Dislodge (dĭs-lŏj’) means to remove someone or something from a previously occupied position. You could put your feet on the table, for instance, dislodging the papers that were present there. Republicans agreed Thursday to let Democrats push debates on overtime pay and other economic priorities in an effort to dislodge a stalled tax cut for … Read more
Fuzzy (fŭz’ē) is an adjective. While it can also mean covered with fuzz, it is more widely used to indicate something that is not clear, confused or not coherent. The fuzzy logic, for example, is a branch of mathematics that deals with computational representation of inexact values. Yet innovation remains a frustratingly fuzzy notion. (The … Read more
The word teraflop combines tera, which is a prefix from the International System of Units used to denote one trilion (1,000,000,000,000), with flop, which is an acronym of Floating Point Operations Per Second. You can make an analogy with the number of instructions per second that can be handled. Flops are mainly used to measure … Read more
Boggle (bŏg’əl) means to hesitate or shy away. It can also refer to a situation where something is overcome by fright or astonishment; hence why people say “it boggles the mind.” Aside from the equivalence between abortion and Nazi death camps, the idea that Roe v. Wade is responsible for immigration — the mind boggles. … Read more
Euphemism (yū’fə-mĭz’əm) is a polite or agreeable word that is used to replace a possibly offensive or harsh one. It can also refer to a word or expression that under estimates the real state of things. But after the September 11th attacks, its Self-Defence Forces (SDF is a euphemism for its armed forces that gets … Read more
Trudge (trŭj) means to walk slowly, heavily or in a laborious way. It can also be used as a noun, referring to a long or cumbersome walk. As the number of risky mortgage borrowers being turfed out of their homes escalates, so does the rate of Wall Street chief executives trudging dejectedly out of their … Read more
It would be difficult to open a business book or magazine would coming across this term. Synergy (sĭn’ər-jē) refers to a situation where the combined output of two parts is larger the the sum of their individual outputs. That is, when two plus two equals five. Businessmen often justify mergers or acquisitions with synergies that … Read more
Befuddle (bĭ-fŭd’l) is a verb that means to confuse or to perplex. It can also refer to confusion coming from alcoholic drinks. This week the befuddled looks of farmers as Mr Roh’s presidential cavalcade swept up the highway to Pyongyang suggested that Mr Kim had not let all his compatriots in on the historic moment, … Read more
Turmoil (tûr’moil’), the verb, means to harass or to disturb. It is more widely used as a noun, however, where it means a state of confusion, agitation or tumult. A labor strike, for instance, can create turmoil inside a country. Even the people most at fault for the recent turmoil—the creators of the collateralised-debt obligations … Read more
An algorithm (ăl’gə-rĭTH’əm) is a procedure defined to solve a problem, usually structured in steps. The algorithm takes an input, carries the steps and then produces an output. Google, for instance, uses an algorithm to find the most relevant web pages on the Internet whenever your perform a search query. Algorithms sound scary, of interest … Read more
Meritocracy (mĕr’ĭ-tŏk’rə-sē) is a system where the advancement of individuals is based on their performance and ability. American companies, for instance, are said to be more meritocratic than Italian ones, where nepotism (family connections) prevail. Yet if you look beyond party politics at some of the things that have distinguished America—mobility, immigration, meritocracy, volunteerism—a more … Read more
Ambivalent (ăm-bĭv’ə-lənt) is an adjective used to characterize things that have conflicting feelings or attitudes. If you are ambivalent about politics, for example, you have opposite feelings about it. Google evokes ambivalent feelings. Some users now keep their photos, blogs, videos, calendars, e-mail, news feeds, maps, contacts, social networks, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and credit-card information—in … Read more