Transcript Hip, Hip, Hurray! Words of praise and Criticism

HIP, HIP,
HURRAY! WORDS
OF PRAISE AND
CRITICISM
Acclaim (a claim): approval, praise (also as a verb meaning,
to approve, to praise).
Paul received national acclaim for his science fair
experiment about conditions on the moon.
Paul’s parents chose to acclaim his work in front of the
neighbors, making sure everyone knew what an excellent job
their son had done on this project.
Bonus joke: Did you hear about the restaurant on the
moon? Great food, but no atmosphere.
The prefix ac- means to of forward. Think of yourself going
forward to “claim your fame” and receive the praise you
deserve.
Acclaim (cont.)
Note that acclaim can be a noun or a verb. You
acclaim the performance of someone who’s doing a
good job. You may also have heard the phrase, “the
critically acclaimed film.” This expression means
that the film critics liked the picture (even though
the public may have thought it stank).
Accolade (rhymes with, back coal aid): a sign of
approval
During the dog obedience trials, Tessie and
Jake were so nervous that they never knew whether
they had performed correctly until they heard the
cheers and accolades of the crowd.
As noted in the preceding vocabulary word, the
prefix ac- means to or forward. Picture yourself going
forward, progressing, and receiving a cola (a-colalade) as a reward for your good performance.
Belittle (be little): speak slightingly of.
Never satisfied, Troy belittled every birthday-gift he
was given and complained he never got what he really
wanted.
Be careful not to confuse de-, meaning to put down, with be-.
(It’s very easy to misread these prefixes during the rush and
stress of the test.) The prefix be- means thoroughly and
completely. To belittle is to make something thoroughly
little; to make it seem like nothing; to complain about it.
Bonus joke: The comedienne and actress Lily Tomlin made
a statement about belittling that I’ve adopted as my own: “I
personally believe we developed language because of our
deep need to complain.”
Castigate (rhymes with, pass the gate): punish by giving
public criticism.
When the building superintendent began speaking
on the PA system, I had a premonition he was going to
castigate me for putting the skunk in the air conditioning
system.
Don’t confuse castigate, meaning to punish, with castrate,
meaning to neuter; to cut off the genitalia. You castrate a
bull, not a prankster who has polluted the AC system (talk
about overdoing the punishment!).
Censure (rhymes with, then sure): strong disapproval; a
formal expression of disapproval.
When the congressman was suspected of accepting
bribes, he was aware of the censure of his fellow politicians.
Be sure not to confuse censure with censor. To censor is to
remove the offensive portions, like censoring a book to get rid
of the dirty parts. Just remember that a censor eliminates the
parts (think of the “o” in censor standing for “out”) because of
your censure of their content. (You are upset by the dirty parts
and cut them out.)
Demean (rhymes with, see teen): treat badly.
At the roast, we all got up to demean the guest
of honor, saying things about him like, “He’s so dumb,
it takes him two hours to watch 60 Minutes!”
The prefix de- means to put down. When you demean
someone, you “put him down,” treat him badly, or
criticize him. Note that demean and denounce both
mean “to put down.”
Denigrate (rhymes with, then pig great): blacken the
reputation of someone; defame, decry.
Although I didn’t want to denigrate my friend,
I had to admit that she had told me about cheating on
her tax returns last year.
This word put the prefix de- with niger, which is
Latin for “black.” When you blacken someone’s
reputation, you put him down or criticize him.
Denounce (rhymes with, the ounce): condemn
strongly.
The student denounced the increase in
parking fees, saying that charging over a hundred
dollars a year to park on campus was ridiculous.
Don’t confuse announce with denounce, When you
announce something, you talk about it; introduce
it. The prefix de- means down. When you
denounce, you put something down, talk down
about it, and criticize it.
Disparage (rhymes with, this carriage): show
disrespect for.
The ten-year-old boy was near tears because the
teacher disparaged the art project on which he had
spent so much time.
The prefix dis- means not. You do not show any
respect for something when you disparage it.
Think of the song, “Home on the Range.” There’s a
line in it that goes, “Where seldom is heard, a
discouraging word.” You could change it that to
“Where seldom is heard, a disparaging word” to help
you remember that disparage is negative.
Encomium (in comb he um): a formal expression of
praise.
At the end-of-the-year banquet, the Chess Club
honored Larry, who had not lost a game the entire
year, with a long scroll full of encomium.
Bonus trivia: According to some mathematicians,
the number of possible moves in a chess game is 10
followed by 43 zeros! No wonder computers have such
difficulty anticipating all possibilities.
Eulogy (rhymes with, you low gee): high
praise.
At the funeral, Blair delivered a
eulogy for his grandmother, talking about
all the good she had done for her family
and friends.
The prefix eu- means good, and the root
log means word. When you have a good
word for someone– when you praise her–
you give a eulogy.
Extol (rhymes with, necks pole): to praise
highly.
Television commercials extol the virtues
of the latest style of overpriced blue jeans.
Ever hear of Toll House cookies (chocolate
chip cookies)? Do you like them? Of course!
Nearly everyone likes chocolate chip cookies,
so you extol or praise, Toll House cookies.
Fawning (rhymes with, yawning): flattering, showing servile
deference.
The psychiatrist quickly deduced that his new patient
had an obsessive desire to be liked, because she was fawning all
over everyone, even people she didn’t like.
When you want to be popular sooooo badly that you will kiss
up to the “in” crowd at school, you are fawning.
Bonus joke: What did the psychiatrist say when the patient
yelled into his office, “Doctor! Help, help! I’m shrinking!”
Answer : “I’m busy now. You’ll just have to be a little patient.”
Kudos (rhymes with, you doze): praise, glory, fame.
Tim received kudos for his excellent detective
work at the firehouse, discovering who put the
captain’s jockey shorts up the flagpole.
The manufacturer of the candy bar called Kudos
hopes you think the taste of the candy is worth
praising. (When I praise my students during a
tutorial, I often make the wisecrack, “Kudos to
youdos, you got that one right!”)
Laud (rhymes with, clawed): to praise.
The coach lauded me for making the difficult threepoint just as the buzzer sounded, winning the game for our
team and sending us to the State finals.
Notice how similar the word laud is to the word applaud?
When you laud someone’s performance, you are applauding
him for doing so well.
You may see different forms of this word, including
laudable, meaning worthy of praise (joining the Peace Corps
is a laudable thing to do) and laudatory, meaning the
expressing praise (my boss laudatory comments on the good
job I did on the project made me feel great all day long).
Malign (rhymes with, the sign): speak evil of.
Even though the newspaper editorials are always
criticizing the ambassador to Spain, I think he’s doing a good
job and refuse to malign him.
Mal means bad. If you speak Spanish, you know the
expression, muy malo, meaning very bad. To malign is to say
something bad.
You may have heard about a malignant tumor. That’s a
cancerous tumor, one that is considered bad. (The opposite is
a benign tumor, one that isn’t cancerous or harmful. Ben is a
root meaning good.)
Paean (pi uhn): a song of praise.
When Alice wondered what her blind date
looked like, Anne broke into a paean about his
dark hair and blue eyes.
Panegyric (pan uh jeer ick): speech expressing
high praise.
When Alice returned from her blind date,
she called Anne and went into a panegyric about
the wonderful time she had.
Plaudits (rhymes with, clawed its): expressions of praise.
Deidre’s law exam had plaudits written all over it,
with a huge A+ in red ink at the top.
The word plaudits may remind you applaud. When you
applaud, you offer plaudits.
Rebuke (rhymes with, see duke): scold.
Rich rebuked me when I spent my money on candy
bars rather than books, saying I needed to feed my mind more
than my body.
My friend Rich really did say this to me, adding that I was so
mentally challenged that a mind-reader would charge me half
price!
Sycophant (sick oh fant): a flatterer.
The movie star had difficulty knowing whom to trust,
because most of the people around him were groupies and
sycophants who told him how wonderful he was.
A sycophant is a person who flatters way, way to much,
overdoing the praise. You would probably call this type of
person a kiss-up.
You may know a sycophant, someone who is so gushing she
“makes you sick.” Think of a sycophant as a sick-o-phant
because you’re sick of all her insincere praise.
Toady (rhymes with, road he): a sycophant;
fawning, obsequious hanger-on.
The new employee was so desperate to be
accepted by the others that she became a toady,
hanging around the top salesman and flattering
them every chance she got.
A toady is a yes-man or a kiss-up; someone like a
groupie who praises too much. Picture a toad: a
slimy, icky thing that’s always hanging around
you.
Upbraid (up braid): criticize or rebuke sharply.
The morning I flunked my driver’s test, I was afraid to
tell my mother because I knew she would immediately upbraid
me for not having studied harder.
Don’t define upbraiding as simply “braiding up.” When you
braid something, you put it together. Think of upbraid as an
un-braiding or ripping apart; what your mom would do if you
goofed off, didn’t study, and flunked your test.
Bonus trivia: Here’s a word you won’t see too often, but it’s a
fun word to know: fustigate. To fustigate is to beat some one
with a stick. I often use fustigate in a humorously threatening
manner: “If you don’t stop eating all my Cheesy Puffs, I shall
fustigate you!” (Can’t you just see one of the South Park kids
using this word?)
Vilify (rhymes with, will he try): use abusive language about.
I heard my mother vilify me and my driving abilities
to my father when he came home that night.
-Ify is a suffix meaning “to make.” You probably know that a
villain is a bad guy, someone vile (the villains in the movies
always wear black). You can think of vilify as to make into a
villain, a bad guy.
Bonus: What do you suppose you do when you revile
someone? You insult, criticize and abuse him. In other words,
you treat him as if he’s vile or like a villain.
Vituperate (rhymes with, my group her
eight): to find fault with, to vilify, revile,
abuse.
My personal trainer vituperated me for
not exercising more, telling me, “Your figure is
so bad, it looks as if the contents settled during
shipment!”