Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BRAVADO

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connect today's word to others: The words brave and bravo resemble today's word, bravado, because they're all related.  People with bravado are all puffed-up on their own ostentatious displays of bravery and boldness, as if they're desperate to hear your shouts of approval. (Could you explain exactly what it means when something is ostentatious?) make your point with... "BRAVADO" Bravado is a show of bold, boastful (but often fake) bravery. Pronunciation: bruh VOD oh Part of speech: Noun. Usually the uncountable kind. (Like "milk," "rice," and "advice," uncountable nouns are words for stuff that can’t be broken into exact units. You talk about "some milk," "the rice," and "a lot of advice," but you don’t say "a milk," "three rices," or "many advices." Likewise, talk about "the bravado," "this bravado," "his bravado," "such bravado," "no bravado," and so on, but we don’t often say "a bravado," "one bravado," or "bravadoes/bravados.") Other forms: None are common. There's "bravadoing" (both a noun and an adjective) and "bravadoism." And yes, you can make it plural and talk about bravadoes, or bravados, but hardly anyone does these days. How to use it: This word has a negative tone. Bravado is usually insincere, annoying, and self-serving--and the person with bravado is often revealing his or her own weakness or timidity (by attempting to overcompensate for it). In other words, the person with bravado seems to be standing on a playground, shouting "Look at me: I'm the biggest, baddest, boldest, and bravest. Believe me. (Please.)" So, talk about someone's bravado: his bravado, her bravado, their bravado. "Her bravado melted away when we spoke one-on-one." "He's got to tone down his bravado." "Their bravado is ruining their art." Or, say that someone is motivated by bravado, talking with bravado, making comments or decisions full of bravado, making a display of bravado, or dismissing someone's comments or threats as mere bravado.  examples: With his usual bravado, he insinuated that he could easily and swiftly obliterate their entire nation.  Full of confidence but never bravado, Willow's lyrics charm her young fans: "I'mma rock the world, til they follow Willow." study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "bravado" means when you can explain it without saying "braggadocio" or "an exaggerated, threatening show of courage." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "Behind (someone's) bravado is a (certain fear, weakness, or timidity about something)." Example: "Behind Tom Buchanan's bravado is a whispering fear that his strength, money, and power can't make anyone love him." 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 1979 film, what's the famous quote that includes the word NAPALM? Answer: From Apocalypse Now: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Try this today: From a 1980 film, what's the famous quote that includes the word SHIRLEY? review today's word: 1. A close opposite of BRAVADO is A. DECORUM B. DEFTNESS C. DEFERENCE 2. I tried to borrow her bravado, silently echoing: "_____." A. When God closes a door, he always opens a window B. They do like buying, they just don't like being sold to C. That team won't even know what him 'em 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