倫倫的小blog

toss    /tɔs/

v.輕拋 [Throw (something) somewhere lightly, easily, or casually]

  ex. He tossed the book down on the table.

  ex. The coach tossed the baseball to me to assist my swing practice.

  ex. Before an American football game, two sides decide who get the first ball possession by tossing a coin.

totalitarian    /toˏtæləˋtɛrɪən/

total-ity-arian   

  similar word: authoritarian adj. [Favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom]

totem    /ˋtotəm/

n. [A natural object or animal believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and adopted by it as an emblem.]

  音：圖騰

  note: totem這個字是從北美原住民的語言發展來的，totem指可以作為代表一個家庭的圖像，或是代表一個部落的圖像。比方說飛魚可以是台灣蘭嶼原住民達悟族的totem.

  note: Totem poles 是一種具有紀念性的木柱，是北美原住民的一種表達他們對祖先、自然界的方式。

Totem Pole

totter    /ˋtɑtɚ/

v.走得或動得不穩 [Move in a feeble or unsteady way]

ex. The child tottered across the room.

  記： teeter-totter

review

teeter v. [stand or move unsteadily] (p.468)

常會用在 teeter on the brink/ edge of something.

touchy    /ˋtʌtʃɪ/

touch-y

adj.易生氣的 [(Of a person) oversensitive and irritable.]

adj. [(Of an issue or situation) requiring careful handling]

  note: 一碰到就有問題

  ex. I always think that salary expectation is a touchy subject during the job interview.

  ex. Technology is already a touchy subject with parents, with some employing it as an educational babysitting tool and others labeling it a potentially dangerous playmate. (Los Angeles TimesApr 7, 2015)

review:

ticklish (page. 472)

adj. 當用來形容問題時，ticklish指的是問題很難處理，需要特別的用心

  ex. The Greek debt crisis is a ticklish problem to the debt holders. 

toupee    /tuːˈpeɪ;/

n.小撮假髮[ A small wig or artificial hairpiece worn to cover a bald spot]

  note: 並不是很常使用的一個單字。

  note: 最經典的就是邱毅的"撕髮迫害"...

  note: wig n.假髮, 是個比較常用的字。可以指遮蓋禿頭用的假髮、法官用的假髮，或是演員用的假髮。

tournament     /ˈtɜːnəmənt/

tourn(~turn)-ament

n.錦標賽

  note: 像是NFL, NBA的季後賽, 比賽方式就是 tournament.  單淘汰制的叫做single-elimination tournament.

n. [(In the Middle Ages) a sporting event in which two knights (or two groups of knights) jousted on horseback with blunted weapons, each trying to knock the other off, the winner receiving a prize.]

tourniquet    /ˈtɜːrnɪkət/

tourn(=turn)-i-quet

n.止血帶 [device for stopping the flow of blood through an artery by twisting sth tightly around a limb]

 note: 不是很常用的一個字。

  字源：止血帶要在手或腳上轉圈圈，包緊緊。

How to Apply a Tourniquet

tout    /taʊt/

v.兜售 [try to get people to buy (one's goods or services), esp in an annoyingly insistent way]

  ex. KMT has touted "Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement" as the best hope to improve Taiwanese economics, but it caused Sunflower Student Movement due to passing CSSTA without clause-by-clause review.

v. [to talk about (something or someone) as being very good, effective, skillful, etc.]

  ex. Many parents like to tout their children and never think their children can make a mistake.

  <> denounce v.譴責

toxic    /ˋtɑksɪk/

adj.有毒的 [poisonous ]

  字源：古早的希臘人使用 toxikon 這個字來指 "poison for arrows." 後來就生出了 toxic這個字。

  ex. After chemical experiment the toxic substance should be carefully handled via strict safety regulation.

 similar word: lethal adj.致命的

                    pernicious adj. [harmful]

                    venomous adj.有毒的

                    hazardous adj.有毒的

toxin    /ˋtɑksɪn/

n.毒素   

  wiki: A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms; synthetic toxicants created by artificial processes are thus excluded. The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919)

 Toxin simply means it is a biologically produced poison.

 note: 比方說毒青蛙的毒就可以叫toxin.

traceable    /treɪsəbl/

trace-able

adj. [capable of being traced.]

  ex. Nowadays anonymous email actually is traceable.

  note: trace 指的是痕跡，在電腦網管方面使用tracert command (trace route) 可以查出某個網站連到你電腦所走的路線。

How To Trace Someone's IP Address

track    /træk/

n.足跡

  note: track的意思還滿多的。基本上的概念是"任何東西，所留下的腳印"， 所以你可以聽到 animal tracks。 然後track也有某種路線、路徑的概念，例如the track of a storm, a track in the forest. 再衍生下去還可以當作鐵路的軌道，或是賽跑賽車用的跑道，motor-racing track.

  note: track本身字根的意思有draw, 就像腳可以在地上牽引出足跡的樣子。

v. 跟蹤

  ex. 像xination的研究中，就有用到tracking Gamma-ray的技術。

  ex. I track the footprints of a dog and find out my slippers

tract    /trækt/

n. [system of connected tube-like parts along which sth passes]

 note: 也是一個比較多字義的字。digestive tract 是消化道 ( 包含 the stomach and intestines )

n.  [large stretch or area of land]

  ex.  A vast tract of land is ready for development.

  note: 牽引機叫tractor

n.短文; 小冊子 [a short piece of writing, especially on a religious or political subject, that is intended to influence other people's opinions]

tractable    /ˈtræk təbəl/

tract-able

adj.易駕馭的; 易處理的 [(Of a person or animal) easy to control or influence; (Of a situation or problem) easy to deal with]

  ex. Dropbox makes transferring files and file backup much more tractable.

  ex. President Ma might be too tractable on the economical issue between straits.

  <> balky, intractable

   note: balk 在棒球的術語是投手犯規。一般的意思指突然止步不前

tractability     /ˈtræk təbɪlətɪ/

tract-able-ity

n.易駕馭, 易處理

  ex. His intelligence, tractability, and eager disposition make him an agreeable companion and willing worker. ( unlike Major Ko...)

  <> obstinacy   /ˈɔbstənəsɪ/ p.329

  ps. ob-stin(=stand)-acy