倫倫的小blog

soot

n. [a black, carbonaceous substance produced during incomplete combustion of coal, wood, oil, etc., rising in fine particles and adhering to the sides of the chimney or pipe conveying the smoke: also conveyed in the atmosphere to other locations.]

  ps. 由不完全燃燒所產生的小微粒，像在煙囪內部累積的一層黑黑的菸灰就是soot了。

  ex. Such benefits range from decreased respiratory disease thanks to less soot all the way to mitigation of climate change. (Scientific American Jul 14, 2013)

Study: Soot Is Second Leading Cause of Global Warming

soothe

v.使平靜, 使緩和 [to tranquilize or calm, as a person or the feelings; to relieve, comfort, or refresh]

   ex. to soothe a crying baby

   syn:

sop

n. [a piece of solid food, as bread, for dipping in liquid food.]

v.浸濕 [to dip or soak in liquid]

  ex. to sop bread in gravy.

n. [thing offered to a displeased or troublesome person to calm him or win his favor ]

   ex.  to offer as a sop to his anger

ps. SOP = Standard operating procedure

        or =  Statement of Purpose.

quick review

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**浸在水中、使濕透特輯

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sopping

adj. [very wet; drenched]

sophism   /'sɑfɪzəm/

soph(wisdom)-ism

n.  [a specious argument used for deceiving someone (modern meaning.)]

  ps. philosophy = phil(love)-o-soph(wisdom)-y

  ps. sophia = wisdom (蘇菲的世界)

  etymology: from Gk. sophisma "sophism, clever device," from sophizesthai "become wise"

  文化背景：Sophists, 中文譯成詭辯學家，原始是指在古希臘的時候教導各種要在人生中成功的技巧的學家，內容像是有哲學、法律、演講的技巧等等。較早期這些詭辯學家是被社會大眾給尊敬的，但是後來詭辯學家要繳昂貴的學費才能去學習他們教的課，以致於最後只有貴族或者有錢人才能去學習這些詭辯學家的智慧(wisdom)，以現在社會的比擬像是超貴的補習班。也因此被社會大眾給討厭與批評，後來的蘇格拉底(Socrates), 柏拉圖(Plato)都也曾嚴厲的批評，在柏拉圖的對話錄中，把這些詭辯學家描寫成是"欺騙的"、"似是而非的"，而後就成為現今主要的字意了。

Protagoras是一位著名的詭辯學家，有個關於他的小故事。一位學生跟Protagoras學辯論，而約定學費只要在第一次法律訴訟中獲勝後繳就行了，有點類似學分保證班的概念。但是這位學生學完後，一直沒有去打法律訴訟。Protagoras於是就去告他的學生，要他繳學費。Protagoras心想，如果他告贏，他學生要賠學費，如果他告輸，他的學生就贏得了第一次法律訴訟，按約定他就得給學生，所以不管怎樣Protagoras都會拿到錢。但是他的學生也很狡詐，他反駁，如果他贏而老師輸了話，按照訴訟的內容，他也就不用付錢，但若他輸老師贏的話，按照約定，他還沒贏得第一次訴訟，他也不用付錢。

sophistry  /'sɑfɪstrɪ/

sophist(詭辯學家)-ry

n. = sophism

sophisticated

sophist-icated

adj. 老於世故的 [(of a person, ideas, tastes, manners, etc.) altered by education, experience, etc., so as to be worldly-wise; not naive ]

  ex.  the sophisticated eye of a journalist.

  ex. Recently her tastes have become more sophisticated.

  <> callow adj. [immature or inexperienced] (see p. 71)

adj. [complicated and refined; elaborate; subtle]

  ex. Honeybees use one of the most sophisticated communication systems of any insect.

Jack McDuff(American jazz organist)

其1976年的專輯,Sophisticated Funk，的CD封面。>////<

sophistication

sophist-ication

n. [sophisticated character, ideas, tastes, or ways as the result of education, worldly experience, etc]

  ex. More and more hotels are happy to accommodate you with style, sophistication and economy.

soporific  (ˌsɒpəˈrɪfɪk)

sopor(deep sleep)-ific

adj. [causing or tending to cause sleep.]

  ex. The warmth of the room and the monotony of the speaker's voice grew soporific.

  ex. Total uniformity is not required, and in fact that can be boring and soporific.

  ps. insomnia n.失眠  (p.268)

  ps. hypnotic adj.催眠的 ps. 讓人有點恍神，且引誘想睡 (p.243)

sorcery       /'sɔrsərɪ/

n.巫術 [the art, practices, or spells of magic, esp black magic, by which it is sought to harness occult forces or evil spirits in order to produce preternatural effects in the world]

  ps. Some scholars distinguish sorcery from witchcraft by noting that it is learned rather than intrinsic. Other scholars, noting that modern witches claim to learn their craft, suggest that sorcery's intent is always evil and that of witchcraft can be either good or bad.

  related word:

sordid

adj. [dirty and unpleasant]

adj. [immoral or dishonest]

  ex. I don't want to hear the sordid details of your relationship with Sandra.

  ex. His sordid record covering up child sex crimes should be considered a stain on the church and unworthy of a papal elector(可投教宗選舉的人). (Should Sex-Abuse-Scandal Cardinals Be Allowed to Vote for New Pope?)

  syn: nasty, shameful, vile

  from L. sordidus "dirty," from sordere "be dirty".

  音： sordid只指髒髒的東西，所以我們需要掃地。

souvenir     /suːvənɪər/

n.紀念品 [ thing taken, bought or received as a gift, and kept to remind one of a person, a place or an event ]

  ps. 像去日本旅遊時，可能會買個御守當souvenir。

  音：去蘇文尼爾島上買souvenir。

  from Fr. souvenir