Make Your Point > Archived Issues > JEREMIAD

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explore the archives: In the Bible, the Lamentations of Jeremiah are a real downer. They start like this: How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks. And because all that continues for a really, really long time, you can see why a jeremiad is any sad, woeful, tearful, distressed complaint, especially a long and detailed one. Speaking of the Lamentations, could you define lamentation and lamentable? make your point with... "JEREMIAD" A jeremiad is a very sad, very long and detailed complaint. Pronunciation: jair uh MY ud (or "jair uh MY ad") Part of speech: Countable noun. (Countable nouns, like "bottle," "piece," and "decision," are words for things that can be broken into exact units. You talk about "a bottle," "three pieces," and "many decisions." Likewise, talk about one jeremiad or multiple jeremiads.) Other forms: The plural is "jeremiads." Call people "Jeremiahs" if they're always complaining sadly. How to use it: Jeremiads can be either spoken or written. We often talk about them in the plural, but you can use the singular, too. Just keep in mind that the word has a heavy, serious, religious tone. Talk about someone's jeremiads, or the jeremiads of someone. Or, say that some speech or publication is a jeremiad. You can make jeremiads on a topic, make jeremiads about a topic, make jeremiads against a topic, or simply make jeremiads. And you don't have to just "make" them: you can utter jeremiads, commence jeremiads or launch into jeremiads, unleash a jeremiad, etc. Add an adjective if you want: cranky jeremiads, timeworn jeremiads, political jeremiads, in-your-face jeremiads. If the long, detailed complaint you're talking about is more angry than sad, then call it a tirade instead. And if it's angrily telling people what they should do, call it a harangue. examples: I'm excited to read Alfie Kohn's latest critique of in the public school system. Critics call them jeremiads, but I see in them a great deal of optimism. Her posts are essentially one running jeremiad on the stress and utter unfairness of her life. I hope she has happy days and just doesn't post about them. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "jeremiad" means when you can explain it without saying "doleful speech" or "sad, pessimistic complaints." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(A certain poem, book, speech, ad, film, video clip, etc.) is a/an (much-needed, important, timely, startling, tiresome, overdone, tedious, etc.) jeremiad against _____." Example: "Titled 'The Earth is a Hot Mess,' the first episode of Bill Nye Saves the World is a timely jeremiad against complacency and inaction when it comes to climate change." 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 last month was called "Cousins or Strangers?" We considered two pairs of similar-looking words, and figured out which pair were truly related, like cousins, and which pair were unrelated, like strangers.  From our previous issue: Pair A: SECOND (as in "first, second, third") and SECOND (as in "second, minute, hour"). These are the cousins. The first time we slice up an hour, we slice it into minutes. Then the second time, we slice it into seconds. "Second," as in "one-sixtieth of a minute," comes from the Medieval Latin phrase pars minuta secunda, meaning "the second diminished (sliced-up) part." That secunda in another form is the Latin secundus, where were we got "second" as in "first, second, third." Pair B: MAN and HUMAN. Oddly, these are the strangers. "Man" is from Old English man or mann. But "human" is from the Latin humanus, and no sources (that I've found) suggest that the two are related or that one gave rise to the other. Now, a new game for June! It's called Felicitous Names.  A felicitous name for a fictional character is a highly appropriate name, a name that fits that character so perfectly that you just know the writer picked it on purpose. This month, draw on your knowledge of both vocabulary and fiction to pick out the right name for the character described. Enjoy! Try this today: Think of a character who's teen royalty, someone who rules the school. Is the most felicitous name for this character Regina George, Cady Heron, or Janice Ian? Why? review today's word: 1. A close opposite of JEREMIAD is A. VELLEITY B. ENCOMIUM C. NUMINOSITY 2. I used to think C-SPAN was _____ until I realized it's _____ jeremiads. A. dull.. brimming with B. irrelevant.. plagued by C. overly dramatic.. rife with Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. A