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You might call Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos either titans (giants in their own industries) or m_gn_t_s (powerful, influential, distinguished business people).
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"TITAN"
In Greek mythology, the Titans were a powerful race of giants. So today, a titan is a "giant:" in other words, an extremely important, extremely famous person or thing (usually a person).
Pronunciation:
TIE tun (just like "tighten")
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 titan or multiple titans.)
Other forms:
titans, titanic, titanically
How to use it:
It's almost always people we call titans: we say that certain people are seen as titans or are becoming titans, that someone is a titan in his or her own right, that someone is a titan among his or her peers in a particular industry, etc.
Sometimes we take the Greek mythology reference a little further and say that a titan has fallen, that there's a battle between two titans, that two titans are facing off, that there's a clash of the titans, etc.
We specify types of titans in two ways:
one, by adding descriptive words before "titan:" classic rock titans, baseball titans, timber titans, tech titans, internet titans, corporate titans, business titans, investment titans, Wall Street titans, entertainment industry titans, media titans, social media titans;
and two, by adding "of" and some descriptive words: titans of comedy, titans of industry, titans of the entertainment industry, a titan of the Senate, a titan of the political party, titans of Silicon Valley, titans of the postwar period.
Although titans are almost always people, we use the adjective ("titanic") and the adverb ("titanically"), for all sorts of things: titanic struggles and showdowns, titanic turning points, titanic audacity and self-obsession, and people and things that are titanically powerful, titanically influential, titanically tall, etc.
examples:
If you only know Wil Wheaton as the baby-faced Wesley Crusher from Star Trek, you'd be surprised to learn that he's a titan of nerd culture now.
Getting young adults out to the polls poses a titanic challenge every election year.
study it now:
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "titan" means when you can explain it without saying "giant" or "highly accomplished person."
try it out:
Think of a very famous person who interests you. Fill in the blanks: "(Person) made a name for (himself/herself) as a titan of _____."
Example: "Marie Kondo made a name for herself as a titan of tidiness."
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.
This month, we're playing with the original and literal meanings of familiar words. I'll give you three words and their original or literal definitions, and you'll match them up. Easy! But then the following day, see if you can recall those old meanings. Hard! :) Our game has two purposes. One, we'll visit the interesting, thought-provoking old meanings of words. And two, we'll remind ourselves of a powerful learning strategy: delayed recalling. Let's play!
First, try to recall from yesterday the original meaning of "courage" and the literal meanings of "strategy" and "disappoint." Answers appear at the bottom of this issue.
Next, match these words to their original or literal definitions in the answer bank below:
1. "Avalanche" literally means _____
2. "Calisthenics" literally means _____
3. "Prisoner" originally meant _____
Answer bank:
A. "beautifully strong."
B. "jailkeeper."
C. "descent."
review today's word:
1. One opposite of TITAN is
A. NONCHALANCE
B. NONENTITY
C. NONAGE
2. The article focuses on _____ and other titans of fast food.
A. Steve Easterbrook, CEO of McDonald's,
B. food-related illnesses
C. fresh salads
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 game questions:
1. "Courage" originally meant "the heart."
2. "Strategy" literally means "command of a general."
3. "Disappoint" literally means "to remove someone from an appointed office."
Answers to review questions:
1. B
2. A
You might call Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos either titans (giants in their own industries) or m_gn_t_s (powerful, influential, distinguished business people).
"TITAN" In Greek mythology, the Titans were a powerful race of giants. So today, a titan is a "giant:" in other words, an extremely important, extremely famous person or thing (usually a person). Part of speech:
If you only know Wil Wheaton as the baby-faced Wesley Crusher from Star Trek, you'd be surprised to learn that he's a titan of nerd culture now.
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "titan" means when you can explain it without saying "giant" or "highly accomplished person."
Think of a very famous person who interests you. Fill in the blanks: "(Person) made a name for (himself/herself) as a titan of _____."
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. One opposite of TITAN is
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com
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