Words September 2026 Week 4

We will fly Air Canada on this trip. (They will visit the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and Banff.)

Motion sickness, such as Dramamine, will make you drowsy. (She can’t sleep on planes so this might help.)

He worked abroad for many years. (He worked in a foreign country.)

There were almost no stray dogs when I visited there. (That country has an animal shelter that keeps stray dogs until they pass away naturally.)

People are brainwashed by repeating lies to them until they believe the lies. (Hitler was good at using this, and so is …)

Members of the Maga movement are like a cult. (They think of their leader as a god-like figure.)

Pine refers to the natural pine oil extracted from pine tree stumps.

Sol is an abbreviation for "solution" or a liquid mixture. (Pine-sol is a famous household cleaning detergent.)

Some examples of being humble are sharing credit, listening to others, admitting mistakes, etc. (Self-deprecation is when people frequently downplay their achievements, language skills, or possessions to avoid sounding boastful.)

Spring (vernal) equinox is on March 20 or 21 and autumnal equinox is on September 22 or 23. (The word equinox comes from two Latin words than mean “equal” and “night.”)

The small town was inundated by rising floodwaters.

The customer service department was inundated with phone calls.

After winning the championship, the star athlete was inundated with interview requests. (Inundated does mean flooded, but simply saying “flooded” is more common.)

She lent me her book. (I borrowed her book.)

I had to pay for the damages. (She damaged a library book. She said that she had to “compensate” for the damage. Compensate is perfectly fine, but “pay for” or “replace” are more common words.)

The text font size seems smaller. (The print is the same size, but her eyesight is weakening from aging.)

Most community centers have book drop boxes. (You can drop off borrowed library books in these special boxes instead of going to the library.)

UV book sanitizers kill bacteria and viruses on the surfaces of book. (I learned something new today.)

He is mature for his age. (He acts older than his age.)

A toilet plunger is also called a plumber’s friend. (It helps a plumber clear a clogged drain.)

We must teach children the importance of oral hygiene. (Brush, floss and gargle.)

To dissolve means to mix a solid into a liquid until it becomes part of the liquid. (To melt means to change from a solid to a liquid.)

Dissolve also means to officially end an organization, agreement, or relationship. (If a married couple argues about who gets what after ending the marriage, we call it divorce. If they both agree on who gets what, then we say the marriage was dissolved. Technically, dissolving the marriage and divorce have the same meaning, just a slightly difference nuance.)

The Obedient Plant, known as “hanatoranoo” in Japanese, gets its name because you can gently push or bend its individual flowers to a new position, and they will temporarily stay right where you put them, as if "obedient" to your touch. (The scientific name of the obedient plant is Physostegia virginiana.)

Maru (circle) represents the idea of things coming "full circle," and connecting people together; the period or dot in the name represents the shape of a single bean; the + (plus) signifies adding value to healthy, everyday ingredients; BEANS CAFÉ means every item on the menu features beans. (The coffee shop’s name is “maru.+ Beans Café.”)

The room is spacious. (The room is big.)

There were deer droppings around the fallen chestnuts. (Deer were eating some of his chestnut harvest.)

He was severely injured. (People get injured and things get damaged.)

We held a memorial service for the second anniversary of our father’s death. (A memorial service is a gathering to honor someone who has passed.”

Everything went smoothly. (There were no problems.)

I filled out a questionnaire. (A questionnaire is a set of questions used to collect opinions.)

I need a magnifying glass to read the small print. (A magnifying glass makes small things look big.)

A shirohato is called a white dove, a kijibato is an oriental turtle dove and hatoha is a political dove, a.k.a. pacifist. (Two turtle doves were sitting on the shutter box.)

There were no bird droppings. (They were thoughtful birds.)

The people with infectious diseases are quarantined. (They had to stay in special rooms so their diseases would not spread.)