Words May 2026 Week 1

Watching TV while lying on your side can cause neck strain, back pain, and eye strain. (If you watch TV in your bed, you should sit up with a pillow behind your back.)

 I feel sorry for her. (We were talking about someone with severe back pain.)

The nurses are very kind. (“Kind” is an adjective describing the nurses. “They spoke kindly of you.” “Kindly” is an adverb describing how they talked.)

I’m claustrophobic. (She has a fear of enclosed spaces.)

We go to that soba restaurant about every two months. (They eat there every other month.)

"Beside" is a preposition meaning "next to" or "at the side of" (physical location).

"Besides" is a preposition or adverb meaning "in addition to," "as well as" or "furthermore". (She sat beside me at dinner, and besides, she brought desserts for everyone.)

Most businesses have hand sanitizer and the entrance/exit. (Hand sanitizer, containing 60–95% alcohol (ethanol or isopropyl), is highly effective at killing 99.9% of bacteria and many viruses within 30–60 seconds.)

I collect sake bottle labels. (I guess she drinks a lot of sake.)

I had an upset stomach. (An upset stomach is commonly caused by indigestion, gas, stomach viruses, food intolerances, stress or acid reflux. Acid reflux is also called heartburn.)

I visited our family doctor. (When I was young, family doctors often visited their patients in their homes.)

The three of us became close friends. (The three amigos.)

She was venting about her job. (She was talking about her job to get rid of stress.)

I got rid of many things. (To get rid of means to remove, throw away, give away or sell something.)

Does she work on a commission? (Working on commission means a worker's earnings are directly tied to the amount of goods or services they sell, rather than a fixed salary alone.)

Mammary glands produce milk so animals that drink their mother’s milk are called mammals. (People are the human species of mammals.)

Dumpster diving is when people look for food in large trash containers. (You would be surprised at how much edible food you can find in these containers which are called dumpsters.)

We had a reunion last year. (I visited her in New Zealand last year and this year was the first time we got together in Japan.)

He was invited to try out for the University of Hawaii football team. (He is now the first Japanese top join an NFL team.)

The pigs were put into a box to be weighed on a scale. (AI-powered, no-scale pig weighing uses computer vision and 3D cameras to analyze a pig’s body shape and estimate weight in real-time with up to 98% accuracy.)

After the cremation, the ashes are put into an urn. (After the deceased body is removed from the funeral pyre, the remains are put in a special container.)

Bird songs are long, complex, and melodious vocalizations used primarily by males for mating and defending territory. (Chirps are short, simple, and used by both sexes to communicate location, danger, etc.)