News vocab

insouciance (n) /ɪnˈsuːsiəns/ == nonchalance

Ex: She hid her worries behind an air of insouciance.

the state of not being worried about anything

impinge (v) /ɪmˈpɪndʒ/ (on/upon sth/sb) == encroach (on/upon sth/sb)

Ex: He never allowed his work to impinge on his private life.

to have a clear and definite effect on something/somebody, especially a bad one

consortium (n) /kənˈsɔːtiəm/

Plural: consortiums, consortia

Ex: the Anglo-French consortium that built the Channel Tunnel

a group of people, countries, companies, etc. who are working together on a particular project

sabotage sth (v/n) /ˈsæbətɑːʒ/

Ex: The main electricity supply had been sabotaged by the rebels.

Ex: Protesters failed to sabotage the peace talks.

• to damage or destroy something deliberately to prevent an enemy from using it or to protest about something

• to prevent something from being successful or being achieved, especially deliberately

subterfuge (n) /ˈsʌbtəfjuːdʒ/

Ex: Journalists often use subterfuge to obtain material for stories.

a secret, usually dishonest, way of behaving (a political subterfuge)

irreconcilable (adj) /ɪˌrekənˈsaɪləbl/

Ex: The break-up was due to ‘irreconcilable differences’.

Ex: This view is irreconcilable with common sense.

• if differences or disagreements are irreconcilable, they are so great that it is not possible to settle them

• if an idea or opinion is irreconcilable with another, it is impossible for somebody to have both of them togethe

paradigm (n) /ˈpærədaɪm/

Ex: The war was a paradigm of the destructive side of human nature.

a typical example or pattern of something

strike a deal (collocation)

Ex: Do you think the government should try to strike a deal with the terrorists?

to reach or make an agreement

provocation (n) /ˌprɒvəˈkeɪʃn/

Ex: So far the police have refused to respond to their provocations.

• without provocation He fired a shot without any provocation.

• despite provocation She observed great restraint despite provocation.

the act of doing or saying something deliberately in order to make somebody angry or upset; something that is done or said to cause this

deficit (n) /ˈdefɪsɪt/

Ex: There's a deficit of $3 million in the total needed to complete the project.

• a budget deficit

• in deficit The trade balance has been in deficit for the past five years.

• the amount by which something, especially an amount of money, is too small or smaller than something else

• the amount by which money spent or owed is greater than money earned in a particular period of time

transactional (adj) /trænˈzækʃənl/

Ex: The team processes transactional data, such as records of purchases.

transactional charges/costs/fees

Ex: Their relationship is more transactional than emotional.

• relating to the process of buying or selling

• relating to communication between people

cyberspace (n) /ˈsaɪbəspeɪs/

Ex: Many more business functions will move into cyberspace.

the internet considered as an imaginary space without a physical location in which communication over computer networks takes place

splurge (n) /splɜːdʒ/

Ex: A splurge on defence spending may lift growht , but only slightly.

an act of spending a lot of money on something that you do not really need

confrontational (adj) /ˌkɒnfrʌnˈteɪʃənl/

• Why do they take such a confrontational approach?

• a confrontational style of management

tending to deal with people in an aggressive way that is likely to cause arguments, rather than discussing things with them