Nov 19, 2009

Auspicious (Word of the Day, 2009/11/18)

auspicious/ɔ´spɪʃəs/adjective
►attended by favorable circumstances
►showing that something is likely to successful
--Her excellent recording is an auspicious start to what promises to be a distinguished musical career.
--An auspicious start is really half the battle won.

auspicious day/date
--November 11 is an especially auspicious day for those inclined to supernatural beliefs.
--We know well that any new business can only begin operations after the Feng Shui master has visited the premises and given the auspicious date for opening.

auspicious/ɔ´spɪʃəs/adjective
►tending to favor or bring good luck
--Served with a spicy-sweet mustard sauce, this was an auspicious beginning to our meal.

auspiciously/ɔ´spɪʃəslɪ/adverb
►in an auspicious way
--He started his new job auspiciously on his birthday.

auspiciousness/ɔ´spɪʃəsnɪs/noun
►The state or quality of being auspicious or successful
--This Chinese knots is decorated with auspiciousness and prosperity wood carving.

auspice/´ɔspɪs/noun
►A favorable omen
--He took that as an auspice of happiness.

omen/´omən/noun
►a sign of what will happen in the future
--It's a good omen for the future.

auspices/´ɔspɪsɪz/noun
under the auspices of somebody/something
►with the help and support of a particular organization or person
--The negotiations, held under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program, produced a tentative agreement.

Nov 5, 2009

Carbon Offset (Word of the Day, 2009/11/4)

Offset/ˋɔfˏsɛt/[noun]
►A compensating equivalent
--Today's victory was an offset to yesterday's defeat.

Offset/ˋɔfˏsɛt/[adjective]
►relating to a method of printing in which ink is put onto rollers and the paper then passes between the rollers
--offset printing

Offset/ˋɔfˏsɛt/past tense and past participle, offset; present participle, offsetting/[transitive]
►if the cost or amount of something offsets another cost or amount, the two things have an opposite effect so that the situation remains the same
--Cuts in prices for milk, butter, and cheese will be offset by direct payments to farmers.

►to make something look better by being close to it and different
--Her blonde hair offset a deep tan.

►produce by offset printing
-- Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique where the inked image is offset from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface.

Carbon /ˋkɑrbən/[uncountable]
►a chemical substance that exists in a pure form as diamonds, graphite etc, or in an impure form as coal, petrol etc. It is a chemical element: symbol C

ˋcarbon ˏpaper [uncountable and countable]
►thin paper with a blue or black substance on one side, that you put between sheets of paper when typing on a typewriter in order to make a copy onto the second sheet of paper
--Carbonless paper coated with chemicals and dye which will produce copies without carbon paper.

ˏCarbon ˋcopy [countable]
►a copy, especially of something that has been typed using carbon paper
--To her annoyance Holly pushed the carbon copy on to Rain's desk and went away with the other.

►someone or something that is very similar to another person or thing
--It was a carbon copy of an attack 18 months ago.

ˏCarbon ˋdating [uncountable]
►a method of finding out the age of very old objects by measuring the amount of carbon in them
--Radio carbon dating determines the age of ancient objects by means of measuring the amount of carbon-14 there is left in an object.

ˏCarbon diˋoxide [uncountable]
►the gas produced when animals breathe out, when carbon is burned in air, or when animal or vegetable substances decay
--An increase in the amount of carbon dioxide is responsible for about half the total warming.

ˏCarbon moˋnoxide [uncountable]
►a poisonous gas produced when carbon, especially in petrol, burns in a small amount of air
--Two workers are taken to hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning after an incident at a helicopter company in Aberdeen.
--For example the formula for carbon monoxide is CO. It tells you that each molecule of carbonmonoxide consists of one carbon atom joined to one oxygen atom.

ˋCarbon sink [countable]
►a large area of forest that is believed to help the environment by taking in carbon from the air so that the effects of global warming are reduced
--A 40-year-study by the University of Leeds of African forests - which account for a third of the world's total tropical forest - demonstrates that Africa is, indeed, a significant carbon sink.

ˋCarbon ˏtax [uncountable and countable]
►a tax on businesses and industries which produce substances with a carbon base, that can damage the environment
--The carbon tax plans have already encountered stiff opposition across the political spectrum.

Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is "the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event or product"
--Compared to home-grown apples they cost more and come with a larger carbon footprint because of the CO2 produced by their journey to the shops.

Carbon neutral
►A business or a process is described as carbon neutral if it doesn't add to the net amount of in the atmosphere.
--A city council plans to become carbon neutral with its green electricity supplies over the next 40 years.

Carbon offset
►a compensatory measure made by an individual or company for carbon emissions, usually through sponsoring activities or projects which increase carbon dioxide absorption, such as tree planting
--My advice is to save your carbon offset money and invest it yourself directly in carbon saving schemes, cut out the middle man and make better use of the cash.