Up Your Score (23 page)

Suppose the five of us died of “pun”icillin poisoning. Our book would have to be published
posthumously
.

practical (think: “pragtical”)

The Craft
matic
adjustable bed is
pragmatic
because it is
prac
tically auto
matic
.

cliff; steep overhang

The
precip
itation, combined with the ice, was responsible for his driving off the
precipice
.

characterized by unusually early development

The high school basketball coach hoped that there would be some
precocious
basketball players in our elementary school, so he
precoached us
.

predecessor; what came before

Although Mickey might disagree, many would say that the
precursor
to the mouse was the computer keyboard.

to give an indication or warning of something that will happen in the future

When the economists
presaged
that the economy was going to get worse, Laura watched the
prez age
.

commonly occurring or existing

Before knights were
prevalent
, the world was in its
pre-valiant
period.

Prevaricate means to, ah—it’s from the French
prévaricat
—it means to, um, to win the lottery. Yeah, that’s it—win the lottery. We
prevaricated
in the above definition.
Prevaricate
really means
to avoid the truth; equivocate; lie.

long, hollow snout

The bumblebee’s
proboscis
prob
ed for nectar in the flower.

abundant; overflowing

Our
prof
use
d
profuse
amounts of
pro
fane language. Then he was fired.

to increase or spread rapidly

The
pro-life
movement
proliferated
in the fundamentalist part of the state.

producing lots of offspring or fruit; fertile; producing lots of work or results

The guy who writes
CliffsNotes
is
pro-Cliff-ic
; he’s got hundreds of titles in print.

lacking excitement or imagination; dull

The sad artist thought her artwork was
prosaic
. She took some
Prozac
, but she still thought her
mosaic
of giant artichokes was lacking.

powerful, mighty

Even though it’s a compliment, you shouldn’t call the school bully “
puissant
” because he might think you called him something else.

to grind to bits

If I asked nicely, could I
pulverize
your gerbil?

timid; cowardly; wimpy

The lion in
The Wizard of Oz
was
pussyllanimous
.

decomposed; foul-smelling (pukey)

P.U.! Try d
isinfecting this
putrid
sneaker.

Philip DePance and his coworker, Peanuts Burnes, were on a lunch break from the
philanthropic
firm of “
Paucity
to
Plethora
” when Phil suddenly asked, “Peanuts, what are we going to do?”

“I guess you should start by changing your name. Have you noticed that it sounds pitiful whether you say Philip DePance, Phil DePance, or P. DePance?” she replied.

“No, it’s just a
pedestrian
name! But what I meant was what are we going to do about the company’s
pecuniary
state? We’re on a
precipice
as it is, and if that porcine
pedant
of a boss continues his practices, we’ll be living in
penury
for sure!”

“Well, maybe we could frame him for
pillaging
the company’s bank account! Rumors are already
permeating
the office that he has a
penchant
for
plundering
.”

“Hmm . . . I’m a little
pensive
. But I suppose it is the most
politic
,
pragmatic
, and
perspicacious
plan we could think of,” said Phil. “I’m
parched
. Let’s start this meal!”

They ordered fruit after the waiter told them that the banana trees were
prolific
at this time of year, and they were brought spotted bananas that seemed
palatable
enough.

But soon Phil turned
pallid
. “My
proboscis
is detecting something
putrid
,” he said.

“Eww!” Peanuts added. “And it’s not
palliating
! It’s the bananas! I knew those spots
presaged
something.”

“Waiter,” Phil called. “We are
petulant
already because of
pecuniary
problems and, to make a long story
pithy
, are too
pusillanimous
to
pulverize
these bananas properly. You seem
puissant
enough; do the job before the odor
proliferates
!”

“I don’t smell anything,” the waiter replied.

“Oh, don’t
prevaricate
. We will not be
placated
until we have
palpable
proof that the
prevalent
filth is gone!” said Peanuts in the fashion of a true
pedagogue
.

Plaintively
, full of
pathos
, the waiter smashed the bananas and took them away. “Even
posthumously
, my
precursor
still
perfunctorily
makes me look like the
paragon
of poor service! These bananas were planted by him!” he muttered as he walked off.

“Well, I feel better, Peanuts. We could work here!” Phil said, once again
placid
.

“The world would be a better place if there were more Q words.” —
ANONYMOUS

Literally, a
swamp.
However, the definition that would be used on the SAT is,
difficult situation that’s hard to get out of
, a figurative use of the first definition.

Batman was in a
quagmire
when Poison Ivy tried to drown him in swamp muck, but he escaped by using the anti-
quagmire
Bat-spray.

to draw back in fear

Dan Quayle
quailed
when he saw Dick Cheney coming at him with a shotgun.

doubt; uneasiness; sudden pang of sickness or faintness

Tyra had some
qualms
when the photographer asked her to pose atop a volcano in Guam.

having to do with a
quality
capable of being expressed as, or having to do with, a number or
quantity

“I did really well on my history exam” is a
qualitative
description of how you did on the history exam.

“I got a 96 on my history exam” is a
quantitative
description of how you did on the history exam.

state of uncertainty; dilemma

He was in a
quandary
about whether to do his laundry; he liked the grunge look, but his clothes were beginning to smell.

isolate because of a disease

We had to
quarantine
this word so that it wouldn’t infect its neighbors and make them queasy.

nauseated; uneasy

Uneasy
and
queasy
rhyme. So does the following poem: When on the boat it got breezy,
I began to feel
queasy
.

Drug dealers are sleazy.
(A public service message from the authors.)

complaining; peevish

In private, the girls on
America’s Next Top Model
are
querulous
. They complain about each other endlessly.