Words December 2025 Week 2

Frankfurters, a.k.a. franks, and all-pork and smoked sausages. (Hot dogs, a.k.a. wieners, are made with various meats.)

He was an influential teacher. (He helped his students to be good adults, or good people in general.)

We had not seen each other in 13 years. (It had been 13 years since they last met.)

People wear thermal underwear, a.k.a. long johns, in cold weather. (UNICLO Heattech is a type of thermal underwear.)

 Remission is when symptoms of cancer go away for a period of time. (You can be in remission for months, years or the rest of your life.)

Since cancer can come back someday, doctors don’t like to say it was cured. (My cancer is in remission.)

I was inspired by my mother who did not judge people. (She did not feel that she was better than anybody.)

We should not judge others by the clothes they wear. (People who wear shabby clothes and people who wear fashionable clothes can be either good or bad people.)

We will swim 108 laps in the pool. (They will swim from one end of the pool to the other end 108 times.)

I would scrounge for things I needed to finish the project. (I could always find a way to get what I wanted even if I had to beg, borrow or steal. Of course, I never stole.)

Is there an expiration date? (The discount coupon cannot be used after the expiration date.)

The food tastes yucky. (Yucky is the same as icky.)

They dilated my eyes. (The eye drops make the pupil of the eye open wider so the doctor can examine inside the eye.)

A foreign ambassador was going to visit the Imperial Palace. (You can say “Imperial House” but “palace” sounds more elegant.)

I called him at 11 a.m. (“I telephoned him” is ok but a little formal. You can also say, “I phoned him.”)

A Slice is an uncontrolled, big left-to-right curve, like a severe fade. (A Draw is a controlled, gentle right-to-left curve, like a mild hook.)

“Yucky” is a more common word for “icky.” (These words are usually used by children.)

Without pennies, prices will be rounded up or down to the nearest nickel. (If the price is 11 or 12 cents, you pay 10 cents and if the price is 13 or 14 cents, you pay 15 cents.)

Falcons are birds of prey. (Birds of prey eat meat from other animals, such as rodents, fish, and other birds.)

Japanese Genmai (玄米) is unpolished whole grain rice and is called brown rice in English. (Brown rice is healthier than white rice.)

I’m in my late 70s. (Late 70s are the ages of 77, 78 and 79 years old.)

A deity is a god or goddess. (It can be pronounced DAY-it-ee or DEE-it-ee. The word comes from the Latin "deus," meaning "god".)