Words to Learn This Week
Words in Use
The baseball strike of 1994-95, which kept the public from seeing the annual World Series, was not a typical labor dispute in which low-paid workers tried to persuade their employers to grant a raise above their minimum wage. On the contrary, players who earned millions of dollars yearly were visible on TV commercials, drove expensive autos, and dined with presidents, withheld their essential skills until our government’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches were forced to devise solutions to the quarrel.
The team owners, a blend of lawyers, manufacturers, corporate executives, etc., felt that something had to be done about the huge salaries that the players were demanding. Since talent beyond the major leagues was scarce, they had to start spring training in 1995 with a wholesale invitation to replacement players. The regular athletes returned in late April, but there was a feeling that the strike could happen again.
- Typical: Khas, umum, biasa
- Minimum: Minimum, terendah, paling sedikit
- Scarce: Langka, jarang, sulit didapat
- Annual: Tahunan, setiap tahun
- Persuade: Membujuk, meyakinkan, mengajak
- Essential: Penting, pokok, utama
- Blend: Campuran, mencampur
- Visible: Terlihat, jelas, nyata
- Expensive: Mahal, berharga
- Talent: Bakat, keahlian, kemampuan
- Devise: Merancang, menciptakan, membuat
- Wholesale: Grosir, besar-besaran
Related Words in Use:
The Alchemist of Annual Leave
Typical Tuesdays were an exercise in organized boredom for Ms. Agatha Plum, accountant extraordinaire. Rows of numbers marched across her screen, all beige and monotonous. But this Tuesday, something shimmered beneath the spreadsheet’s minimum font size. A whisper of gold. Not just the reflection of her expensive watchband – this was pure, molten opportunity.
It was an email from the elusive Professor Quirk, a retired alchemist rumored to possess the secret to eternal youth. He offered a single vial of his elixir, but not for typical currency. The price? One year, one full annual cycle, of your scarce vacation days. Agatha scoffed at first. Persuade her to swap precious beach time for a glorified face cream? Absurd!
But the golden lure persisted. Visions of wrinkle-free days, of chasing sunsets instead of deadlines, flickered in her mind. Agatha craved the essential spark, the escape from the beige purgatory. So, she did the unthinkable. She emailed Quirk, a desperate plea for the elixir, offering her entire year’s leave in a daring, digital blend of negotiation and desperation.
Professor Quirk lived in a ramshackle manor, hidden in the folds of a forgotten forest. Agatha found him surrounded by bubbling beakers and whispering ferns, a twinkle in his ancient eyes. The visible cost of her gamble, 365 blank vacation days, hung heavy in the air. But Quirk simply chuckled, seeing the fire in her tired eyes.
He brewed the elixir in a swirling vortex of light and laughter, a concoction as unpredictable as Agatha herself. And when she drank it, it wasn’t just wrinkles that vanished. The world rekindled around her, colors sharper, laughter easier. Agatha’s world turned from beige to technicolor, every moment a precious gem.
For a year, Agatha lived. She climbed expensive mountains, swam in turquoise oceans, chased fireflies across meadows. It was a whirlwind of experiences, each day a gift from her sacrificed leave. And when the year ended, and the elixir’s magic faded, Agatha was no longer the same Ms. Plum.
She returned to her spreadsheets, yes, but with a glint in her eye, a story etched in every wrinkle that remained. Agatha, the accountant, had become Agatha, the alchemist of her own life, trading minimum for maximum, proving that sometimes, the most scarce treasure is hidden in the brave expenditure of the ordinary.
The tale of Agatha’s gamble became a legend whispered through office cubicles, a cautionary yet enticing fable of trading the essential for the extraordinary. And though her vacation days remained scarce, Agatha’s heart was forever full, a perpetual souvenir of the year she bought back her time, and with it, the magic of living.
