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June 26 & 27, 2004 scapegoat (SKEYP goat) The noun scapegoat refers someone who has been blamed or punished for something bad that has happened even though that person may not actually be at fault. The soccer-mad Italians have a habit of finding scapegoats when they are knocked out of major tournaments. Whenever oil prices rise, Opec is usually made the scapegoat. A number of local officials, used as scapegoats, were punished to satisfy the public. The principal often acts as the scapegoat for anything that goes wrong at the school. June 25, 2004 collusion (ka LEW zhun) The noun collusion means secretly working or acting together in order to deceive or cheat someone. "Looking at the matches and the way they were played and the drama of the two games, I don't think there is any reason to believe that there was any type of collusion whatsoever. The judge said that the facts about the collusion between the two auction houses seems to have been a closely-held secret. Accusations of collusion and price-fixing are now commonplace in the industry. The former vice premier said that the charges against him were politically motivated, carried out with collusion of the police, the security services and members of the highest courts. June 24, 2004 outclass (out KLAS) The verb outclass means to be a lot better than someone else in a particular activity or to be of much higher quality than something else. The adjective form is outclassed. Tamarine Tanasugarn succeeded where Thai compatriot Paradorn Srichaphan failed by reading the second round at Wimbledon yesterday with a simple 6-2, 6-0 win over outclassed Anna Lena Groenfeld of Germany. Johnson outclassed the field en route his fourth Olympic gold medal. Allen was one of the few players on the team to perform well on a night when they were generally outclassed. The local army appeared outclassed in all phases of the war. June 23, 2004 delirious (Da LEAR i us) The adjective delirious means to be extremely excited or happy or to be unable to think or speak in a sensible way, usually because of illness and a high fever. Portugal partied like crazy on Sunday as delirious fans celebrated their soccer team's 1-0 victory or neighbours Spain. To the cheers of his delirious supporters, the prime minister announced his party had won all but two of the states country's states. He was clearly delirious and speaking to himself. She broke into a heavy sweat and within minutes she was delirious. June 22, 2004 flabbergasted (FLAB ur gas tid) The adjective flabbergasted means to be completely surprised by something. Dutch winger Arjen Robben was "flabbergasted" when he was substituted in the 3-2 defeat by Czech Republic and the squad has demanded an explanation from coach Dick Advocaat. They appeared simply flabbergasted by the events swirling around them. Nobody on the space shuttle was more flabbergasted than its pilot. The advisor said Gore was flabbergasted that Americans weren't showing more outrage over the election results in Florida. June 21, 2004 composure (kom PO zhur) The noun composure refers to the appearance of feeling of calm or the ability to control your feelings. The Netherlands' early confidence quickly evaporated but they recovered their composure and almost snatched a third goal before halftime. During the opposition's harsh personal attack he struggled to maintain his composure. He was among several players to lose composure after the team fell behind by 20 points in the second quarter. They yelled at the top of their voices to inspire their fighter to regain his composure and make a match out of it. 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: June 28, 2004