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Lecture 36

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n this lecture, we will meet some old words and some new ones.
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we may have forgotten about or that may be a bit underused but that still
have a lot of life left in them. We’ll then look forward and explore some
neologisms, or new words, that have made their way into English in the last
50 years or so. We’ll end the course with a review of all we’ve accomplished
and some tips for continuing to build your vocabulary into the future.

Sockdolager (noun)

1. $VWURQJGHFLVLYH¿QDOEORZD¿QLVKHU


2. Something or someone outstanding or exceptional.

z This target word may lay claim to being one of the last words heard

by President Abraham Lincoln.

ż As you know, on the night of his assassination, President

Lincoln was sitting in Ford’s Theater, watching Tom Taylor’s

play Our American Cousin.

ż John Wilkes Booth knew the play well, and, he was waiting for

the following line, which was sure to trigger a laugh: “Well, I

guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sockdologising

old man-trap.” The audience burst into laughter and, amidst the

noise, Booth fatally shot Lincoln.

z 6RFNGRODJHU can be used literally, as in: “That was one sockdolager

of a punch that knocked the heavyweight champion out cold.” It

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sense, VRFNGRODJHU is a conclusive or decisive answer or remark

that settles the matter.