Make Your Point > Archived Issues > FUNGIBLE

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connect today's word to others: Something fungible sounds like it means "fungeworthy," right? Able to be funged? Not quite; there's no such verb as "funge," although I did just learn that a funge is defined as a foolish person--but that word was used only by one writer (Robert Burton), so don't you think that standards are pretty casual for getting words into the dictionary? Okay, I'll focus. The word fungible is actually based on the Latin word for perform, which is why it looks like function, functional, malfunction, and so on, as well as __funct (meaning "dead, no longer existing, no longer serving any function") and ___funct__y ("performed in a dull, bored, routine way"). (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "FUNGIBLE" Fungible things are tradeable, exchangeable, replaceable, or interchangeable. Pronunciation: FUN jib ull 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 "a fungible item." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was fungible.") Other forms: Fungibly, fungibility. "Fungible" is also a noun, the countable kind: "these fungibles," "we consider them fungibles." How to use it: You can be straightforward and talk about fungible cash, money, currencies, and shares; as well as fungible parts, pieces, components, items, objects, merchandise, and commodities. Or, you can talk about people who treat other people as fungible, as if one person is just the same as any other. Or, you can talk about people who treat certain abstract things as fungible, as if any given example is just the same as any other: fungible opinions, values, mores, truths, etc. examples: That school treats its athletes as fungible, dropping injured members from the team and revoking their scholarships. "Mr. Finkelstein insisted that he never lied — 'I do not slander somebody without proof,' was how he put it — but he acknowledged a generation ago that truth was fungible."    — Sam Roberts, The New York Times, 19 April 2017 study it now: Look away from the screen to define "fungible" without saying "equivalent" or "swappable." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "It's startling to know how (certain people or things) (are or were) deemed fungible, how (those people or things were treated in a certain way)." Example: "It's startling to know how husbands were deemed fungible in Levirate marriages, how the brother of a man who dies was required to marry the widow." 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. Complete the Clichés! In each issue this month, I'll present a general theme and a handful of common expressions that apply to it--but only the first few words of each expression. See if you can complete them!  To keep things interesting, I've picked a mixture of phrases both new and familiar to me. I hope some will pique your curiosity and inspire you to Google them for their meanings and backstories. (Please try that first, and if your search turns up empty, email me for help.) If you're playing this game with the kids in your family or your class, you might enjoy talking together about what the phrases mean. Enjoy! In the previous issue, the theme was "bad ideas:" A. Beard the lion in... B. The blind leading... C. Carry coals to... D. Put the cart... E. Buy a pig... Answers: A. Beard the lion in his den B. The blind leading the blind C. Carry coals to Newcastle D. Put the cart before the horse E. Buy a pig in a poke Try these today. The theme is "really bad ideas:" A. Fouling his own... B. Drop the... (not the ball, but the...) C. Kill the goose... D. Burn the candle... E. Riotous... review today's word: 1. A close opposite of FUNGIBLE is A. IRREVERSIBLE. B. IRREPRESSIBLE. C. IRREPLACEABLE. 2. Appearing to concede that _____ is fungible, The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles allowed a woman to be photographed for her license ____. A. scar tissue .. wearing prosthetic makeup B. hair dye .. with her hair styled into a rainbow of spikes C. religious headgear .. wearing a colander in observance of Pastafarianism 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. C 2. C