Make Your Point > Archived Issues > EROSIVE

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connect today's word to others: Imagine a rodent nibbling away at a block of cheese: whatever erodes or is erosive, or whatever corrodes or is corrosive, eats away at things, destroying them bit by bit. All those bold words come from the Latin rodere, which means "to gnaw." See if you can recall this synonym of erosive: something a_____ve tends to scrape things, or tends to annoy you or make you angry as if it's scraping up against you. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "EROSIVE" To erode something is to destroy it by slowly eating it (or seeming to eat it). So, something erosive is harmful because it seems to slowly eat away at something. Pronunciation: ee RO siv Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "an erosive thing." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was erosive.") Other forms: erosively, erosivity How to use it: You might be literal and talk about erosive soils, erosive ocean currents, erosive effects on the surface of the teeth, etc. But we'll focus on the figurative: erosive deception and insults, erosive stress and worries, erosive agendas and voices, and erosive effects, agents, forces, and powers. examples: In the face of their dad's willpower, the kids just keep asking for that pool, hoping their questions prove erosive. Oh, daily caffeination. That erosive force against a bank account. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "erosive" means when you can explain it without saying "destructive in a gradual way" or "harmful in a slow way." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "The power of _____ lies in its erosivity; slowly it wears away _____." Example: "The power of sleep deprivation lies in its erosivity; slowly it wears away our focus." 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. Our game this month is called "Quirky Keepers."  We’ll play with a bunch of bizarre, oddly specific words—words that deserve a place in our vocabulary, even though they're too wacky and rare to explore in full issues of Make Your Point. (I found most of these words in Charles Harrington Elster’s outrageously entertaining book, There’s A Word For It: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life.) Our goal as we play is to squirrel the words away in our memories. So, in each issue, we’ll check out a word; in the following issue, I’ll give you a new example of that word, and you see if you can recall it. We’ll start with short words and work our way up to the six-, seven-, and eight-syllable doozies. See if you can recall the word from the previous issue: Imagine you have a manager who sees you crying at work and responds with this: "You need to clock out. I don't pay you $12 an hour to blubber." What's the word for people like him? (It's two syllables.) See the answer by scrolling all the way down. Today, let’s check out the word "charrette." A charrette is a specific kind of group effort: an instance of people working together really hard right before a deadline. (You might be saying, "Wait, isn't that just the French word for a wagon or cart?" Yes, it is! But the connection is a weak one. I'll let the OED explain it: "Probably originally with reference to the former custom among French architecture students of using a cart to carry their work on the day of an exhibition.") Remember, in the next issue I’ll give you an example of a charrette, without mentioning the word—and you’ll try to recall it. That'll help you keep it in your memory. review today's word: 1. A close opposite of EROSIVE is A. BEAUTIFUL. B. CONSTRUCTIVE. C. ACCOMPLISHED. 2. This treatment erodes the tumor, _____. A. building what amounts to a protective wall around it B. essentially freezing it so it can't continue to grow C. eventually ridding the body of it entirely 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. Answer to the game question: He's a Gradgrind. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C