Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CHASSIS

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connect today's word to others: Our word chassis is French for "framework," and it ultimately comes from the Latin capsa, meaning "box or case." Capsa also gave us __caps_____, a verb meaning "to express, condense, or summarize something neatly, as if you're placing it into a small container." Can you recall it? (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "CHASSIS" Literally speaking, a chassis is the base frame of a gun, a radio receiver, a car, a motorcycle, a truck, or a plane. So, "chassis" can simply be slang for a person's body. But used figuratively, it can mean the basic framework of anything. Pronunciation: CHASS ee (rhymes with "classy" and "sassy") Part of speech: Noun, the countable kind: "a chassis," "this chassis," "another chassis." Other forms: The plural is spelled the same, "chassis," and pronounced "CHASS eeze." And you can call something "chassisless." How to use it: Say you're talking about something abstract, and you could compare to a car or other vehicle, maybe because it's complex, it's powerful, it's build for speed or efficiency, it's got people and their lives depending on it, and/or it's mean to convey things or move things forward. In that case, you might refer to that thing's basic structure as its chassis. This figurative usage of "chassis" is rare, so it helps you call attention to your idea and gets your listeners to visualize it. Talk about something's chassis, or the chassis of something--like a program, a philosophy, a narrative, a strategy, a culture, etc. You might take the metaphor further and talk about the design, the strength, the flaws, the construction, or the destruction of something's chassis. examples: Boys will be boys? That phrase hasn't aged well; you can almost hear it clanking, as if its chassis is corroding. "A verb, then, is not just a word that refers to an action or state but the chassis of the sentence. It is a framework with receptacles for the other parts--the subject, the object, and various oblique objects and subordinate clauses--to be bolted onto."    —Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, 2005 study it now: Look away from the screen to define "chassis" without saying "bones" or "substructure." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Something newer) is built on the chassis of (something older)." Example: "Sure, technically we're a constitutional republic, but we're built on the chassis of Athenian democracy." 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. Apt Adjective Anagrams!  I'll invent a person's name and a brief description of that person, and you unscramble the letters in the name to form an adjective that aptly describes the person or the person's situation. For example, if I say "Naomi Cirous is still holding a grudge," then you rearrange the letters in "Naomi Cirous" to form the adjective "acrimonious," meaning "sharp, bitter, and mean"--an appropriate adjective for someone holding a grudge. From the previous issue: Austine Divot gets all her income from royalties, from books written by her late grandmother. Answer: Her earnings are adventitious. Try this last one today: Tia Fauns runs a sweatshop and is filthy rich. review today's word: 1. A close opposite of CHASSIS could be A. CREATIVITY. B. TOP BRASS. C. MACHINERY. 2. All this program needs is _____; its chassis is _____. A. minor repairs .. solid B. a facelift .. skin-deep C. dynamite .. unavoidable 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. A