Zach Goldberg 12/12/07

Kaffir Vocab E P. 3

76. Oracle (noun) - a divine communication or revelation.

In ancient Greece, people would travel for days just to speak with an oracle.

77. Pilchards (noun) - Any of various small marine fishes related to the

herrings, especially a commercially important edible species, Sardina

pilchardus, of European waters.

Many European fisherman make their fortune through selling pilchards.

78. Balked (verb) - To stop short and refuse to go on

In baseball, if a pitcher has balked, the batter gets to go to first base.

79. Matriarchs (noun) - A woman who rules a family, clan, or tribe

The matriarchs of the jewish religion are Sarah, Rachel, Rebbecca and Leah.

80. Imp (noun) - 1. a little devil or demon; an evil spirit.

2. a mischievous child.
 Many parents refer to mischievious children as “little imps”

81. Foppishly (adv) - Of, relating to, or characteristic of a fop; dandified.

The man foppishly danced around in the middle of a very serious funeral.

82. Austere (adj) - evere in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict;

forbidding

The principal one appeared as a very austere man, until his conversation with

Mark.

83. Inscrutable (adj.) - not easily understood; mysterious; unfathomable

The ways of God were inscrutable when looked at through the eyes of a child

84. Utilitarian (adj) - having regard to utility or usefulness rather than beauty,

ornamentation, etc.

Many religions preach utilitarian concepts over lookism.

85. Portly (adj.) - rather heavy or fat; stout; corpulent.

The chef was a rather portly man, probably his own biggest fan.

86. Disproportionately (adv) - out of proportion

The man’s head was disproportionately sized against his body.

87. Notoriety (noun) – the state, quality, or character of being notorious or

widely known

During his life, Al Capone went through a long period of notoriety.

88. Paradoxically (adv) – in a manner exhibiting inexplicable or contradictory

aspects

Today in math we discussed how many aspects of math are contradictory and

paradoxically true.

89. Credence (noun) – belief as to the truth of something

Johannes does not have a credence for any religion.

90. Lamentation (noun) - the act of lamenting or expressing grief.

The familes of the murdered students must have went through long periods of

lamentation and grief.

91. Tirade (noun) - a prolonged outburst of bitter, outspoken denunciation.

The protests in Soweto were tirades against aparteid.

92. Beligerant (adj) – of warlike character; aggressively hostile; bellicose

Most black South Africans believed that all whites were rascist and belligerent.

93. Lobola (noun) - a bride price, typically of cattle, paid to a bride's father

among Bantu-speaking tribes of southern Africa.

Father would not divorce Mama for many reasons, one of them being that his

lobola had been used up.

94. Mores (noun) - folkways of central importance accepted without question

and embodying the fundamental moral views of a group

 The mores of a group affect and are affected by their culture.

95. Chronic (adj) - continuing a long time or recurring frequently.

The non-white South Africans were in a chronic struggle for civil rights