Words September 2026 Week 3

My husband and I will visit the US and Canada from September 18 – 25. (They will visit the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and the Rocky Mountains.)

“Rice coming into ear" refers to the head of the rice plant emerges from the leaf. (I learned something new today.)

The following are types of pesticides. (There are many pros and cons to using pesticides.)

Herbicides: Kill or control unwanted plants and weeds.

Insecticides: Target and kill insects.

Fungicides: Control fungi, mold, and mildew.

Rodenticides: Manage mice, rats, and other rodents. (The suffix “-cide” means “to kill.”)

(Also, FYI, being “chemical free” is technically impossible since all things on earth are made of chemicals, such as water, air, etc.)

A Shinto priest performed a purification ceremony. (This was held during a neighborhood festival.)

There was much flood damage, so we changed our plans. (They chose a different destination for their trip.)

The hail was huge, about the size of a golf ball. (The normal size is about pea-size, or about 6 mm.)

The largest recorded hailstone in Japan fell on June 29, 1917, in Kumagaya, Saitama Pref. (It measured 29.6 cm in diameter and weighed approximately 3.4 kg.)

The roof of our house flipped upside down in the storm. (It was a corrugated metal roof.)

The levee broke in several places. (Levees are manmade riverbanks to help prevent rivers from overflowing.)

Many houses were flooded. (The first floors were knee-deep in water.)

I drove a loaner car for four days. (The car maintenance shop loaned her a car while repairing her car.)

The labor cost was 5,000 yen. (The total cost for parts and labor was about 35,000 yen.)

The kidney stones are too big to dissolve. (Sugar dissolves and ice cream melts.)

“Michi no eki” are roadside rest areas with farmers' markets, local food courts, and shops selling local souvenirs. (There are 1,230 Michi-no-Eki (roadside stations) across Japan as of January 2025.)

I bought some horse mackerel. (Horse mackerel has a nice taste.)

I had pierced earrings made from a necklace. (The necklace had three diamonds. Now it has one diamond, but she has a matching set of pierced earrings with diamonds.)

She sometimes rides a stationary bike for physical therapy. (After her heart surgery, she also walks 30 minutes twice a day.)

The urn was interred. (Interred is when the casket or urn is placed underground and entombed means it is placed in an above ground facility.)

The heavy rains cause massive mudslides. (When landslides are caused by rain, we usually call them mudslides.)

I was tired so I went straight home. (She went home without stopping anywhere.)

The lesson was cancelled in July, so we had a make-up lesson. (When baseball games are cancelled by rain, they usually have makeup games later in the season.)

I have many aches and pains. (We are getting old.)

"Less is more" means that something smaller or simpler is better than something that is complicated. (This term is used in cooking, writing, architecture, etc.)

Two pieces of clothing were stained. (The word clothes in not countable, so we should say articles or pieces of clothing.)

Tokyo residents aged 15 and older can claim 11,000 free digital points (worth ¥11,000) through the official Tokyo App to help offset rising living costs. (Any resident of Tokyo who has a My Number card can request these points.)