Vocabulary Mnemonics Episode 98: Beatific, avocation, prolix, and more
Dec 27, 2025
Discover the meaning of beatific, a word evoking higher happiness and beauty. Learn about reveille, the military wake-up call, and the mnemonics that can help you remember its significance. Dive into the playful origins of scaramouch, a cowardly buffoon. Unravel the essence of avocation as a hobby and how it contrasts with your main vocation. Explore prolix, a term for excessive wordiness, and the slippery nature of glib. Finally, examine mutable, a word denoting change, and disconcerting, which captures the feeling of losing one's composure.
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Elevated Bliss Defined
- "Beatific" describes a higher, almost poetic bliss distinct from ordinary happiness.
- Matt and Mom note it feels slightly spiritual and is best remembered by associating it with "beautiful."
Mnemonic For Reveille
- Remember "reveille" by its "rev" — think revive or revved up to wake people.
- Use the "rev" mnemonic to link the bugle call to waking and morning activity.
Pop-Culture Origin Story
- Matt links "scaramouch" to the Queen lyric and Anthony Scaramucci's brief fame.
- He recounts how Scaramucci was nicknamed "the mooch," illustrating the word's use.