Words September 2025 Week 1

It was hot and humid. (The temperature is high, and the air is damp.)

I had a sore throat and a slight fever. (She had COVID last year.)

My refrigerator has a “crisper drawer” a.k.a. vegetable drawer or vegetable bin. (Most refrigerators have three sections – refrigerator, vegetable drawer and freezer and sometimes an ice cube drawer.)

What is 20-20 hindsight? (This is said when something has already happened, and after it happened you then understand what you should have done.)

I wish I had invested in Apple in the early 2000s. (20-20 hindsight – now I know that I should have bought Apple stock many years ago.)

The American Sign Language for ILY in a hand sign for “I love you.” (This is a popular hand gesture. You extend your thumb, first finger and baby finger and fold un your third and fourth fingers.)   

Weed Eater is a brand name for a machine that cuts weeds or grass. (It is also called a weed wacker or grass trimmer.)

There is parking on the roof. (We were talking about the new supermarket in Hamura. I believe it is called Top.)

The email was undeliverable. (She was replying to an email so it should have been deliverable unless the other person’s email software thought that it was junk mail.)

It took her four months to skateboard 4,000 km. (She skateboarded across the US.)

Today, my “what’s new” is short and simple. (Simple is best.)

She was possessed by the devil. (The devil took control of her body. Hopefully someone can exorcise the devil.)

Astigmatism means your eye's cornea or lens has an irregular shape, like a rugby ball instead of a sphere, causing blurred vision. (Two other eye diseases are glaucoma which is caused by fluid pressure, and cataracts are caused by lens clouding.)

Underneath" is used when emphasizing that something is directly beneath something. (Under, underneath and below have similar meanings so don’t worry about which word you use.)

Each room has a pair of binoculars. (A telescope has one lens, and binoculars have two lenses.)

I want to do some star gazing. (She wants to go to a mountain top onsen to view the stars.)

In most American and Canadian English accents, "ferry" and "fairy" are pronounced exactly the same, with both words rhyming with "dairy". (However, in the British English accent "fairy" has a slightly longer "air" vowel sound, while "ferry" has a shorter "e" sound, like in the word "get".)

If you meet a bear: "if it's black, fight back" and "if it's brown, lay down". (If you must fight a bear, attack its face and nose.)

I had a wisdom tooth pulled (removed / extracted). (The dental surgeon explained the surgery procedures.)

To make woodblock art you need an artist, a carver and a printer. (One of my friends made woodblock New Year cards with three colors.)

I don’t have a record player. (A record player plays music and has a speaker, but a turntable plays music without speakers.)

I went jogging for the first time since July. (His muscles were sore.)

Ukiyo-e woodblock prints from Japan significantly influenced Vincent van Gogh's art. (I learned something new.)

There was a display of illusional art. (This is when an image looks like two different things.)