Words November 2026 Week 2

The vines grew longer and longer. (She grows several types of houseplants.)

I moved the plant to a different place in the house. (You must be careful about temperature and sunlight.)

BC stands for Before Christ and AD stands for Anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning "in the year of the Lord". (CE stands for Common Era or Current Era and BCE stands for Before Current ERA.)

Calling someone skinny is often considered rude or hurtful, even if you mean it as a compliment. (Calling someone slender or slim is ok, but it is best to not describe the size of a person.)

A hearse is a vehicle that carries a casket to a funeral. (Don’t forget to tuck your thumbs into your fists (oyayubi o kakusu) when a hearse or funeral procession passes by.)

A blood clot can stop the flow of blood and cause serious medical emergencies. (If the clot is in your eye, you should see an eye doctor immediately.)

I had many errands to do. (I had some tasks to do such as going to a bank, shopping, etc.)

The word “professional” can be used as a noun or adjective. (When used as a noun the following word “person” is understood.)

Don’t judge a book by its cover. (Don’t judge a person by how they look.)

They had food booths at festivals. (You can say “stall” but “booth” is more common but the word “shop” is not common.)  

The term “good grief” replaced the term “good God” or “good Lord” which people believed was using God’s name in vain. (Today, OMG or oh my God” is more popular than saying good grief.)

An "Ugly American" is a stereotype for an American whose behavior abroad is loud or deeply offensive to the local culture. (I think that Chinese tourists seem to be ruder now.)

She walked with a cane. (This elderly woman was walking to her car, let’s hope that she can safely drive a car.)

An old man ran into a mother and her child with his car. (He confused the accelerator and brake pedals.)

I don’t use many of the functions on my phone. (Cell phones are miniature computers and can do many things.)

Monday was my daughter’s move-in day at her new apartment. (She recently rented a different place to live.)

I watched the golf tournament in person. (She watched them play on the course.)

To throw someone under the bus means blaming someone for your mistakes. (This is Trump’s hobby.)

She was selected as the athlete of the week. (In her last two games, she had 17 steals. In today’s game, she scored the winning PK point.)

A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. (Trump will try to veto everything that the Democrats try to do.)

The US performs a census every ten years and five years in Japan. (There are several purposes for taking a census, but the main reason is to count people.)

I took a two-day trip. (I went on an overnight trip.)

I had a urine test. (A urine test is important to check your health.)
I had kidney stones. (Urinary tract calculi is commonly called kidney stones.)

He broke even at the boat races. (He didn’t win and he didn’t lose.)

Besides weight, some bathroom scales take various measurements. (I saw one scale that takes nine different measurements.)

It was painful. (I had much pain.)

All 45 sumo stables are in the Greater Tokyo, with in Tokyo's Ryogoku district. (In the sumo world, a group of sumo wrestlers is called a stable.)