Dash:
to ruin. In this case, hopes for a democratic election have been ruined because
there will be no opposition to Mugabe. (often used with 'hopes' to describe
disappointment.
Example: His hopes of winning the tennis tournament were
dashed when he broke his arm.
Worth:
describes something that is valuable or important enough to justify
doing something. In this case,
Tsvang believes that the presidential election was not more important than the
lives of his supporters.
Example:
I don’t think it’s worth it to go skiing this weekend: I have a cold and the
weather is terrible.
Rigged:
describes something that is manipulated in such a way in order to
secure a certain outcome. In this
case, the opposition believes that Mugabe and the Zanu-PF will manipulate the
election so that Mugabe will win.
Example: The owners of the casino rigged the slot
machine so that everyone who used it would lose.
Capsize:
to overturn in water (usually refers to boats). In this case the ship was pushed over by
the waves and when rescuers reached it, only the bottom of it was showing.
Example:
I am always afraid on windy days that my sailboat will capsize in a strong
gust.
Doom: to
condemn someone to a horrible fate.
In this case, most of the passengers were condemned to death when the
ship capsized (the water was too rough for most to swim to shore and some became
trapped in the hull of the ship).
Example:
When the general recognized that his army had been surrounded, he knew that they
were doomed.
Bloc: a
union of separate groups working toward a common goal. In this case, there are different
parties working together with the common goal of joining the
EU.
Example: The countries of Eastern Europe which aligned themselves with the Soviet Union were often know as the Communist Bloc.
Affiliated: describes something that has a connection
with something else. In this case
the al -Aqsa Martyrs Brigade has connections with Fatah.
Example:
I don’t expect that party to have any interest in passing any environmental
legislation because I hear they are affiliated with the oil companies.
Paparazzo:
a person who takes pictures of famous people in order to sell the pictures to
magazines or newspapers.
To add insult to
injury: a phrase used to describe when someone is physically injured
and is then emotionally injured or degraded. In this case, the photographer was
injured in the fight and then he probably suffered some emotional damage (anger,
disappointment or embarrassment) when his camera was thrown in the
ocean.
Example: Not only was Sarah sick last week, but
to add insult to injury, her boyfriend dumped her as well.
Contract:
to get a disease or illness.
Example:
I contracted the chicken pox after coming in contact with someone else who had
it.
Diagnosis: the
identification of an illness. In
this case, Locklear went to the clinic so that doctors could determine what type
of psychological problems she had.
Example:
The diagnosis is not good. They
believe it’s cancer.
Cameo: a short
appearance of a famous person in a film or TV show. In this case, Ian Ziering is interested
on having his character appear once on the new 90210 series.
Example:
Many famous people have had cameos on the Simpsons over the years. Some of the best were Richard Gere,
Elton John, Ronaldo, Metallica, and Tony Blair.