convivial (adjective) 

This is a joyful, exuberant, sociable time of year – made festive with the pleasures of good food, good drink, and good company. In other words, it’s the most “convivial” (kun-VIV-ee-ul) of all holidays.

Xmas (noun) 

Many people are offended when they see this shortened form of the word “Christmas” – but it actually comes from the Greek for Christ, which is Xristos. It became popular in Europe in the 1500s. These days, we mostly see it in ads.

exultation (noun) 

Exultation (ek-sul-TAY-shun) is a feeling of triumphant elation or jubilation; rejoicing. As used by John Burroughs: “There is something very human in this apparent mirth and mockery of the squirrels. It seems to be a sort of ironical laughter, and implies self-conscious pride and exultation in the laughter.”

eye-minded (adjective)

To be eye-minded (AYE-mine-did) is to be disposed to perceive and understand things visually, and to recall sights more vividly than sounds, smells, etc. As used by Samuel Christian Schmucker in The Meaning of Evolution: “It is true among human beings that most of them are eye-minded.”

exacerbate (verb) 

To exacerbate (ig-ZAS-ur-bate) is to make a problem or situation worse. As I used it today: “But is [raising the minimum wage] really the answer to poverty in this country? In fact, there’s considerable evidence that it would exacerbate the problem.”

obviate (verb) 

To obviate (AHB-vee-ate) is to anticipate and prevent or remove a need or difficulty. As I used it today: “To obviate [the urge that I’ll have to sell all my stocks if the market crashes], I’m doing a sort of financial meditation. I’m imagining myself looking at the bottom line of my stock account and seeing that is it down by 50%… and realizing that I’m okay with that.”

yen (noun) 

Yen (YEN) – aside from being the basic monetary unit of Japan – is a strong desire, craving, or urge. As used by Mark Waters: “My first inkling that I might have a yen for directing came when I realized I enjoyed creating plays for my various sports teams more than I actually liked playing the game.”

trenchant (adjective) 

Trenchant (TREN-chunt) means intense, forceful. As used by William Milligan Sloane in The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte: “Bonaparte’s contributions to the discussion were terse and trenchant.”

archetype (noun) 

An archetype (AR-kuh-tipe) is a very typical example of a person or thing. As I used it today: “There are many ways to write a lead. You can begin with a story or a secret or a prediction or a surprising fact. Each of these is an archetypal approach to beginning a sales pitch.”

rampant (adjective) 

When you describe something as rampant (RAM-punt), you mean that it is not only common, it is getting worse in an uncontrolled way. As I used it today: “[Confusion about what is meant by the ‘Big Idea’] is rampant across the marketing world. Even within The Agora companies, many marketers and copywriters use ‘Big Idea’ to mean different things.”