Vocabulary Mnemonics

If you don't have an eidetic memory, then today's episode is for you! Matt and Mom sync up to discuss blandishment, dilettante, malinger, obeisance, and more... We hope you'll be able to feel the bonhomie that flows through every mnemonic. Enjoy!

On today's confabulation, Matt and Mom sync up to break down 10 new words including a fun way to say "bellyache," what you call someone who's not getting invited into the club, and more. Matt also introduces "folk etymology" and provides some examples. And as always, Mom dazzles all with the newly-named Colossal Compilation. If nothing else, you'll have a chance to improve your ken. Enjoy!

Matt and Mom link up to discuss a fun way to describe workplace shenanigans, what the "gable' is in The House of the Seven Gables, what to call it when someone gives unwanted advice during a card game, and more. At the end Mom leaves everything feeling good with an especially upbeat Big Sentence.

This week we cover zaftig, zeumba, and some non-z words like argot, defenestrate, sequelae, and more. Marilyn Monroe makes an appearance, as does the zoo, a Russian dancer named Svetlana, and a menacing rake. During Mom's Big Sentence she even manages to throw in a few old words for review purposes. Enjoy!

Happy New Year! We hope you attack 2025 with panache, and to help you we're breaking down ten words related to the new year. Listen to get definitions and mnemonics for tabula rasa, eschaton, panache, Auld Lang Syne, some new words added to the dictionary in 2024, and more. Enjoy!

It's Christmas week! With the big day nearly here, we're celebrating. We break down a few grinch-related words, the advent of Jesus, and even a few phobias that may trigger this time of year. Enjoy!

It's December! You know what that means: profligate spending, pithy Christmas cards, stoats changing colors... We cover all this and more in today's episode. Stay tuned to hear Mom put all ten of our words into the Big Sentence. Enjoy!

Has life turned turtle? Did things come a cropper this week? Then this week's episode is sure to get your imprimatur. Stick around to the end for mom's particularly impressive Big Sentence. Enjoy!

It may be a vacation week in America, but vocabulary doesn't take any days off. Thus, we feel it our noblesse oblige to provide a new episode. This week we cover propitious, dun, salient, arcane, and more! Enjoy!

With Thanksgiving coming up, we're doing words associated with the holiday. When we say "associated with," we're using the term loosely, but each one does have at least some connection. The late, great William Bradford would be proud. We break down words like tricorn, cornucopia, bewigged, and more. Feel free to use them around the dinner table! Enjoy!

If you puled (or mewled) your way through the week, hopefully today's episode will leave you leaving you feeling happy and confident enough to solve even the most difficult Gordian Knot. We discuss epicurean, animus, cur, and more -- and provide mnemonics to help you remember each one. Enjoy!

This week is unintentionally tongue-twister week. Funambulist, logorrhea, obambulate... try saying all those ten times fast. We break down each one, and more, and give you mnemonics to help you remember them, hopefully forever. Enjoy!

Welcome to the least-divisive, least-political election podcast episode available today. It's election week here in the U.S., so we're doing election-themed words. Some words, like precinct, may be more familiar. But we've also found some lesser-known gems, like kakistocracy and hustings. Enjoy!

It's Shakespeare week! The Bard of Avon invented and popularized a wide range of words, some of which you're probably familiar with, others less so. In this week's episode we break down 10 and give mnemonics to help you remember them. Enjoy!

We hope to earn your plaudits with this week's episode. We cover a wide range of words, from crepuscular to inure to ignominious and more. Stay tuned to hear mom combine all the words together in The Big Sentence. Enjoy!

If you suffer from word agoraphobia, this episode is for you. Once you hear the mnemonics for salubrious, punctilious, quixotic, coeval, and more, you'll never be left in a panic, wondering what to say. We also cover two words from previous episodes. We'll pretend we did it on purpose to help you review -- see if you can figure out which ones they are. Enjoy!

This week we promulgate the truism that you CAN learn vocabulary words with the best of them. So long as you're not incorrigible, of course. Tune in to discover mnemonics for taxonomy, promulgate, whinge,venal, acumen, and more!

Today's episode is not ineffable. But it's not fatuous or Byzantine either. The hope is that it will get you one step closer to achieving eudaimonia. Enjoy!

If you've spent the summer estivating, it's time to get out there are start using new vocabulary words with aplomb. We cover a redoubtable collection of words this week, including prurient, apocryphal, mawkish, and more. Enjoy!

It's an ad cliche to say that such and such has "something for everyone," but that just might be true of today's episode. This week's words come from many different areas of life. Whether you're a sci-fi nerd hoping to learn Martian, a movie buff looking forward to a film's denouement, a slaughterhouse worker trying to sound smart, or a thirsty desert dweller looking to slake your thirst, you'll f...

Matt and Mom go a bit meta in today's episode. Almost every featured word is a word about words. You'll discover what a diphthong is (and how to pronounce it), the difference between an aphorism and a bromide, the word to use when you want to omit a word, and more. Enjoy!

In this episode, we review some of our most useful words. Some of these are words you hear in daily life but may not be comfortable using on your own. Others are less common but are great additions to your vocabulary. If you're a long-time listener, see how many you can remember. Enjoy!

Matt went with highly unusual words this week. Mom went with tip-of-your-tongue. Combined, they make for an eclectic collection including flaneur, velleity, melee, and more. Somehow mom still manages to put all ten together in The Big Sentence. Enjoy!

While this week's episode won't be our magnum opus, we're showing our bona fides with Latin words and phrases! What do Jurassic Park and The Princess Bride have to do with the phrase Deus ex machina? What's the smart way to tell someone they got ripped off? And has mom met her match, or will she be able to pull off a sentence using all ten Latin phrases? Find out in this week's episode!

Is it serendipity that brought you to today's episode? We'd like to think so. After all, where else can you hear pulchritudinous, hoi polloi, fetid, and seven more recondite words all used together in a surprisingly cogent sentence? Thanks for listening -- enjoy the show!