Make Your Point > Archived Issues > METTLE

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connect today's word to others: Centuries ago, mettle was just another way to spell metal. We kept using the "mettle" spelling for a kind of figurative metal: the steel in our hearts and minds, the iron of our character, our spirit, and our courage. And so today, your mettle is your strength of character, or your v_v___ty (your vigor and liveliness). (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "METTLE" Someone's mettle is that person's liveliness or strength of character. (An animal's mettle, especially a horse's, is its liveliness and friskiness.) Pronunciation: MED ull Part of speech: Uncountable noun. (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 mettle," "this mettle," "his mettle," "such mettle," "no mettle," and so on, don't say "a mettle" or "mettles.") Other forms: None are common. If you need an adjective, use "mettled," "mettlesome," "high-mettled," or "well-mettled." How to use it: Often we talk about difficult situations that test (or try) someone's mettle. Those situations also let people show, prove, reveal, or demonstrate their mettle. You can also talk about someone's mettle in general: "the public is questioning his mettle," "how do you judge her mettle these days?", "I don't have the mettle to cope with this today." Occasionally you might talk about people doing something with mettle ("he survived the scandal with mettle"), or talk about people being on their mettle (or being put on their mettle), meaning they're trying their hardest to show their courage and strength. examples: He proves his mettle every time he lets their insults go unanswered. In graduate school, as I was trying to design and run a pretty large-scale research study, what tested my mettle the most was the sheer number of people who ignored my request for their help. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "mettle" means when you can explain it without saying "strength of spirit" or "emotional stamina." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "In (doing something challenging), (someone) demonstrated (his or her) mettle." Example: "In using every rejection letter as an opportunity to learn and to adapt, the writer demonstrated his mettle." 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 called "Quirky Keepers."  We’ll play with a bunch of bizarre, oddly specific words—words that deserve a place in our vocabulary, even though they're too wacky and rare to explore in full issues of Make Your Point. (I found most of these words in Charles Harrington Elster’s outrageously entertaining book, There’s A Word For It: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life.) Our goal as we play is to squirrel the words away in our memories. So, in each issue, we’ll check out a word; in the following issue, I’ll give you a new example of that word, and you see if you can recall it. We’ll start with short words and work our way up to the six-, seven-, and eight-syllable doozies. See if you can recall the word from the previous issue: I hear my cat Layla purring, sending out waves of deep, happy, rolling, thrumming vibrations. What's another adjective for the sound she's making? (It's three syllables.) See the answer by scrolling all the way down. Today, let’s check out the word "pysmatic." A pysmatic person is always asking questions. (It's from an ancient Greek word for "to inform yourself." Pronounce it "pizz MATT ick.") Remember, in the next issue I’ll give you an example of a pysmatic person, without mentioning the word—and you’ll try to recall it. That'll help you keep it in your memory. review today's word: 1. A close opposite of METTLE is A. SUPPLENESS. B. FEEBLENESS. C. TACT. 2. One _____ after another had _____ her mettle. A. embarrassment .. worn down B. accident .. injured C. failure.. inflated 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. Answer to the game question: Her purring is hirrient. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. A