What’s in Today’s Episode?
Learn ten new words in the context of a Greek myth about Arachne the Weaver in a new Word Power episode from English Plus Podcast.
Audio Episode
Reading
Arachne the Weaver
Arachne lived with her father, an artisan famous for the beautiful dyes he used to color his fine wools. At a young age, she had learned to spin her father’s wool into a delicate, soft thread and to weave the thread into the finest cloth.
As Arachne grew, so did her skills. Each piece of cloth she wove was more beautiful than the last. She soon earned a reputation as the finest weaver in all of Greece. People traveled for miles just to watch her skillful hands create fine, colorful cloth. Even the nymphs of the forests would sometimes lurk about the windows of her cottage, hoping to catch a glimpse of Arachne’s talented hands at work.
Before long, however, people began to whisper, “No human could have taught her to spin the thread and weave it into such magnificent cloth. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and art, must have taught her.”
Such talk made Arachne angry. One day, she could stand it no longer. “I learned my skills through long days and nights of practice,” she said. “Athena is no match for my skills.”
The crowd was stunned. Finally an old woman spoke up. “You fool! You must ask Athena’s forgiveness for such a remark.”
“Never!” snapped Arachne. “I challenge Athena to answer my words by participating in a contest to prove just who is the most skillful.”
Before Arachne could finish her challenge, the old woman transformed herself into a tall, beautiful woman dressed in flowing white robes. Everyone knew immediately that the old woman was Athena herself. Arachne was momentarily shaken but soon recovered. She would not retract her challenge.
The two approached a pair of looms and began to weave the colorful wool into cloth. For a few moments their skills seemed equal, but gradually Athena moved ahead. Infuriated at the thought of losing, Arachne began to weave pictures of evil things gods had done to people. Athena answered this impertinence by grabbing Arachne and saying, “You and all your descendants shall spin, and your spinning will remind people never to compete with the gods.”
At that Arachne shriveled into a small brown spider with six thin legs. She hung from one of the fine threads on her loom. All spiders are descended from Arachne, and their webs are a reminder that no mortal is equal to the gods.
Word list
artisan
An artisan is someone whose job requires skill with their hands.
craftsman or woman or person, technician, mechanic, journeyman
delicate
Something that is delicate is small and beautifully shaped.
Something that is delicate has a color, taste, or smell which is pleasant and not strong or intense.
reputation
To have a reputation for something means to be known or remembered for it.
Something’s or someone’s reputation is the opinion that people have about how good they are. If they have a good reputation, people think they are good.
lurk
If someone lurks somewhere, they wait there secretly so that they cannot be seen, usually because they intend to do something bad.
hide, sneak, crouch, prowl
participate
If you participate in an activity, you take part in it.
taking part, contribution, partnership, involvement
transform
To transform something into something else means to change or convert it into that thing.
To transform something or someone means to change them completely and suddenly so that they are much better or more attractive.
retract
If you retract something that you have said or written, you say that you did not mean it.
withdraw, take back, revoke, disown
infuriate
If something or someone infuriates you, they make you extremely angry.
enrage, anger, provoke, irritate
impertinence
If someone talks or behaves in a rather impolite and disrespectful way, you can call this behavior impertinence or an impertinence.
rudeness, nerve, cheek, face
shrivel
When something shrivels or when something shrivels it, it becomes dryer and smaller, often with lines in its surface, as a result of losing the water it contains.
wither, dry (up), wilt, shrink
Interactive Activities
Flashcards
Learn
Spelling Practice
Match
Test
Episode Transcript
This is your host Danny and this is word power from English plus podcast. In today’s episode we’re going to learn about 10. new words as usual in the context of a story from a Greek myth about arachnid, the weaver. What are the words we’re going to learn the words are artisan, delicate, reputation, lurk, participate, transform, retract, infuriate impertinence and shrivel. You’re interested. Of course you are. You want to learn the meanings of these words and you want to learn about the story of arachnid, the weaver. So join me in this episode, and we will learn about all that. Before we do that, let me remind you that you can have every single issue of English plus magazine if you become a patron of English plus on Patreon, the link is in the description. consider becoming a patron not only to get all the good stuff, we have to offer our patrons but also to support me to create more of the content you love. And the more support I get from you, the more time and resources I will have to create even more, and I have a lot of ideas. I’m just waiting for your support. And now without further ado, let’s start with the story of her acne, the weaver and then we will talk about the 10 words and we will learn what they mean in context. rockne lived with her father and artists and famous for the beautiful dyes he used to color his spine wounds. At a young age she had learned to spin her father’s wool into a delicate soft thread and to weave the thread into the finest cloth. As arachnid grew, so did her skills. Each piece of cloth she wove was more beautiful than the last. She soon earned a reputation as the finest Weaver in all of Greece, people traveled from miles just to watch her skillful hands create fine, colorful cloth. Even the nymphs of the forests would sometimes lurk about the windows of her cottage, hoping to catch a glimpse of Iraq nice talented hands at work. Before long, however, people began to whisper no human could have taught her to spin the thread and weave it into such magnificent cloth. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and art must have taught her such dog made arachnid angry. One day she could stand it no longer. I learned my skills through long days and nights of practice. She said Athena is no match for my skills. The crowd was stunned. Finally, an old woman spoke up, you fool. You must ask Athena’s forgiveness for such a remark. Never snapped arachnid. I challenge Athena to answer my words by participating in a contest to prove just who is the most skillful before rockne could finish her challenge. The old woman transformed herself into a tall, beautiful woman dressed in flowing white robes. Everyone knew immediately that the old woman was Athena herself. Iraqi was momentarily shaken, but soon recovered, she would not retract her challenge. The two approach two pair of looms and began to weave the colorful rule into cloth. For a few moments, their skill seemed equal, but gradually Athena moved ahead. infuriated at the thought of losing a rack they began to weave pictures of evil things Gods had done to people. Athena answered this impertinence by grabbing the rack knee and saying, you and all your descendants showed spin, and your spinning will remind people never to compete with the gods. At that arachnids shriveled into a small brown spider with six thin legs. She hung from one of the fine threads of her loom. All spiders are descended from arachnids, and their webs are a reminder that no mortal is equal to the gods. dope. That was the story. beautiful story, a beautiful Greek myth that usually explains how things came to be and in this story, we know how spiders came to be and we call them arachnids. After all, we use this word to talk about this family. But let’s move on now to talk about the words and we will start with the very first word are to Zan, ar t i s a n. Now let’s take a look how we use that income Next,
we said our acne lived with her father, an artisan famous for the beautiful dyes he used to color his fine wools. When we talk about an artisan, we’re talking about someone whose job requires skill with their hands. We’re talking about a technician, a craftsman or something. So that is the meaning of artisan. Her father, Iraqis father was an artisan. That is our first word. What about our second word, delicate, de LICAT? delicate? Let’s take a look at how we use that in context. We said at a young age, she had learned to spin her father’s wool into a delicate, soft thread and to weave the thread into the finest cloth. So what are we talking about here? When we talk about delicate What does that mean? Well, something that is delicate, is small and beautifully shaped. When we talk about delicate things. Yes, we can talk about delicate things and mean that they are small and beautiful. But we definitely talk about how beautiful these things are, how perfect these things are. And these things can be produced. If we’re talking about things that can be produced delicate things, these things can be produced only by highly skilled people. And in this case, arachnid was a highly skilled Weaver. So that is delicate. Let’s move on to talk about the next word reputation and reputation is spelled REPU t a t i o n.
Let’s take a look at how we use that in context. We said she soon earned a reputation as the finest Weaver in all of Greece. What is the meaning of reputation, to have a reputation for something means to be known or remembered for it?
Well,
you can have a good reputation or you can have a bad reputation. It is not always a good thing. Sometimes you might have a bad reputation because you do something bad. Or in this case, the reputation of arachnid was a good one. She soon earned a reputation as the finest Weaver she was known and remembered to be the finest Weaver in all of Greece. That is our word reputation. And now let’s move on to talk about the next word lurk Liu r k lurk.
Well, first, let’s see how we use that in context. We said even the nymphs of the forests would sometimes lurk about the windows of her cottage hoping to catch a glimpse of arachnids talented hands at work. What does that mean? If someone lurks somewhere they wait there secretly, so that they cannot be seen, usually because they intend to do something bad? Now, here the nymphs they didn’t want to do something bad, but they wanted to see how on earth she was doing all that beautiful work. How did she do it? So they were hiding, they were lurking. They didn’t want her to see them, because they wanted to see maybe they wanted to steal the secret of the trade or something. And that is the meaning of the word lurk. But remember, if someone lurks somewhere, usually because they intend to do something bad, not in particular, in our example, but in usual, it means like to sneak to crouch to prowl. So it is not a very innocent thing, right? to lurk. And now let’s move on to talk about our next word participate. Pa RT, I see it IP at E
participate.
Now let’s take a look at how we use that in context. arachnid said I challenge Athena to answer my words by participating in a contest to prove just who is the most skillful for acne who was there and who was just listening to these words, these challenging words, there was Athena herself, but the word participate, what does it mean? If you participate in an activity, you take part in it. So she was challenging Athena to participate in a contest, she put herself for her skills against the skills of a goddess. And that was her mistake. Of course, according to the legend, just let me remind you that we’re talking about a Greek myth here. We’re not talking about some history, right? But anyway, She challenged Athena to take part to participate in this contest. So that is the meaning of participate. Now let’s move on to talk about the next word transform, T r a n s f o r m transform.
Now let’s take a look at how we use that in context. We said the old woman who was listening she was in the crowd transformed herself in To a tall, beautiful woman dressed in flowing white robes. And everybody knew immediately that this old woman was not just any old woman was not a person, she was the goddess Athena herself. But anyway, the old woman transformed herself into a tall, beautiful woman, what does it mean? What is the meaning of transform to transform something into something else means to change or converted into that thing. And of course, we can use that for people as well to transform although I will have to say that we use transform to talk about a change for the better when we want to talk about transform a person, if you transform a person’s life or a person’s appearance it is for the better. Now they’re much better and much more attractive. But here it is simply to change. The old woman changed herself into a tall, beautiful woman. And obviously it works here as well, because the change was for the better, right? So that is our word transform. The next word is breath rat, r e t r a CT. Now let’s take a look at how we use that in context. We said she would not retract her challenge. We’re talking about iraq knee here, she saw that this old woman was Athena. Yes, she was shaken at first but soon recovered, she would not retract her challenge, what does it mean to retract? If you retract something that you have said or written? You say that you did not mean it that is the meaning of retract like withdraw, take it back. Now, when we say something bad to people, sometimes we might not mean it we just say it by mistake people get angry and we take what we say back we take what we write back We apologize Of course, and we say that we do not mean it that is the meaning of retract, if you retract something you have said or written you say that you did not mean it. But here in the case of poor acne, she did not. She did not retract her challenge. That was her mistake. Maybe it was okay for her case to be confident but not to be arrogant and not in the face of a goddess and not in the face of the goddess of wisdom Athena, but anyway, that is our word retract. The next word is infuriate INFURI at E infuriate. First let’s take a look at how we use that in context. We said for a few moments, their skills seemed equal but gradually Athena moved ahead. infuriated at the thought of losing Arachne. He began to weave pictures of evil things God had done to people. She was infuriated because Athena was getting ahead of her. Athena was winning that infuriated arachnid who was sure that she was the best Weaver in the world of all humans and gods. So what is the meaning of infuriate if something or someone infuriates you, they make you extremely angry, and that is exactly how arachnid felt she was infuriated at the thought of losing she was very angry that made her very extremely angry, like in rage provoked irritate but extremely angry that is the word infuriate. So if you want to say that something made somebody angry, that is okay. If you want to go to the maximum if you want to exaggerate that to the most use infuriate because that is extremely anger. And that is a word. The next word is impertinence, i m p e, r, t i n, e, n c, e impertinence. Now let’s take a look at how we use that in context. Athena answered this impertinence by grabbing arachnia and saying, you and all your descendants shall spin and your spinning will remind people never to compete with the gods. All of that was an answer to this impertinence. So what is the meaning of impermanence? The impermanence something arachnid did, obviously right? If someone talks or behaves in a rather impolite and disrespectful way, you can call this behavior impertinence or unimportant same thing, but you can say unimportant or just impertinence. So impertinence is just like saying rudeness being rude, impolite, disrespectful. And from Athena’s point of view arachnid was so impolite was so disrespectful by saying what she said and doing what she did weaving goes bad things God’s did to people and stuff like that. That was impertinence. And that is the meaning of impermanence. And that leaves me with one last word for today’s episode shrivel.
s h r i v e l shrivel. Now firstly, Take a look at how we use that in contexts. Now our acne had it coming at that arachnids shriveled into a small brown spider with six thin legs. Well, poor acne, of course, I feel sorry for her, because that is just a mistake. I mean, we all make mistakes. Imagine the next mistake you make you turn into a fraud or maybe a cockroach or something. I mean, that’s not fair. But in the world of Greek myths and legends, these stories were out there to tell people how things animals phenomenon came to be, and of course, to teach people one important thing, fear and respect the gods. Of course, that was the common thought back then. I’m not with it or against it, just saying that is too harsh for poor acne. But that doesn’t answer the question. What is the meaning of shrivel said that arachnids shriveled into a small round spider that seems to be something bad, right? But what does it mean when something shrivels it becomes drier and smaller, often with lines in its surface as a result of losing the water it contains, we say that about a plant for example, the plant shrivels and dies, it’s like saying dry up with her shrink willed something like that, all of that shriveled arachnids shriveled into a small brown spider and she was destined to be a spider and all her descendants to be spiders be great at and of course, spiders are the greatest Weaver’s in the world. I mean, you can just see the masterpieces they create every day not saying you are going to like those masterpieces in your own houses, but they are masterpieces nonetheless. Anyway, that happened to her acne. And that was the meaning of shrivel. And that was the last word for our episode, I hope you will learn new words you didn’t know about before. I hope you enjoyed the story. And now comes the time of practice. Now you’ve learned all these things. That’s perfect. It’s very good. I’m happy for you, you should be happy with yourselves. But if you want to retain these words, if you want to keep them in your active vocabulary bank, you want to use them later, you should practice and don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. I have all the practice you need on my website English plus podcast calm, the link is in the description. It’s not going to take you just to the website and you’re going to search for the practice. Now it’s going to take you to the custom post I created for this episode where you’re going to find all the exercises you need interactive exercises PDF, downloadable worksheet, whatever you need to practice and master these words so that they become part of your active vocabulary. Please take the link and take your English with it to the next level. And don’t forget you can always help me create more episodes and more content for English plus not only episodes By the way, I have great ideas that I want to create and work on for English plus not only audio episodes, a lot of other things but I need some support from you. So support English plus on Patreon you will help me you will give me the support the resources that I can use to create more content and as a token of my gratitude, you will get every single issue of English plus magazine but that being said, this is your host Danny, thank you very much for listening to another episode of English plus podcast. I will see you next time.
More Practice (Downloadable Practice Worksheet-PDF)
0 Comments