ELL HubJenny Taitz
Jenny Taitz
Episode 146
Vocabulary
compound (verb)
- Definition:
- to combine two or more things together
- Example from the episode:
- “So this just compounds our stress.”
- Example sentence:
- “Poor communication can often compound misunderstandings.”
spiral (noun)
- Definition:
- a situation or pattern of behavior where one’s thoughts or emotions continuously become more negative or intense
- Example from the episode:
- “I look forward to learning ways that we can exit that spiral to help ourselves be a little less nervous and perhaps even a little more confident.”
- Example sentence:
- “He tried to break out of the negative spiral of thoughts.”
speculative (adjective)
- Definition:
- making guesses about something without having all the facts
- Example from the episode:
- “So you mentioned the sense of agency and so we can spend hours and hours on the why, but what we really need to know is what we could do to start to problem solve why is just speculative, right?”
- Example sentence:
- “The novel is a speculative look at a future without water.”
on the cusp (idiom)
- Definition:
- about to happen or very close to happening
- Example from the episode:
- “At the same time, this is going to help and I’m somehow on the cusp of a breakthrough.”
- Example sentence:
- “This technology is on the cusp of changing the world.”