application Questions

A)

1.     Thrasonical: After Thraso, a braggart soldier in the comedy Eunuchus (161 BCE) by the Roman playwright Terence. The name is derived from the Greek word tharsos (bold). Earliest documented example of the word used allusively: 1564.

2.     Gauntlet: From Old French gantelet, diminutive of gant (glove). The metaphorical sense of the word arises from the medieval custom of a knight throwing his gauntlet to the ground to challenge someone. An opponent would pick it up to indicate that he accepted the challenge.

3.     Ventriloquism: Literally speaking, ventriloquism is speaking from the stomach, from the former belief that the voice was produced from the ventriloquist's belly. The word is derived from Latin ventriloquus (ventriloquist), from ventr- (belly) + loqui (to speak). Earliest recorded use: 1797.

4.     Jeeves: After Reginald Jeeves, a valet in the stories by P.G. Wodehouse. Jeeves first made his appearance in a short story in 1915. Earliest documented example of the word used allusively: 1952.

5.     Expostulate: From Latin expostulare (to require), from ex- (intensive prefix) + postulare (to demand). Ultimately from the Indo-European root prek- (to ask), which is also the source of words such as pray, precarious, deprecate, postulate, and precatory. Earliest documented use: 1548.

6.     Three-ring circus: After a circus with three separate rings in which performances take place simultaneously. Earliest documented use: 1898.

7.     Jumbo: The word was popularized after Jumbo, a very large elephant exhibited by circus showman P.T. Barnum. Jumbo was captured in Africa, sold to a zoo in Paris, traded to London Zoo, and again sold to Barnum who took him to New York.

8.     Fool's gold: Shakespeare wrote in The Merchant of Venice, "All that glisters is not gold." Fool's gold is another name for pyrite, also known as iron pyrite or iron sulfide. Its shiny yellow luster has many fooled into believing they have struck gold while holding a mineral of little value. The name pyrite is from Greek pyrites (of fire), from pyr (fire) because it produces sparks when struck against a hard surface. Some related words are fire, pyre, pyrosis (heartburn), pyromania (an irresistible impulse to set things on fire), and empyreal (relating to the sky or heaven, believed to contain pure light or fire).

9.     Ostracize: [From Greek ostrakizein, from ostrakon (shell or potsherd), from the fact that in ancient Greece these were used as ballots in voting to banish someone. Ultimately from Indo-European root ost- (bone) that gave birth to such words as oyster, osteopathy, ossify, and Sanskrit asthi (bone).]

10.   Neanderthal: [After Neanderthal (literally, Neander valley) in western Germany near Düsseldorf, where bones of a Neanderthal man were first discovered in 1856. In 1904 German spelling was regularized so Thal became Tal.]

Note: Etymology of all ten words was found on http://wordsmith.org/.

B)

Phonetic	Semantic	Etymological
Rat	Infinite/infinity	Abacus: Greek
Will	Similar/similarity	Ballot: Italian
Brag	Sign/signal	Coward: Old French
Tin	Host/hostel	Freedom: German
Art	Invent/inventor	Mistress: French

Note: Etymological Origins were found on http://www.westegg.com/etymology/

C) #9: The letter g

Hard: /g/	Soft: /j/
Gap	Ginger
Goose	Giant
Gorge	Gypsy
Guppy	Geography
Gutter	Gerbil
Gate	Gymnast
Good	Generous

Generalization: “The letter G is pronounced with a Soft sound (like J) if it is followed by an E, I, and Y. The letter G is pronounced with a Hard sound (like G) if it is followed by A, O or U” (http://www.say-it-in-english.com/MoreRules.html)

Exception: “A good example of the unpredictable nature of this rule is guilt (the fact of having broken a legal or moral law), pronounced with a Hard G because of the silent U after the G, and gilt  (gold-covered), pronounced the same way, with a Hard G, and in violation of the rule, and jilt , (to break off a romantic relationship when the other person doesn't want to), with a J which is pronounced with the Soft G sound and follows the rule” (http://www.say-it-in-english.com/MoreRules.html).