Fricative – from the Latin for “to rub” – refers to a hissing or buzzing sound produced by forcing air through a narrow space. In phonetics, a fricative is a consonant sound made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the teeth – e.g., the Z in zoo and the S in said. As used by Elizabeth McCracken in her short story Property: “[She] was a short, slightly creased, ponytailed blond woman in a baseball cap and a gleaming, fricative black tracksuit that suggested somewhere a husband dressed in the exact same outfit.”

Sentient means able to perceive or feel things. As used in the news brief above: “Blake Lemoine, the Google researcher who publicly claimed the company’s LaMDA AI platform had become sentient, has been fired.”

Decorum – from the Latin for “proper; decent” – is behavior that is controlled, calm, and polite. As I used it today: “I was unaware [during the meal with my business partners in Tokyo] that there is a decorum involved in eating sushi.”

A denizen – from the Late Latin for “from within” – is an inhabitant or occupant of a particular place. As I used it today: “Apartment denizens that use coin-operated washing machines have noticed a ‘shortage’ of quarters since the pandemic.”

Rhetorical – from the Ancient Greek for “concerning public speaking” – refers to the use of language as a means to persuade. As I used it today: “I expected to have my high assessment of these tragedies confirmed. And it was. But I also got something I hadn’t gotten before: an appreciation for the poetic and rhetorical excellence of these works, thanks in part to the translation by [Robert] Fagles.”

Obstreperous – from the Latin for “to make a noise” – means boisterous and difficult to control. As I used it today: “When [the grandkids] are irritable and obstreperous, I leave them to K or their parents to deal with. They have no objection. And neither do I.”

Burgeon: from the Old French for “to put out buds or sprout” – means to grow or increase rapidly; flourish. As I used it today: “[The term ‘cultural appropriation’] did not catch on until the mid-1980s, when it popped up as a minor tenet of the burgeoning critique of Western colonialism.”

A palliative – from the Latin for “to cloak” – is something that serves to soothe or alleviate pain. As I used it today: “I spent several hours on a strategy for managing my now-reduced cash flow – a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C (optimistic, realistic, and worst-case). This, I knew, was necessary not just for practical reasons, but also as a psychological palliative for my recent misfortunes.”

To chastise – from the Latin for “to correct, set right; to purify” – is to severely criticize or reprimand. As I used it today: “I went back to the hotel, out of hope and empty-handed, and spent the next several hours chastising myself for letting our luggage out of my sight and especially for putting my laptop, and its backup, in the same bag.”

To denigrate is to belittle, to treat or represent something as lacking in value or importance. As I used it today: “Before I experienced the churches of Rome, I had a common condescension towards Baroque art. I considered it overdone. But in its presence, I don’t have that feeling. Yes, there is a lot of it. One thing on top of another. But that doesn’t make me want to denigrate it. It makes me want to engulf myself in it, time and again.”