English - Language and Identity

Vocabulary

cloaked

hide, cover, disguise

double entendre

a word or phrase open to two interpretations

feel it necessary to

feel the need to do something

eloquently

in a fluent of persuasive manner

apartheid

racial divide

to a lesser degree

in a smaller extent

familiarity

close acquaintance with or knowledge of something

fine tuning

make small adjustments to achieve the best performance

connotations

an idea which a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning

enable

allow, permit, authorize

gesture

make a gesture or movement

liberating

freeing

internship

the position of a student who works in an organization, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience

coined

invent, create, make up

squeamish

easily made to feel sick or disgusted

reduced capacity

lowered amount that something can produce

mother tongue

native language

submerge

completely cover, obscure

expansion

growth, development, enlargement

globalize

develop to make international influence possible

wired

making use of computers to transfer information

competent

capable, proficient

ride the crest

enjoy great success

dethroned

remove from authority, power

pitfall

hidden, unsuspected danger

underscore

underline, emphasize

cataclysm

disaster, catastrophy

eventual

final, ultimate

scepticism

doubt

drastically

extremely

genuinely

truthfully

precedents

previous case

unequivocal

unmistakable, indisputable

vastly

immensely, greatly

uproot

move out

millenium

century

endeavor

attempt

consolidate

strengthen, secure

foreseeable

expected, predicted, inevitable

first among equals

of a highest status in a group

monolingual

speaking one language

bewildered

perplexed, baffled, confused

share

portion, part

exclusion

barring, banning

past its sell-by date

no longer effective, interesting, useful

biligual

speaking two languages

multilingual

speaking 3 or more languages

linguistic diversity

diversity in languages spoken

spark calls

bring attention

abandoning

desert, leave

anticipate

expect

slips

drops

trail

drag behind something

predominance

prevalence, dominance

mutually incomprehensible

impossible to understand each other

distinct consciousness

divided thoughts, feelings

proliferation

rapid growth, spread, multiplication

evolved

progressed, advanced

be doomed to extinction

will meet inescapable extinction

words of consolation

word to comfort someone

intricacies

details

teetering on the brink

its likely that the bad situation will happen soon

affiliated to

connected to

outback

remote, sparsely populated region of inlands

rudimentary

basic, elementary

radically

completely

diversity

variety

encoded

converted into code

remedies

treatment

uncharted

unexplored