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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nClandestine<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Song Title\/Album:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cillicit affairs\u201d \/\u00a0folklore<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric:<\/strong> \u201cAnd that\u2019s the thing about illicit affairs \/ And clandestine meetings and longing stares\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition:<\/strong> done in a private place or way : done secretly<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word<\/strong>: Clandestine\u00a0is an adjective that is often used as a substitute for\u00a0secret\u00a0and\u00a0covert, and it is commonly applied to actions that involve secrecy maintained for an evil,\u00a0illicit\u00a0(as in \u201cillicit affairs\u201d), or unauthorized purpose. It comes to English by way of Middle French, from Latin\u00a0clandestinus, which is itself from Latin\u00a0clam, meaning \u201csecretly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song Title\/Album: \u201cMastermind\u201d \/ Midnights<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric: \u201cI\u2019m only cryptic and Machiavellian \u2018cause I care\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition: using clever lies and tricks in order to get or achieve something : clever and dishonest<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word: Machiavellian\u2014which describes things marked by cunning, duplicity, or bad faith\u2014comes from the Italian political philosopher Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli (1469-1527), the author of the most famous treatise on bare-knuckled politics ever published, The Prince, which brought him a reputation as an immoral cynic and even a teacher of evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song Title\/Album: \u201civy\u201d \/ evermore<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric: \u201cIn from the snow \/ Your touch brought forth an incandescent glow\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition: strikingly bright, radiant, or clear<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word: Incandescent first lit up the English language toward the end of the 18th century, at a time when scientific experiments involving heat and light were being conducted on an increasingly frequent basis. An object that glowed at a high temperature (such as a piece of coal) was incandescent. By the mid-1800s, the incandescent lamp\u2014aka the lightbulb\u2014had been invented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song Title\/Album: \u201cAnti-Hero\u201d \/ Midnights<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric: \u201cDid you hear my covert narcissism \/ I disguise as altruism \/ Like some kind of congressman?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition: feelings and behavior that show a desire to help other people and a lack of selfishness<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word: Altruism comes from the French word altruisme, which in turn comes from autrui, meaning \u201cother people.\u201d In \u201cAnti-Hero,\u201d the song\u2019s narrator suggests that they, like some politicians, are a do-gooder not out of the goodness of their heart, but to satisfy their ego. Seems rather Machiavellian!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song Title\/Album: \u201cAll Too Well (10 Minute Version)\u201d \/ Red (Taylor\u2019s Version)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric: \u201cYou who charmed my dad with self-effacing jokes\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition: not trying to get attention or praise for yourself or your abilities : modest<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word: To be self-effacing is to be modest or humble. Often that involves not taking oneself too seriously\u2014being all too well aware of one\u2019s flaws and faults and unafraid of poking mild fun at them. The \u201cself-effacing\u201d joke referenced in verse four of the extended version of Taylor Swift\u2019s \u201cAll Too Well,\u201d would be just such a self-directed dig, even if we don\u2019t know its nature\u2014though if it appeals to Dad it could be a dad joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song Title\/Album: \u201cThe Albatross\u201d \/ The Tortured Poets Department<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric: TBD<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition: a continuing problem that makes it difficult or impossible to do or achieve something<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word: Albatrosses are exceedingly large seabirds, some species having a wingspan as much as 11 feet across. They are magnificent gliders, capable of staying aloft for hours at a time without flapping their wings, and tend to remain almost entirely at sea, typically coming ashore only to breed. In Samuel Taylor Coleridge\u2019s 1798 poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the titular mariner kills an albatross that has been following his ship, bringing down a curse that leads to the death of all other crew members. As a punishment, the crew hang the dead bird from the mariner\u2019s neck, and he remains alive to witness the ship\u2019s fate unfold. This potent emblem led to the coining of a metaphorical meaning for albatross as something that causes anxiety or guilt or that burdens and encumbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song Title\/Album: \u201cHits Different\u201d \/ Midnights<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric: \u201cBet I could still melt your world \/ Argumentative, antithetical dream girl\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition: directly opposite or opposed<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word: The adjective antithetical and noun antithesis come from the Greek verb antitithenai (\u201cto oppose\u201d). The oldest sense of antithesis refers to a language pattern that contrasts parallel ideas, as in \u201caction, not words\u201d or “they promised liberty and provided oppression,\u201d and antithetical originally referred to anything that was marked by such antithesis. Usually antithetical is paired with to, as in the previous example, but in Taylor Swift\u2019s song \u201cHits Different,\u201d she seems to be using the word creatively in a way similar to oppositional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song Title\/Album: \u201cillicit affairs\u201d \/ folklore<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric: \u201cTake the words for what they are \/ A dwindling, mercurial high\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition: very lively and quick, or changing moods quickly and often<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word: The Roman god Mercury was the messenger and herald of the gods and also the god of merchants and thieves (his counterpart in Greek mythology is Hermes). He was noted for his eloquence, swiftness, and cunning, and the Romans named what appeared to them to be the fastest-moving planet in his honor. Mercurial comes from the Latin adjective mercurialis, meaning \u201cof or relating to Mercury.\u201d Mercurial means both \u201cchanging moods quickly and often\u201d (as in \u201ca mercurial personality\u201d) and \u201cvery lively and quick\u201d (as in \u201ca mercurial wit\u201d). In our reading, Swift\u2019s use in \u201cillicit affairs\u201d seems closest to the \u201cquick\u201d sense, perhaps with shades of fleeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song Title\/Album: \u201cthe lakes\u201d \/ folklore<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric: \u201cIs it romantic how all my elegies eulogize me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition: a sad poem or song : a poem or song that expresses sorrow for someone who is dead<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word: Both elegy and eulogy (used in the same \u201cthe lakes\u201d lyric) may be used about writing or speech in remembrance of a person who has passed away, and this semantic overlap creates the potential for confusion. Elegy (which may be traced to the Greek word elegos, \u201csong of mourning\u201d) commonly refers to a song or poem lamenting one who is dead; the word may also refer somewhat figuratively to a nostalgic poem, or to a kind of musical composition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Song Title\/Album: \u201ccardigan\u201d \/ folklore<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lyric: \u201c\u2026 I felt like I was an old cardigan \/ Under someone\u2019s bed \/ You put me on and said I was your favorite\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definition: a usually collarless sweater or jacket that opens the full length of the center front<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Word: As sweaters, cardigans often evoke snuggly vibes and warm fuzzies, but the word cardigan has a more martial backstory. The garment was named after James Thomas Brudenell, 7th earl of Cardigan, who with his inherited wealth personally outfitted his military regiment with what came to be called cardigan jackets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blog EHLI<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nMachiavellian<\/h4>\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nIncandescent<\/h4>\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAltruism<\/h4>\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nSelf-effacing<\/h4>\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAlbatross<\/h4>\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAntithetical<\/h4>\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nMercurial<\/h4>\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nElegy<\/h4>\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nCardigan<\/h4>\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nMerriam-Webster<\/h5>\n\n\n\n