Gyrations

Today's word is very, very common. But it does continue to cause confusion in my mind. Specifically,  every few months, I get confused about which of the two pronunciations of it lodged in my mind are correct? Is it gyrations (pronunciation begins akin to the first syllable of Jimmy), or is it guy-rations? Based on numerous web sources, the correct pronunciation is the former. So to remember it, maybe I should think of Jimmy Kimmel whirling about in a ballerina's costume, and attach the tag "Jimmy gyrates" to it!

PS-As I am from cow-country, and the term cow is referred to as "guy" in my native country, I should remind myself that not every word is about cows (or their sanctity), and therefore, "gyrations" can NOT be pronounced as guy-rations :-)

Till the next time I mis-remember this word's pronunciation!

Swoop

"Pug made a slight peremptory move of a thumb, and Rhoda got off her stool. ..He held open a door for her and in a whipping wind, they walked to the stern where gulls swooped and screeched, and passengers clustered at the rails."- Winds of War by Herman Wouk.

Swoop (v): When a bird descends from flight, it is called swooping.

In that regard, it is similar to the word "alight", which too means settle or stay after descending although alight is also used when a person steps out of a vehicle, dismounts from a horse, etc.

Jocund

Word of the day: Jocund

Jocund is a formal word that means jolly.
Here is Dictionary.com's definition:

cheerful; merry; blithe; glad:

It is similar in meaning to jovial, a word I am more likely to remember :-)

Words of the day: Beam and Girder

Words of the day are related to construction:

Beam: When I think of the word beam, I think of a beam or ray of light, or a long, long pole of metal held horizontally. I am not sure if this is an accurate description but it has been persistent in my mind for a while. Today I wanted to know if my mental images of these words are accurate or not. So here are the definitions of these words:

Beam: According to dictionary.com, the following are possible definitions of this word, all of which do, indeed, suggest the image of a long, horizontal rectangular piece of metal or concrete.

Beam (noun): 

1. any of various relatively long pieces of metal, wood, stone, etc.,manufactured or shaped especially for use as rigid members or partsof structures or machines  

1. Building Trades. a horizontal bearing member, as a joist or lintel. 

1. Engineering. a rigid member or structure supported at each end,subject to bending stresses from a direction perpendicular to itslength.

 Usage example: "Reflect on selfies, and they seem totally different. Rather than plunging us into innocent love with an apparent stranger, they beam our conscious self-regard back at ourselves. At first glance, this makes us seem even worse than Narcissus. Selfies seem less like love at first sight and more like yet another round of masturbation."

"Her door stands ajar, halving the room with a beam of light."

 

GIrder: a large beam, as of steel, reinforced concrete, or timber, forsupporting masonry, joists, purlins, etc.

2.

a principal beam of wood, steel, etc., supporting the ends of joists.