Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SIDELINE
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connect today's word to others:
Have you ever thought of how sidelines on a playing field look like margins on a piece of paper? And like an injured football player confined to the sidelines, someone who's been sidelined has been shoved off the metaphorical playing field and relegated to the edge, or shoved out of the main text on a piece of paper and relegated to the margin.
Speaking of margins, could you recall this word that's closely related to "margins"? It means "the notes and comments that people add to the spaces on a printed page, or figuratively, the things people say and write to add on to the main topic."
And speaking of marginalizing people and sidelining people, could you recall a fancy-looking French phrase that means "injured from the fight, unable to fight anymore, or no longer involved in the conflict or competition"?
make your point with...
"SIDELINE"
This word has many meanings. We'll focus on some of the useful figurative ones.
When an injury sidelines an athlete, it puts that player out of the game and onto the sidelines of the field or court.
Figuratively, then, to sideline people or things is to make them stop participating, or to give them a less-important role.
And, if you're on the sidelines of some situation, you have an unimportant role in that situation, usually just watching instead of actually participating.
Pronunciation:
SIDE line
Part of speech:
Both a verb ("to sideline someone")
and a noun ("he's on the sidelines").
Other forms:
sidelined, sidelining; sidelines
How to use it:
To use that first meaning, talk about injuries, problems, and issues that sideline people. Or, talk about people, events, and situations that sideline priorities, possibilities, and other people.
And to use the second meaning, talk about people who sit on the sidelines, who watch or observe from the sidelines, who are forced to the sidelines, etc.
examples:
Extremists took over the state's history curriculum, rewriting the textbooks and sidelining the more progressive founding fathers.
Earning an advanced degree requires adding to the literature, contributing something, participating--it can't be done from the sidelines.
study it now:
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "sideline" means when you can explain it without saying "diminish" or "position of observation."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "Even (some difficult condition) couldn't sideline (someone)."
Example: "Even her cancer treatments couldn't sideline her; she kept right on working."
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.
"Bits & Pieces." This month, we're playing with affixes and combining forms, the bits and pieces of our language, matching them to their meanings. The more of these bits and pieces you know, the better you are at decoding unfamiliar words, which is sooo satisfying! I'll share the answers in each subsequent issue.
Here are the answers from our previous issue:
1. "aniso-" means "unequal."
2. "dicho-" means "apart or in two."
3. "iso-" means "equal."
4. "mero-" means "part or partial."
5. "meio-" means "less or lesser."
Try this set today. It's about chronology:
1. "paleo-" means _____.
2. "proto-" means _____.
3. "après" means _____.
4. "-cene" means _____.
5. "ante-" means _____.
Answer bank:
A. first or primitive
B. a unit of time
C. before
D. after
E. old or ancient
review today's word:
1. A close opposite of SIDELINE is
A. AGGRANDIZE.
B. ALIENATE.
C. ALLEVIATE.
2. In Spoon River Anthology, the character Margaret Fuller Slack muses that childrearing can sideline _____.
A. an endless amount of time and effort
B. the most unyielding of hearts
C. a woman's career ambitions
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. A
2. C
Have you ever thought of how sidelines on a playing field look like margins on a piece of paper? And like an injured football player confined to the sidelines, someone who's been sidelined has been shoved off the metaphorical playing field and relegated to the edge, or shoved out of the main text on a piece of paper and relegated to the margin.
"SIDELINE" This word has many meanings. We'll focus on some of the useful figurative ones. Other forms:
Extremists took over the state's history curriculum, rewriting the textbooks and sidelining the more progressive founding fathers.
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "sideline" means when you can explain it without saying "diminish" or "position of observation."
Fill in the blanks: "Even (some difficult condition) couldn't sideline (someone)."
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.
1. A close opposite of SIDELINE is
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. |