Tag Archives: building vocabulary/conceptual knowledge

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun umbrage. I understand that this is not a word that is in high demand in most discourse. But what an interesting pedigree it carries. Before I bloviate on that, however, l’ll mention that the context clues in this document are keyed to the most commonly used definition of this in English, i.e. “a feeling of pique or resentment at some often fancied slight or insult.” I don’t know if I’ve ever heard it use without the transitive verb take, as in “Daffy Duck took umbrage when Elmer Fudd shot him in the face.”

Did you know that one of the meanings of this word, by Merriam-Webster’s reckoning, is “shady branches.” Umbrage originates from the Latin umbraticus, which means “pertaining to shade.” Unsurprisingly, the word penumbra also grows from the root of this Latin adjective. Penumbra, interestingly, is also a word used in jurisprudence, as when Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas wrote the majority opinion in Griswold v. Connecticut.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun stratagem and another on the noun strategy. These two words are related, obviously, so it seemed best to post them together. What is the difference between them?

Stratagem means “an artifice or trick in war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy,” “a cleverly contrived trick or scheme for gaining an end” and “skill in ruses or trickery.” Strategy, as we most commonly use it, means “the science and art of employing the political, economic, psychological, and military forces of a nation or group of nations to afford the maximum support to adopted policies in peace or war,” and “the science and art of military command exercised to meet the enemy in combat under advantageous conditions.” It’s worth mentioning that a further definition of strategy is “the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.” That may be the best explanation of the relationship–and therefore use–of these two solid, Greek-based nouns. An set of stratagems becomes an aggregate–a strategy.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.