Learning English

Session 1: Adjectives from names

New adjectives come into English formed from the names of famous people.

1
They describe something that person is famous for:

an Orwellian vision of the future
a Freudian slip (something you say that shows your unconscious thoughts)
His life was a Shakespearean tragedy.

2
Some kings' and queens' first names are commonly used as adjectives. These adjectives mean ‘from the time of that king or queen’:

an Edwardian chair

3
We usually form adjectives from the names of writers and scientists with the suffix –ian:

The house was so old it was almost Dickensian.

4
Adjectives from politicians names are often formed with the suffixes –ist and –ite:

Stalinist Russia
Thatcherite conservatism

More eponymous adjectives

Herculean
Bringing up a family all by yourself is a herculean task.

Chauvinistic
He's so chauvinistic. He never lets his wife drive. He says' women can't drive and should stay in the kitchen. What an idiot!

Mercurial
He's a mercurial talent, which makes him very difficult to work with.

Narcissistic
I can't believe how narcissitic he is. He spends hours in the gym, not working out but mostly looking at himself in the mirrors.

Platonic
We have a purely platonic friendship. She's someone I can really talk to and I wouldn't want to ruin it by getting involved intimately.

Martial
I took up martial arts when I was a teenager and got into the national team a few years later.

Eponymous adjectives with -esque

Daliesque
In the style of Salvador Dali, the Spanish surrealist painter.

Capraesque
In the style of Frank Capra, the Italian-American film director.

Rubenesque
In the style of Peter Paul Rubens, the Flemish painter.

Dylanesque
In the style of Bob Dylan, the musician from the US.

Kafkaesque
In the style of Franz Kafka, the writer.

Pythonesque
In the style of Monty Python, the British comedy group.

Non-eponympous adjectives with -esque

picturesque
a place that is attractive and charming
There are hundreds of picturesque villages in rural France.

statuesque
a description of someone tall, dignified and graceful: usually used about a woman.
The princess looked statuesque in her stunning dress.

grotesque
looking disgusting and ugly or shockingly inappropriate
At Halloween he went out in a grotesque mask that was really scary. When he was chairman of the company he earnt a grotesque amount of money.

Session 3 - One-way ticket to Mars

colony
place where a group of people live, away from their home country

go thirsty
suffer from thirst for a period of time

living out
spending the rest of your life

settlement
a place where people live

body
organisation

the solar system
the system of planets that move around our Sun

feasibility
possibility that something can be done

ethics
moral situation

adamant
sure, impossible to persuade

whittled down to
reduced to

stringent
strict

mocked-up
created to look like something else

Martian
from Mars

according to the script
according to plan

prolonged
very long

unmanned
(of a vehicle) without a human driver inside

rover
vehicle which drives across land (here, across planet Mars)

breathable
able to be breathed

make the cut
be chosen or successful in a competitive situation

Session 4 - By this time next week...

challenging
difficult, in a good way that tests you

rewarding
making you feel satisfied because you have done something useful or good

unemployed
without a job

lock
(here) close with a key

made my way through
(here) progressed

keyboard
(here) small electric piano

electrician
person who works with electrical equipment

hub
centre

sense
feeling, understanding

Session 5 - Gulliver's travels

gunpowder
a mixture of substances which explodes

envy
wanting something that someone else has

rammed
pushed forcefully

hollow
empty

ranks
rows of soldiers

glorious
wonderful, beautiful

enforce
make people do something or obey a rule

inhuman
cruel, not moral

desolation
a situation where everything has been destroyed

vast
huge