Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BURGEON

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connect today's word to others: Rhyme it with surgeon and virgin: our word burgeon comes from an Old French word meaning "a bud or a shoot"--imagine a new, young, delicate bud or shoot of a flower--and it might ultimately come from the Latin burra, meaning "wool," "tuft of wool," "shaggy garment," or "nonsense." If so, that could mean burgeon is related to burro (for the shagginess), bureau (for the garment), and burlesque (for the nonsense). Anyway, things that burgeon are budding, growing, blossoming, and flourishing. See if you can recall the word for this very similar idea: Ef_______ence is a blooming, a bursting out, or a period of robust growth and development. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "BURGEON" To burgeon is to bloom, to grow, to increase, or to flourish. Pronunciation: BUR jin (rhymes with "surgeon" and "virgin") Part of speech: Verb, usually the intransitive kind: "the thought burgeons in his mind," "their enthusiasm is burgeoning." Other forms: The other verb forms are "burgeoned" and "burgeoning." Very often, we use "burgeoning" as an adjective. Finally, it's rare, but "burgeon" can also be a noun, meaning "a bud." How to use it: This word is a bit formal. Although you can certainly talk about things that burgeon, most of the time we turn "burgeon" into an adjective, "burgeoning," and talk about burgeoning projects, movements, interests, feelings, fields, trends, industries, subcultures, etc. Notice how the tone can vary. Burgeoning things can be good, bad, or neutral: "their burgeoning friendship," "this burgeoning scandal," "his burgeoning fame."  examples: Shows like Tiny House Hunters cater to millennials' burgeoning interest in low-cost lifestyles. "Whisky researchers are finding themselves at the forefront of the burgeoning science of food-fraud detection."    — Lucas Laursen, Scientific American, 1 December 2018 study it: Explain the meaning of "burgeon" without saying "develop" or "blossom." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Some person, group, industry, or nation) is dealing with a burgeoning crisis: _____." Example: "The journalism industry is dealing with a burgeoning crisis: advertising revenue is plummeting." before you review, play: Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first. Our game is "TV Tropes!" This month, we're playing with tropes from TVTropes.org. TV tropes are storytelling devices, which can come from any source of fiction—TV, movies, books, you name it. They're the archetypes, the story patterns, the plot devices, the cheap tricks, the situational clichés that we see over and over throughout fiction.  Examples of TV tropes include "Skyward Scream," "Banister Slide," "Caught on the Jumbotron," "Burp of Finality," "City People Eat Sushi," "Dance Party Ending," "Clean Pretty Childbirth," "Come Back to Bed, Honey," "Even the Subtitler is Stumped," and tens of thousands more. Naming a trope can be a straightforward business, as in the "Skyward Scream." But often it demands precision, inviting the use of humorously sophisticated terms. Enter our Make Your Point words.  In each issue this month, consider the name of a TV trope, and try to define it or even give an example from a TV show or other work of fiction. From the previous issue: In fiction, what is the trope known as Acquired Situational Narcissism? Answer: It's when a character's ego inflates drastically in response to some bit of new fame or success. For example, in The Brady Bunch, Marcia lands the lead role of Juliet in the school play, then lets the "fame" go to her head. Try this today: In fiction, what is the trope known as a Crapsaccharine World? review today's word: 1. One opposite of BURGEONING is A. SPAWNING. B. DWINDLING. C. UPROOTING. 2. Wireless companies have failed to _____ our burgeoning _____. A. address .. number portability B. keep pace with .. data-sharing needs C. bring service to .. rural, sparsely-populated areas Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. B