Words May 2026 Week 4

There are markers showing the land’s boundary. (These are called “surveyor’s markers.”

We had our annual resident’s meeting. (They meet once a year to discuss what has happened, what is happening and what will happen.)

The circumference is the distance all the way around the edge of a circle or round object. (The circumference of my waist is 92 cm.)

Mind-boggling means extremely difficult to understand. (Everything he says is mind boggling.)

I met three of my high school friends. (This means that he had many friends in high school and recently got together with three of them. “I met my three high school friends” means that he had only three friends in high school.)

You need a reservation on the weekend. (The izakaya near the station is very busy on weekends.)

A utility wife is treated like a utility (like electricity: you flip the switch; the light comes on) where you expect specific services on demand. (This could also mean that the wife’s husband has a job like working for TEPCO, a.k.a. a “linesman’s wife.”)

The number of Chinese tourists is declining but the number of other foreign tourists is increasing. (Chinese people are not declining, but the number of them is.)

They sat in the same row as me on the train. (I sat in a window seat, and the aisle seat was empty.)

The young child waved at me and I waved back. (The child was sitting in the same row across the aisle from her.)

A book writer is called an author. (A person who draws picture for a book is called an illustrator.)

A rip-off is something that is grossly overpriced. (The food at the festival was ridiculously expensive.)

Porta-Potty started as a brand name that became a generic term for any mobile restroom. (Xerox is a brand name but after a while it meant any copy machine.)

She needed surgery on her right leg. (The operation was performed at a university hospital.)

There was much lint in the washing machine filter. (Don’t forget to clean it once in a while.)

It is difficult to concentrate when it is noisy. (It is difficult to focus on something when people around you are talking.)

The elephant had a long trunk. (Elephants can breathe through their mouths, but they mostly breath through their trunk, which is technically a very long nose.)

They dug a long trench. (A trench is a long narrow excavation, or hole, which is used for laying pipes underground or for defensive protection in war.)

I am still plugging away, putting together the jigsaw puzzle. (The world’s largest jigsaw puzzle has 60,000 pieces.)

On TV, I only watch MLB, the weather and the news. (He is lost when his friends talk about TV dramas that they watch.)

The room has bad ventilation. (This was in a yakiniku restaurant.)