{"id":2366,"date":"2011-08-28T00:13:43","date_gmt":"2011-08-28T05:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/?p=2366"},"modified":"2019-08-30T16:49:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T16:49:18","slug":"hurricane-irene-incredibly-inappropriate-use-of-vocabulary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/hurricane-irene-incredibly-inappropriate-use-of-vocabulary\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricane Irene: Incredibly Inappropriate Use of Vocabulary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>&#8220;Hurricane Irene is tearing into town! You should be prepared \u201d sartorially, that is. In case your rainy day staples aren&#8217;t up to par, we found the jeans, trenches and boots to get you through this Category 3 storm in style.&#8221; -Lauren DeCarlo for TheFeast.com<\/i><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.jenisfamous.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2011\/08\/DownloadedFile.jpeg\" alt=\"weather\" title=\"DownloadedFile\" width=\"163\" height=\"160\" class=\"alignright\" \/>Your blog editor is currently filing this post from Lower Manhattan, which is bracing itself for an <a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/inundate\">inundation<\/a> (a.k.a. a <a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/deluge\">deluge<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>One news reporter suggested we &#8220;<a href=\"\/\/www.thefreedictionary.com\/hunker+down\">hunker down<\/a>,&#8221; an evocative expression that means:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1. to crouch or squat; to sit on one&#8217;s haunches<\/li>\n<li>2. to settle in at a location for an extended period<\/li>\n<li>3. (figuratively) to maintain a position and resist yielding to some pressure, as of public opinion<\/li>\n<li>4. to take shelter, literally or figuratively; to assume a defensive position to resist difficulties<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While checking storm coverage, this editor couldn&#8217;t help but cringe at this vocab-filled but phenomenally <a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/tactless\">tactless<\/a> ad:<\/p>\n<p><A HREF=\"\/\/www.thefeast.com\/newyork\/shopping\/FEAST-SHOP-NATL-What-to-Wear-When-Hurricane-Irene-Comes-to-Town-128393623.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.jenisfamous.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2011\/08\/Irene-fashion.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Irene fashion\" width=\"302\" height=\"220\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4814\" \/><\/A><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/sartorial\">Sartorial<\/a> is a nice vocabulary word. It means &#8220;pertaining to tailors or clothing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Great. Moving on: 9 people have died and the storm hasn&#8217;t even hit NYC yet.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/tactless\">Tactless<\/a> means &#8220;undiplomatic, offensively blunt, lacking tact.&#8221; <a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/tact\">Tact<\/a> is &#8220;a keen sense of what to say or do to avoid giving offense; skill in dealing with difficult or delicate situations.&#8221; Don&#8217;t confuse <i>tact, tactful,<\/i> and <i>tactless<\/i> with &#8220;<a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/tactical\">tactical<\/a>,&#8221; which means &#8220;relating to tactics, strategic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here are some other words to describe this &#8220;article&#8221;:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/opportunism\">Opportunistic<\/a>, which means taking &#8220;opportunities&#8221; at the expense of others, or &#8220;the policy or practice, as in politics, business, or one&#8217;s personal affairs, of adapting actions, decisions, etc., to expediency or effectiveness regardless of the sacrifice of ethical principles.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/crass\">Crass<\/a>, which means &#8220;without refinement, delicacy, or sensitivity; gross; obtuse; stupid.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/www.thefeast.com\/newyork\/shopping\/FEAST-SHOP-NATL-What-to-Wear-When-Hurricane-Irene-Comes-to-Town-128393623.html\">The article itself<\/a> is much worse.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Irene is packing wind gusts up to 125 mph. Keep your fly-aways in place with this pretty headband from Anthropologie.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.jenisfamous.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2011\/08\/Anthropologie-Shining-Bright-Headband.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Anthropologie-Shining-Bright-Headband\" width=\"170\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4824\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Puddles and pants don&#8217;t mix so swing by National Jean Company and try on a pair of AG&#8217;s Stilt Roll-Up Jeans. Not only are they cropped, but they&#8217;re not too tight at the hem so you can still roll them up an inch \u201d just in case. Parts of Puerto Rico got dumped with 10 inches of rain\u201ddon&#8217;t you want to be prepared?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.jenisfamous.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2011\/08\/AG-Stilt-Roll-Up-Jean.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"AG-Stilt-Roll-Up-Jean\" width=\"262\" height=\"350\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4825\" \/>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(As of right now, President Obama has signed a disaster declaration for Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/www.thefeast.com\/newyork\/shopping\/FEAST-SHOP-NATL-What-to-Wear-When-Hurricane-Irene-Comes-to-Town-128393623.html\">According to the writer<\/a>, &#8220;Rainy days means comfy days, but don&#8217;t slack off when it comes to your style.&#8221; For Hurricane Irene, you should wear an Ann Taylor sleeveless trench, a $300 silk maxi dress (dry clean only), and an Anthropologie headband, while you carry a &#8220;bubble umbrella.&#8221; You are warned that &#8220;a hat might be too much.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><IMG SRC=\"\/\/www.jenisfamous.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2011\/08\/Ann-Taylor-Sleeveless-Trench-Topper.png\"><\/p>\n<p>Also, sleeveless trenchcoats are ridiculous. Haiku:<\/p>\n<p>Oh, sleeveless trenchcoat.<br \/>\nLike a sock without a heel,<br \/>\nDumb in bad weather.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, I have a good word for useless fashion objects, especially in inappropriate environments:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/frippery\">Frippery<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1. finery in dress, especially when showy, gaudy, or the like.<\/li>\n<li>2. empty display; ostentation.<\/li>\n<li>3. <a href=\"\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/gewgaws\">gewgaws<\/a>; trifles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Quiz yourself: Can you define <i>inundate, deluge, hunker down, sartorial, tactless, tact, tactical, opportunistic, crass,<\/i> and <em>frippery?<\/em> Should you use potential national disasters to sell clothes? (Hint: Reread the post for definitions, and no, you really shouldn&#8217;t.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Hurricane Irene is tearing into town! You should be prepared \u201d sartorially, that is. In case your rainy day staples aren&#8217;t up to par, we found the jeans, trenches and boots to get you through this Category 3 storm in style.&#8221; -Lauren DeCarlo for TheFeast.com Your blog editor is currently filing this post from Lower [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-2366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vocabulary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7226,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366\/revisions\/7226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2366"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}