Make Your Point > Archived Issues > EQUANIMITY

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connect today's word to others: Let's recall some words based on the Latin animus, meaning "mind or spirit:" 1. Do you have a generous spirit? Do you forgive easily? You've got ____animity. 2. Has everyone in your group reached agreement on something? You've got __animity. 3. In difficult situations that go on for a long time, do you wait patiently while staying calm and strong? You've got ____animity. And here's today's word! 4. Even in stressful situations, do you stay low-key, maintaining a calm mind? You've got equanimity. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "EQUANIMITY" "Equanimity" literally means "even-mindedness." If you have equanimity, you have calm inside your mind, or calm behavior. Pronunciation: ECK wuh NIM ih tee Part of speech: Uncountable noun. (Like "milk," "rice," and "advice," uncountable nouns are words for stuff that can’t be broken into exact units. You talk about "some milk," "the rice," and "a lot of advice," but you don’t say "a milk," "three rices," or "many advices." Likewise, talk about "the equanimity," "this equanimity," "his equanimity," "such equanimity," "no equanimity," and so on, but don’t say "one equanimity" or "equanimities." However, you can say "an equanimity" if you're talking about a specific display of equanimity: "He accepted the bad news with an equanimity that impressed us.") Other forms: equanimous ("ih KWON uh muss"), equanimously How to use it: This is a formal word with a positive tone. We use it to point out how calm and serene someone is during situations full of pain, stress, uncertainty, and so on--situations that make most of us freak out instead of maintaining a cool, calm, steady head. So, talk about someone's equanimity: "We admired her equanimity in the face of failure." Or, talk about someone who possesses or displays equanimity, someone who carries himself with equanimity, someone who maintains her equanimity or keeps her equanimity in tact, and so on. Often we'll talk about someone doing or saying something with equanimity: you can approach something with equanimity, watch or regard or listen to something with equanimity, accept something with equanimity, respond or react to something with equanimity, confront or struggle with something with equanimity, treat something stressful with equanimity, etc. examples: After we accidentally flattened that poor rabbit on the road, it took most of the evening for me to recover my equanimity. Brandy got the phone call about her friend's toe getting sliced off, and she responded with an equanimity that shocked us: "Yeah? Okay. Okay, thanks for letting me know. Bye." study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "equanimity" means when you can explain it without saying "mental tranquility" or "composure." try it out: Fill in the blank: "I managed to respond with equanimity to (an accident, a stressful event, or a piece of bad news)." Example: "I managed to respond with equanimity to Taylor's headlong leap into the corner of the fireplace." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing "Coiners & Coinages." Use your knowledge of science, history, literature, and vocabulary as you match newly coined words to the people who coined them, and vice versa. Let's do this! From our previous issue: Alan Freed was a famous disc jockey based in Cleveland whose career ended over a payola scandal. Did he coin the term BLUESY, HIP HOP, or ROCK AND ROLL? Answer: Rock and roll! Although we've always talked about, you know, ships rocking and rolling, it was Freed who first described songs with that phrase, which suggested to him "the rolling, surging beat of the music." Try this today: Whoever wrote an 1846 Swell's Night Guide--a type of guidebook for navigating the seediest parts of London--wisely did so under the pseudonym "Lord Chief Baron." Did this Lord Chief Baron coin the term CRAPPY, TITILLATING, or GENTLEMEN'S GENTLEMAN? review today's word: 1. An opposite of EQUANIMITY is A. GREED. B. HYSTERIA. C. IMBALANCE. 2. Through the darkness and the heavy fog, he _____, the picture of equanimity. A. leaned forward and gripped the wheel tightly, cursing every other moment B. kept his brights on, blithely unconcerned with blinding other drivers C. kept up an easy, quiet chatter 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. C