• home
  • vocab
  • tutoring
  • blog
  • help

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SALVO

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.




pronounce SALVO:

SAL vo

Hear it.
connect this word to others:

A salvo is an outburst, a volley, a bombardment, a b_rr___.

Can you recall that last synonym? In its most literal sense, it's a barrier of gunfire. It's closely related to, but isn't, the word "barrier."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) 

definition:

You can trace the word "salvo" through Italian back to the Latin salve, meaning "Hail!" Or more literally, "Good health!"

In its original, most literal sense, a salvo is a sudden burst of bullets or cannon fire. It might be a celebratory salute, or it might be an actual attack.

So in its figurative sense, a salvo is an outburst of happy, congratulatory words—or an outburst of aggression or angry words.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, the countable kind: "We heard the first salvo;" "It's a salvo against that policy;" "We didn't expect their salvos of laughter."

Other forms: 

The plural is "salvos," or "salvoes." Either spelling is fine.

Occasionally, "salvo" is a verb: "They salvoed her with applause;" "The lead bomber salvos its payload (Anthony Doerr)."

how to use it:

"Salvo" is a semi-common word. It's just formal and fancy enough to add drama to your statement.

You might talk literally about salvos of artillery, salvos of torpedoes, or salvos of cannon fire.

Or, you might get fanciful and talk about salvos of drumbeats or salvos of laughter.

Or, you might talk figuratively about people firing salvos of criticism, or delivering salvos of praise.

Often, we label someone's comment, publication, or decision an opening salvo, meaning it's the first move, or the first attack, in some kind of struggle, campaign, or controversy. Or, we talk about the latest salvo in some ongoing debate or dispute.

examples:

"The latest NBA signature move: The jump pass... The jump pass is about more than chasing highlights or bucking convention, though; it has become the next frontier of high-level playmaking, a salvo in the arms race between offense and defense."  
   — Robert O'Connell, Washington Post, 12 April 2022

"[Darwin's] ideas on evolution by natural selection, published in On the Origin of Species (1859) were still causing shock waves when Nature was founded [in 1869]. Two years after that, he delivered the final bombshell in The Descent of Man (1871). The significance of his ideas was not as an explosive charge placed underneath the church but as the opening salvo to a century and a half of debate about what it means to be human."
   — Philip Ball, Nature, 5 November 2019

has this page helped you understand "salvo"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study it:

Explain the meaning of "salvo" without saying "salute" or "outburst."

try it out:

Fill in the blank: "Someday, we'll fire our final salvos against (some terrible problem)."

Example: "Someday, we'll fire our final salvos against cancer."




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for January: "Is That a Real Word?"

In each issue, I’ll give you three, um, written phenomena. You decide if each is a real word—and most importantly—why or why not. If someone were to dispute your judgment, how would you defend it? For fun, try comparing your responses with a companion’s. And if you like, you can compare yours with mine, which I’ll list at the bottom of the issue.

Try these today:  Out of "copacetic," "irregardless," and "McRib," which, if any, are real words?

review this word:

1. A near opposite of SALVO is

A. DISEASE.
B. NEEDLESS WASTE.
C. SILENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

2. Literally and metaphorically speaking, an opening salvo begins the _____.

A. race
B. battle
C. journey




Answers to the review questions:
1. C
2. B

Let's compare notes from the game: I say all three are real!

"Copacetic" is certified, Grade A American slang! It dates back to 1919. And if it's good enough for the band Local H, it's good enough for me.

"Irregardless" gives me shudders of disgust, but people say it, people understand it, and it's listed in dictionaries. The OED puts it in context for us, labeling its use as "nonstandard or humorous."

"McRib" might not appear in dictionaries, but many marketing terms take time to get there. Everyone knows what you mean when you say you're craving a McRib!


a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
      36 ways to study words.
      Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
      How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
      How to improve any sentence.
      How to motivate our kids to write.
      How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
      How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A 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.

Subscribe to "Make Your Point" for a daily vocabulary boost.



© Copyright 2023 | All rights reserved.