Chapter 1 Vocabulary: Baby Bear and the Yard Sculpture Papa Bear's sonorous snore ceased suddenly as he awoke to find a pugnacious owl tugging at his ear. “Flangia,” he remonstrated. “What's the matter with you?” “Your puerile progeny has again embarked on sculpting in the yard, this time it is not just grotesque, it is highly redolent.” Upon rising, Papa Bear could not but sense the fetid miasma of something superbly putrescent wafting in the window, the which he shut with inspired alacrity. Still struggling with vestigial somnolence, he uttered a sardonic “Isn't the air fragrant this morning?” Flangia retorted “Not a time for banter! It's wilting my geraniums.” Though doubtless hyperbole, Papa Bear did not attempt to refute the claim, preferring to respond with a sagacious “In adversity there is ever a salutary gem of redemption if one can find it.” “Oh, spare me the platitudinous persiflage. Requisite measures must be taken!” Though by habit highly indulgent, when sonorous adj. resounding pugnacious adj. quarrelsome remonstrate v. protest puerile adj. childish progeny n. offspring grotesque adj. ugly redolent adj. smelly fetid adj. unpleasant smelling miasma n. evil vapor putrescent adj. rotten alacrity n. speed vestigial adj. lingering somnolence n. sleepiness sardonic adj. bitingly sarcastic banter n. teasing hyperbole n. exaggeration refute v. disprove sagacious adj. wise salutary adj. healthy redemption n. recovery platitudinous adj. airy, overused persiflage n. chatter requisite adj. necessary indulgent adj. tolerantfaced with the sight of the festering edifice, Papa Bear rubbed his nose in that special way which any who knew him would recognize as a portent of drastic action. They were joined by Mama Bear, an electric elk named Simon, and sundry squamulose distant relations, all cognizant of the poignant gesticulation and its significance. Constructed from owl castings, all manner of ordure, coprolite, and desiccated scatological residue, the giant object of universal repudiation had already taken on an unmistakable likeness of Papa Bear himself. He couched the reproof as an aversion to statuary in general, disregarding both subject matter and material used as irrelevant, though he did decry the transient nature of nontraditional media and the choice of medium for the subject. festering adj. rotting edifice n. structure portent n. omen sundry adj. various squamulose adj. scaly cognizant adj. aware poignant adj. moving gesticulation n. gesture ordure n. excrement coprolite n. fossilized ordure desiccated adj. dried up scatological adj. relating to excrement residue n. remainder repudiation n. intense dislike couch v. formulate aversion n. dislike decry v. condemn transient adj. temporary Glossary alacrity adj. Speed; enthusiasm, readiness, promptness, rapidity. aversion [to] n. Dislike for; loathing [of], distaste [for], hatred [of]. Averse adj. banter n./v. Repartee, wit, chitchat, mockery, teasing, persiflage. cognizant [of] adj. Aware [of], conscious [of], vigilant, mindful [of]. Cognizance n. coprolite n. Fossilized excrement. couch [as] v. Formulate an utterance; express, phrase, imply. decry v. Condemn, criticize, disparage, belittle, deprecate, vilipend. desiccate v. Dry, dehydrate, parch. Desiccated adj. edifice n. Structure, construction. fetid adj. Unpleasant smelling; foul, putrid, rank, fusty. Fetidity n. gesticulation n. A deliberate motion or gesture; expression, sign, signal, token. Gesticulate v. Gesticulatory adj. grotesque adj. Bizarre, ugly, gross, monstrous, misshapen. Grotesque n. one that is grotesque. Grotesqueness n. harbinger [of] n. One who or that which foreruns and announces the coming of any person or thing; portent, omen, foretokening, augury, herald. hyperbole n. Extreme exaggeration; overstatement. Hyperbolic adj. indulgent adj. Tolerant, non-judgmental, understanding, lenient. Indulgence n. Indulge v. miasma n. A noxious or poisonous atmosphere or influence; murk, pall. Miasmic adj. Miasmal adj. Miasmatic adj. ordure n. Excrement, dung. Ordurous adj. owl castings n. Indigestible remnants of an animal devoured whole by an owl and later regurgitated. persiflage n. Light or frivolous chatter. Banter. platitude n. A written or spoken statement that is flat, dull, or commonplace; cliché, banality, insipidity. Platitudinous adj. poignant adj. Severely painful or acute to the spirit; moving, emotional, touching, affecting. Poignancy n. portent [of] n. Anything that indicates what is to happen; augury, foretokening, omen. Portend v. Portentous adj. progeny n. Children, offspring, descendents. puerile adj. Childish, juvenile, immature, callow. pugnacious adj. Quarrelsome, confrontational, belligerent, truculent, contentious. Pugnacity n. putrescent adj. Undergoing decomposition of animal or vegetable matter accompanied by fetid odors; rotting, decomposing. Putrescence n. Putrefy v. redolent [of] adj. Having a strong odor; aromatic, fragrant, malodorous, stinking, smelly. Redolence n. redemption n. Recovery; salvation, rescue, liberation. Redeem v. refute v. To prove to be wrong; disprove, controvert, contest, deny, counter. Refutation n. remonstrate v. Protest, object, reprove, complain. Remonstrance n. Remonstration n. Remonstrative adj. repudiate v. To refuse to have anything to do with; reject, cast off, disclaim, disavow, renounce. Repudiation n. requisite adj. Necessary, obligatory, mandatory, essential. n. Something that is indispensable; a requirement. residue n. Remains, dregs, remainder. Residual adj. sagacious adj. Able to discern and distinguish with wise perception; wise, sage, perceptive, erudite. Sagacity n. salutary adj. Health inducing; beneficial, helpful, salubrious, constructive. sardonic adj. Scornfully or bitterly sarcastic; scornful, mocking, derisive, satirical. Sardonicism n. scatology n. The scientific study of feces. The chemical analysis of excrement (for medical diagnosis or for paleontological purposes). Scatological adj. Of or relating to excrement or its study. somnolence n. Sleep, sleepiness, drowsiness. Somnolent adj. squamulose adj. Covered with small scales; scaly, squamous. sonorous adj. Resounding, resonant, booming, echoing, reverberating. sundry adj. Various, mixed, miscellaneous. transient adj. Of limited duration; fleeting, brief, temporary, momentary, transitory, ephemeral, evanescent. Transience n. n. One who stays for only a short time; transitory, fleeting. vestigial adj. Of or relating to a remaining or lingering trace of something previously present; residual, lingering, enduring, remaining. Vestige n. Language Notes Common Errors: singular and plural A subject and its verb must agree in number. Singular subject he/she/it The Munchkin Rowland Plural subject they the Munchkins Rowland and Boadicea Singular verb is was has walks Plural verb are were have walk Correct: he is, she is, the Munchkin was, Rowland has they are, the Munchkins were, Rowland and Boadicea have Incorrect: he are, the Munchkins was, they was, Rowland and Boadicea hasYour ear can usually tell whether they agree: He is (not he are), they were (not they was). For complete rules of verb conjugation, see the verb section of appendix B. Most native speakers of English have a fairly good feel for subject/verb matching under normal circumstances and simply need to learn how to recognize unusual sentence constructs in order to apply their intuitive language sense. As usual, English has some unexpected traps for the unwary though. Either/Neither Normally either (or neither) is considered singular Neither of them was aware of the impending flood of mayonnaise. or Neither the ox nor the wildebeest was found to look particularly decorative in the store window. However, when one of the elements connected together with either is plural, the construct becomes plural IF it is the element closest to the verb. singular: Neither the purple bottles nor the turnip was quite the right shade of mauvy puce. ("turnip" is singular) However: plural: Neither the turnip nor the purple bottles were quite the right shade of mauvy puce. ("purple bottles" is plural) The Number/A Number "The number" is singular The number of amateur astronauts is fairly small. "A number" is plural A number of amateur astronauts were milling about and waving spoons. Subject/verb agreement can also become tricky in more complex sentences and when the subject and verb are separated by extraneous material. Wrong:Rowland and Boadicea, when applying to the Clockwork Submarine Fanciers' Amateur Operatic Society, was invisible behind the giant mushroom. Always start by identifying the subject and verb. Then bring them together and use your ear to determine if they sound right. In this case, the subject is Rowland and Boadicea and the verb is was. It should be Rowland and Boadicea were because Rowland and Boadicea is a plural subject and must take the plural verb form were. In this module's assignment, entitled "Leeches, dental deformities, flamingoes, muses, and an egg whisk --correct the singular/plural errors," practice identifying subject and verb. Use them together to see if they match, and check your answers.