Make Your Point > Archived Issues > REMONSTRATE

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connect today's word to others: When you remonstrate with people, you're having a heated argument with them, probably in an attempt to show them why they're wrong. Remonstrate looks so much like demonstrate because they both came from the Latin monstrare, which means "to show." Let's connect that to demonstrative. What is it that the demonstrative person is always showing? make your point with... "REMONSTRATE" The roots inside "remonstrate" literally mean "to intensively show (something)." (Although we often see "re" and expect it to mean "again" or "back," this time it means "intensively.") To remonstrate with people, to remonstrate against something, or to remonstrate that something is true is to argue sternly as you show your strong objection to something. Pronunciation: Several ways are correct. I recommend "ruh MON strate." Part of speech: Verb. It’s most often intransitive (you remonstrate with people, or you remonstrate against things)  but can also be transitive (you remonstrate that something is true). Other forms: Remonstrated, remonstrating. For the adjective, you can pick "remonstrative" or "remonstrant," and the adverb is "remonstratively." A remonstrance can be a written petition (basically an argument on paper), and a remonstrance or remonstration is any expression of strong disagreement. Lastly, a remonstrant, or a remonstrator, is a person who strongly objects to something--basically a protester. How to use it: Most often, we talk about people remonstrating with each other: "Concertgoers were remonstrating with the police officers." You can remonstrate with someone over an issue or remonstrate with someone for doing something bad: "That customer keeps remonstrating with the cashier over the prices," "The fans remonstrated with the umpire for making a bad call." You can also remonstrate against something: she remonstrates against this corruption, he remonstrates against those unfair proceedings, we remonstrate against such thoughtless adherence to the policy. Finally, it's less common, but you can remonstrate that or how something is true, or remonstrate to someone that something is true: "She remonstrated that he was making up his statistics," "he remonstrated to her how black-and-white her thinking was." examples: When mold spread across the ceiling of the apartment, we had to remonstrate with the landlord to break the lease. The kids were boarding the bus after a particularly rowdy field trip when they froze, stunned by their teacher's remonstrative tone. "You disgraced the name of our school," she began. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "remonstrate" means when you can explain it without saying "strongly oppose" or "angrily argue." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) (did something unpopular), as if deaf to the people's remonstrances." Example: "The network abruptly cancelled the show, as if deaf to the people's remonstrances." 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 "A Vocabulary of Movie Quotes." Jean Picker Firstenberg at the American Film Institute (AFI) says, "Great movie quotes become part of our cultural vocabulary." I believe it! I bet you can recall, verbatim, any of the AFI's "100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time" if all I give you is a single word from the quote. For example, if I give you the word KANSAS, I bet you can recite this: "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," from The Wizard of Oz (1939). I'll share each answer in the following issue. And we’ll work our way forward in time, starting with the oldest movies. Let’s play! From the previous issue: From a 1968 film, what's the famous quote that includes the word APE? Answer: From Planet of the Apes: "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape." Try this today: From another 1968 film, what's the famous quote that includes the word POD? review today's word: 1. A close opposite of REMONSTRATE is A. HIDE B. AGREE C. DISPLAY 2. She stood at the counter, remonstrating with the agent over _____. A. the season's oppressive temperatures B. a bogus charge on her bill C. a baby photo 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