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February 7 & 8, 2003 shoulder (SHOWL dur) The noun shoulder refers to the area of your body between your neck and the top of your arm. As a verb, however, shoulder means to accept the responsibility or the blame for something. The Thai Rak Thai party has offered to shoulder the costs of a by-election in Nakhon Pathom forced by the resignation of Pornsak Piamkla. Industry, which accounts for 80 percent of all wastewater, will shoulder 80 percent of the cost to clean it up. Zaman's home was guarded by a squad of bearded men with AK-47s slung over their shoulders. Goalkeeper David Seaman damaged his shoulder during the game. February 6, 2003 hack The verb hack has two meanings commonly found in the newspaper. The first is to cut something with strong rough strokes, especially using an axe or knife. A second meaning for hack is to break into a computer system, especially to steal secret information. A person who does this is known as a hacker. Machete-wielding killers struck again yesterday, hacking to death an irrigation official on his morning job in Yala's Muang district. A whole chicken is cooked thoroughly and then hacked into pieces. The computer hard drive contained indications that its owner had tried to hack into sensitive federal aviation computer systems. Hackers tend to be young men, mostly teenagers and college students. February 5, 2003 impasse (IM pas) The noun impasse refers to a difficult situation where it seems impossible to make any progress. Malaysia will submit fresh proposals to Singapore to try to resolve an impasse over a new bridge that Malaysia wants to build to connect the two neighbours, news reports said yesterday. The election impasse was approaching its second week. Negotiations over withdrawal procedures reached an impasse over the weekend with neither side willing to compromise. In 1995, the impasse over the budget forced the government to shut down for one week. February 4, 2003 break ranks The expression break ranks means to disobey instructions or to go against a policy of a person's own group or organisation. Sanoh Thienthong, Thai Rak Thai's chief adviser, yesterday broke ranks with the party, voicing his support for direct elections of kamnans and village heads. Several top-ranking officials have indicated they are thinking about breaking ranks. The returning workers made clear their feelings about union members who broke ranks during the strike. Indeed, 47 members of Mr Mugabe's own party broke ranks and boycotted the vote. February 3, 2003 trample (TRAM pul ) The verb trample means to step heavily on and cause damage or injury. Trample can also mean to act in a way that shows a complete lack of respect for others. A total of 244 people were trampled to death and about the same number injured yesterday in a valley near Mecca as pilgrims scrambled to throw stones at pillars representing the devil. We thought the man was going to be trampled by the angry crowd. The rice shoots in his path were trampled. The lawmakers promised not to trample on the people's basic rights. February 2, 2003 languish (LAN gwish) The verb languish means to remain in and suffer in an unpleasant situation for a long time. Languish can also mean to be unsuccessful because of lack of effort or because of too many difficulties. While Mr Preecha and Mr Somchai were out spending their newly found money, Mr Uthen was languishing behind bars at Bang Rak police station on a charge that he had stolen the money. Dayaks have moved out of the forest and into the cities and towns where they languish at the bottom of the economic ladder. Critics argued that the president's plan would let children languish in failing schools for up to three years. For a good part of the 1980's, General Motors languished, losing market share to its Japanese competitors. Click here to see our words in the news for the previous week. Return to our home page |© The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. All rights reserved 2004 | Last modified: February 6, 2004