Vocab

Torrid (adj.) scored; burned; exposed to great heat (esp. in the torrid zone, the region between the tropics)

• In the tropic zone, where the heat does burn, I found my blackened soul, charred, making its home among the inhabitants, dark as coal.   

Perseverate (v.) the verb form of perseveration (n.) the act of persevering; persistence (esp. in the psychological sense of continue an action even in the absence of stimulus)

• After several attempts, the hungry little mouse perseverated and furtively dined on a block of cheese.

Mitigate (v.) to alleviate or give relief from; to inhibit or counteract; to lessen the trouble caused by 

• Lighten any check, mitigate the destruction ever so little, and the number of the species will almost instantaneously increase to any amount. --Charles Darwin, Origin of Species 

Contention (n.) strife; the act of striving together in opposition

• Ingmar Bergman's movie Persona dramatizes the contention between two aspirants when only one role is available and each repudiates the others claim to the role. 

Mellifluous (adj.) flowing with honey-like substance; sweetened with honey; (fig. pleasant sounding; flowing; musical)

• Economist 20 July (Review Suppl.) 11/1   A visitor to Germany..is bound to notice the presence, in almost every small town, of a local Brauerei whose mellifluous product is available in the neighbouring inns.
• Not only was Pooh a honey-loving bear, but as heard on the radio, his mellifluous voice soothed many anxious children awaiting Christmas during the early 90's. 

Truculent (adj.) savage; cruel; fierce; ferocity 

• It is commonly believed that the Yanomami people in the Amazon rainforest are one of the more truculent indigenous peoples and that internal and external warfare is a quotidian aspect of their life.  

Quittance (n.) the action of freeing from a debt

It is highly unlikely that the truculent state of affairs in the middle east will cease without universal quittance from past wrongs and adoption of neighborly norms on all sides.  

Exigent (adj.) requiring immediate action of aid; pressing (n.) state of pressing need

• Money and all that it symbolizes has obviated the exigent demands of being an animal; instead of seeking shelter, or food, or warmth, man in a symbolically saturated marketplace is driven by the impatient desire for capital.  

Aggrandize (v.) to make greater; to increase; to increase the power, status or wealth 

• By social capital, I mean the products that are used by people to aggrandize their self-image in their own mind and the perception of others.  Such social capital is adorned on the body, such as a watch or ring, or advertised through speech, such as the brusque mention of degrees of higher learning.  Social capital can bolster relationships and aggrandize their productive capacity for the user.  There is no image for social capital because other authors complicate it by situating the concept within an abstract philosophical space.  Social capital is primarily the result of treating identity as a tradable commodity.  It violates the norm of authenticity since it uses aspects of identity in a mechanical way to secure or repudiate access to others of valued goods.  As such, social capital is abject bastard product of consumer capitalism, and the domination in social relationships of metaphors related to money.