Gordian knot
An exceedingly complicated problem or deadlock. An intricate knot tied by King Gordius of Phrygia and cut by Alexander the Great with his sword after hearing an oracle promise that whoever could undo it would be the next ruler of Asia.
For a third time the President failed to untie the fiscal Gordian knot.
Zeitgeist
The ideas, beliefs, and interests that are typical of most people during a particular time in history and are expressed in the culture of that time.
But reflecting the zeitgeist is nothing new for this iconic breakfast food.
Bailiwick
A person's specific area of interest, skill, or authority.
This is supposed to be his bailiwick: a technology announcement by a man who loves technology, support offered to entrepreneurs by the nation’s best-known entrepreneur.
Wiseacre
Someone who annoys you because they think that they know more about a particular thing than anyone else.
While being no particular fan of cops myself, I sympathise with them when they have to deal with wiseacres like you and your cohorts.
To force someone to accept or deal with something that they do not want.
Voters are tired of new regulations foisted on them by faceless lawmakers.
Fictioneer
One who writes fiction, especially a prolific creator of commercial or pulp fiction.
We won't please everyone the trick to surviving as a fictioneer is to find one's audience and satisfy their expectations and desires.
Hidebound
Stubbornly prejudiced, narrow-minded, or inflexible. Having abnormally dry, stiff skin that adheres closely to the underlying flesh.
This may be enough to create sustained and meaningful change in Japan's hidebound corporate culture.
Technobabble
Technical jargon.
Although there are flying vehicles, aliens who speak in weird tongues and tons of technobabble, it has an engaging tale.
Umpteen
Relatively large but unspecified in number.
No one can do there best if they're being torn in umpteen directions after working for twelve hours...sometimes more.
Askance
With disapproval, suspicion, or distrust. With a sideways glance; obliquely.
Having fun is not the sole purview of the young and older people would sincerely appreciate it if you kept your askance glances to yourself.
Foist
To force someone to accept or deal with something that they do not want.
Voters are tired of new regulations foisted on them by faceless lawmakers.
Supply glut
vehemently attacked
flippantly said he was “a war hero only because he got captured.
The protracted and ultimately successful effort
anti-Semitic
saved Jews from pogroms
injudicious Muslim ban statement undermined any chance
only strengthened Palestinian recalcitrance
break from the grind of academia.
surreptitiously install software programs
tampered with the computers
brief glimmer of hope
torment
It was a perilous if unwitting mistake that has defined both of their lives.
simply a life snuffed of promise
a thin upper lip and a flat philtrum
liked the euphoria of intoxication
invisible
Alcohol was a teratogen, a substance that kills or damages developing cells
chronic ear infections
cerebral palsy
Therapy segued from a 30-day regimen
destigmatize the issue and maybe prevent another young mother from doing what she did
every Friday she sees a matinee
professed a preference
Amid enticing agent promises
to be the impetus for the change
effectively supplanted Cooke as the most highly regarded prospect in the country.
Agoraphobia
A fear of being in open or public places.
Of the many famous people with agoraphobia, one name stands out as she has been very public about her condition - actress Kim Basinger. She, however, is only one of several celebrities who have agoraphobia or suffer from panic attacks.
Trencherman
A person who eats in a specified manner, typically heartily.
They had prepared a special menu for the opening, obviously with true trenchermen in mind.
Deprecate
To express disapproval of; deplore.
We deprecated our existing product and switched 100% of our attention to the new idea.
Worrywart
Changes in the law were railroaded through Parliament by unprincipled politicians
impersonate
cufflink
deliverance
Come around
Dissuade
Redeemer
crucible
Strung up
Foment
Parlor trick
He wants to please overbearing father figure, but resents a lack of reciprocated affection
Wastrel
A person who wastes time, money, etc.
Roman tales of Cleopatra as louche and languid, a bedizened wastrel, are probably crudely slanted.
Plangent
Of a sound : loud, deep, and often sad.
The movie finally feels more manufactured than organic, a travelogue of portent, complete with plangent guitars and peopled by characters from the backwoods playbook.
To debunk that long-held belief
Students are despondent over
letimotif
impetuosos
staccato
flagrant
modus
penitentiary
prowess
makesfift
colluding
A terse, witty, instructive saying; a maxim.
The whole “pass now, fix later” apothegm is naive. Just remember the apothegm that a government that is big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take it all away.
hazing ritual
punctured colon and required emergency surgery in Knoxville after the tip of the pool cue broke off inside his bladder.
Using clever tricks and dishonest methods to achieve a goal, especially in politics.
But he’s as cold and Machiavellian behind the curtain as he is charismatic in front of it.
Someone who never drinks alcohol.
He was both alcoholic and teetotaler, depending upon the time period.
Japanese words from English roots have proliferated.
Japanese is an agglutinative, mora-timed language with simple phonotactics, a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent.
his breath began faltering
Green pasture
You Shank
Jock it
Cabinet molding
Garment hem
Shirt ruffle
long history of furtively violating our privacy.
there is a far more insidious algorithm embedded
they are based on using electrochemical methods to take sequestered Carbon Dioxide from the air and turn it into hydrocarbons.
A nosy person; a busybody.
an inquisitive and gossipy person.
If you love to spread the latest gossip, you're a quidnunc. The neighborhood quidnunc is the person who seems to always know everyone's business.
Wimple
A cloth headdress covering the head, neck, and the sides of the face, formerly worn by women and still worn by some nuns.
As I focus on California's relentless drought, I find I'm documenting the plight of the environment:
none is focused on solving the long-term needs of a drought-prone, perennially water-stressed California.
Our state's water management is complex, but the technology and expertise exist to handle this harrowing future.
An inkling of untoward deeds on the part of Hurstwood had come.
Entrenched prejudices， obdurate opinions are as sterile as no opinions at all.
The Lakers' Rose Parade float featured an apathetic Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a basketball made of lentils.
pantheon
He retained Agrippa's original inscription, which has confused its date of construction.
The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky.
These medieval accretions were cleared by order of Pope Eugenius IV (1431–39) and the piazza was laid out and paved.
Retort, is a sharp quick response, often a contradiction or a negatively phrased reply to a statement. This tries to be an argument finisher. Retort is also used for the noise of a gun and a piece of chemistry glassware.
Repartee is a two sided "discussion" where both parties are using a little humour and wit. This may be sarcastic, comedic or sometimes a little rude.
A rejoinder is a reply which whilst almost neutral is also expressing a different opinion. This is not an attacking comment, but will display the opposite point of view.
A riposte is a barbed, sharp reply, which may sometimes be rude, but is always attacking, not only expressing a different opinion, but doing so forcefully.
The performance of miracles.
Then there’s the environment, thaumaturgy and everything else. I haven’t seen one good thing come from thaumaturgy yet and believe me I’ve been looking
Heap of ruin
Sickle, hammer
Hole on a britches
Destiny is entwined
A vat on Grate and kiln in factory
louvers with broken slat
Made defeatist comments in public
Inexplicable duration of dual
Frown in the sleep
Diplomatic spat between two nation
Wheel chair, spastic
I abhor to see you becoming
Outer sleeve of the brain
Macrobiotic, health
Julius Caesar was appointed as perpetual dictator
annexation of Egypt
Overarching power
In baseball, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees are archrivals.
deposition of the Emperor , usurper
largest empire of the classical antiquity period
hold sway over
Dominate, have a controlling influence over, as in He held sway over the entire department. This idiom uses the noun sway in the sense of “power” or “dominion,” a usage dating from the late 1500s.
The longevity and vast extent of the Empire
elected magistrates
political and military upheaval
accession
the attainment or acquisition of a position of rank or power, typically that of monarch or president.
the queen's accession to the throne
Principate, derived from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first
Augustus came to predominate it
contemporaries of Augustus knew it was just a veil
de facto if not de jure
Fondle first, talk later
the cohesion of the Empire
Buffing The Finger
Rather than just "flicking the finger" at someone, Buffing The Finger involves the individual making an all too ostentatious and elaborate show of buffing up or polishing their middle finger finger nail; this in itself should be seen as part of the overall gesture. Given that the gesture itself is elaborate, it would do no harm to embellish the overall presentation of the digit with a quip such as "I made this for you... can you see your face in it?".
I saw she was buffing the finger at me so I polished up my retort...!
Quondam
That once was; former.
Turning to me, my quondam guide asked if I had passed a pleasant evening.
Fornicate
(of two people not married to each other) have sexual intercourse.
Middle English (as fornication ): from ecclesiastical Latin fornicat- ‘arched,’ from fornicari, from Latin fornix, fornic- ‘vaulted chamber,’ later ‘brothel.’
gentrification
the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.
rail at
To criticize someone or something in harsh, bitter, or abusive language:
The workers railed at the new contract that cut medical benefits.
Reign with iron Jackboot
Extol courage
HARSH-SOUNDING
assonance
dissonant
cacophony
raucous
din
strident
grate
jar