Daily Vocab Capsule 24th September 2017

 Daily English Vocab

Volley & Bluster

It is a direly sinister (giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen.) coincidence that North Korea’s launch on Friday of yet another missile over Japan has coincided with Pyongyang’s bluster (loud, aggressive, or indignant talk with little effect.) against Japan and the US, altogether a conscious mockery (ridicule) of the canons of international relations.

That bluster has been reinforced by Friday’s missile test, and it is time for America, Russia, and China to intervene. In the aftermath of the fresh Security Council sanctions in response to the regime’s recent nuclear test, North Korea has threatened to sink Japan, and “beat America to death like a rabid dog, reducing the country to ashes and darkness”. Chiefly, the sanctions ban textile exports and impose a cap on coal and minerals.

The language of diplomacy is beneath contempt even at the mildest estimation; the Kim regime has violated the certitudes (something that someone firmly believes is true.) of civility. Tokyo has promptly condemned the decidedly unwarranted verbal posturing as “absolutely unacceptable provocation”, a response that has been buttressed (increase the strength of or justification for) by Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi in course of the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to Gujarat. The ugly development across the oceans has overshadowed the foundation of the bullet train.

The debunking (expose the falseness or hollowness of (an idea or belief).) of the Security Council ~ a “tool of evil in the pay of Washington and made up of money-bribed countries that move on the orders of the US” ~ surpasses Donald Trump’s condemnation of the world body as a redundant (not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous.) entity in this day and age. The Korea Asia-Pacific peace committee, which oversees North Korea’s foreign policy, would rather the Council is “broken up”.

“The four islands of the [Japanese] archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche,” the committee said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. Juche is said to be the North’s ruling ideology that blends Marxism with an extreme form of “go-it-alone” nationalism preached by founder Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of the present leader, Kim Jong-un. “Japan is no longer needed to exist near us” is the perilously (in a way that is full of danger or risk.) skewed perception of geopolitics.

This is the first time that Pyongyang has issued an explicit threat to Japan since it fired a medium-range ballistic missile over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido at the end of August, triggering emergency sirens and mass text alerts. Considering the awesome build-up of tension in the peninsula, the response of South Korea ~ no less a target ~ has been remarkably restrained.

The country’s President, Moon Jae-un, has let it be known that he is against having nuclear weapons in his country, either by developing its own arsenal or by bringing back US tactical weapons that were withdrawn in the early 1990s.

Very pertinently (appropriately), he has cautioned that “our own nuclear weapons” will not bring about peace in the Korean peninsula and “could lead to a nuclear arms race in north-east Asia”. He has hit the bull’s eye (get something exactly right) and the world expects North Korea to respond responsibly.

Courtesy: The Statesman (International Relations)

1. Sinister (adjective): (Giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen.) (अशुभ/भयावह)

Synonyms: Menacing, Threatening, Ominous, Baleful, Eerie

Antonyms: Auspicious, Lucky, Benevolent

Example: The villain laughed sinisterly as he tied the mother of hero to the railroad tracks in a Bollywood film.

2. Bluster (noun): (Loud, aggressive, or indignant talk with little effect.) (गरज/डींग)

Synonyms: Ranting, Thundering, Bray, Braggadocio

Antonyms: Humbleness, Decency

Example: The vehement group bragged and blustered, but did nothing as security was very tough.

Verb forms: Bluster, Blustered, Blustered

Related words:

Bluster (verb) - Talk in a loud, aggressive, or indignant way with little effect.

3. Mockery (noun): Ridicule that is directed at a person, group, or thing/ a subject of laughter, derision. (उपहास)

Synonyms: Ridicule, Derision, Farce, Travesty

Antonyms: Praise, Respect, Seriousness, Solemnity

Example: Shelley’s unusual fashion sense makes her a topic of mockery at school.

4. Certitude (noun): (Something that someone firmly believes is true/ absolute certainty or conviction that something is the case.) (निश्चितता/यक़ीन)

Synonyms: Certainty, Sureness, Conviction, Reliability, Assuredness, Assurance.

Antonyms: Distrust, Doubt, Fear, Uncertainty.

Example: As one of the top cardiologists in the country, Dr. Johnson can speak with certitude about the factors that can lead to heart trouble.

5. Buttress (verb):  Increase the strength of. (मज़बूत बनाना)

Synonyms: Strengthen, Reinforce, Fortify, Support, Prop Up, Bolster Up.

Antonyms: Curtail, Decrease, Destroy, Diminish, Halt.

Example: Because someone had designed the walls without a proper buttress, the whole building collapsed within a year after it was built.

Verb forms: Buttress, Buttressed, Buttressed.

Related words:

Buttress (noun) - Something that gives support; brick or stone structure built against another structure to support it

6. Debunk (verb): (Expose the falseness or hollowness of (an idea or belief).) (परदाफ़ाश करना)

Synonyms: Expose, Demystify, Uncloak, Unmask

Antonyms: Cover, Hide

Example: The scientist hoped to debunk the genetic theory by completing his own research.

Verb forms: Debunk, Debunked, Debunked

7. Perilous (adjective): (In a way that is full of danger or risk.) (खतरनाक/जोखिम का)

Synonyms: Dangerous, Hazardous, Risky, Unsafe.

Antonyms: Safe, Secure, Protected.

Example: Because William is an adventurer, he enjoys perilous activities like skydiving and bungee jumping.

Related words:

Perilously (adverb) - संकटपूर्ण ढंग से

8. Redundant (adjective):  Not or no longer needed or useful. something that is unnecessary. (अनावश्यक/व्यर्थ)

Synonyms: Unnecessary, Not Required, Inessential, Unessential, Needless, Unneeded, Unwanted, Useful.

Antonyms: Necessary, Needed, Essential

Example: My professor’s redundant speech consisted of him saying the same thing over and over again.

Related words:

Redundancy (noun) – अतिरिक्तता

9. Pertinent (adjective): Relevant or applicable to a particular matter. (मुनासिब/उपयुक्त)

Synonyms: Applicable, Appropriate, Apropos, Pertaining, Proper

Antonyms: Improper, Inappropriate, Irrelevant, Unsuitable

Example: To ensure a prompt reply, please include all pertinent details in your email.

Related words:

Pertinently (adverb) - (appropriately)

10. Hit the bull’s eye (idiom): (Get something exactly right) (पूरा करना (दक्षता के साथ))

Synonyms: Achieve The Goal, Accomplish, Effectuate, Implement Successful.

Antonyms: Miss, Give Up.

Example: The finance minister’s speech on attracting new investments hit the bull’s eye.