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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > AKIMBO

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connect today's word to others:

When things are all wonky, wobbly, slanted, askance, askew, and awry: they're akimbo.

Akimbo might have come from the Middle English phrase in keen bow, meaning "set at a sharp angle."

Speaking of sharp angles, see if you can recall this vivid, childlike term for things leaning at impossible angles or stacked up in defiance of gravity: S___sian.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

make your point with...

"AKIMBO"

To stand with arms akimbo is to stand with your hands at your hips, your elbows poking out, as in this photo from Wiktionary:


And more generally, something akimbo is crooked, at an angle, bent outward, flung outward in a wild way, or just wild and disorderly.

Pronunciation:
uh KIM bo

Part of speech:
Usually an adverb
   ("arms akimbo," "wings akimbo," "hats set akimbo," "curtains drawn akimbo")
but sometimes an adjective
   ("akimbo eyebrows," "akimbo melodies").

Other forms:
none

How to use it:

Pick this funny, colorful word to emphasize the random, awkward, haphazard manner in which something is set, flung, perched, or positioned.

To be literal, talk about people standing, sitting, or doing or saying things with arms akimbo, with legs akimbo, with hat akimbo and so on.

Or if you prefer, drop the word "with:" "he stood, arms akimbo;" "she squatted, legs akimbo;" "he ran, hat akimbo;" "she hollered, pigtails akimbo;" "Bob Marley, dreadlocks akimbo (Reuters)."

You also might talk about an object that's set akimbo, hung akimbo, folded akimbo, etc. Here's the Los Angeles Times: "The fire chewed through the top of the fuselage, with the entire plane listing to one side and the slides akimbo."

And to use "akimbo" figuratively, talk about akimbo tunes and melodies, akimbo moods and attitudes and so on--or plans going akimbo, ideas sitting akimbo in your mind, your heart going all akimbo at the sight of the person you love, etc.

examples:

In college one Christmas, we decorated our apartment door with scraggly scraps of gift wrap, ribbons protruding and bows akimbo, the whole monstrosity drawing peals of laughter from our guests and raised eyebrows from our ever-tolerant neighbors.

"Weaves, a forward-looking quartet that threads together hook-heavy choruses, akimbo songwriting and jittering art-pop sensibilities, is also giving the city the credibility it deserves as an exporter of dissonant, danceable music."
   — New York Times, 18 August 2016

study it now:

Look away from the screen to define "akimbo" without saying "sprawled" or "poking out."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "I don't mind _____, but _____ set(s) my mood akimbo."

Example: "I don't mind when plans change a few days ahead of time, but split-second changes set my mood akimbo."

before you review, play:

Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.

Our game is "TV Tropes!"

This month, we're playing with tropes from TVTropes.org. TV tropes are storytelling devices, which can come from any source of fiction—TV, movies, books, you name it. They're the archetypes, the story patterns, the plot devices, the cheap tricks, the situational clichés that we see over and over throughout fiction. 

Examples of TV tropes include "Skyward Scream," "Banister Slide," "Caught on the Jumbotron," "Burp of Finality," "City People Eat Sushi," "Dance Party Ending," "Clean Pretty Childbirth," "Come Back to Bed, Honey," "Even the Subtitler is Stumped," and tens of thousands more.

Naming a trope can be a straightforward business, as in the "Skyward Scream." But often it demands precision, inviting the use of humorously sophisticated terms. Enter our Make Your Point words. 

In each issue this month, consider the name of a TV trope, and try to define it or even give an example from a TV show or other work of fiction.

From the previous issue:

In fiction, what is the trope known as Appliance Defenestration?

Answer:

It's when a character, enraged, throws an appliance (such as a television) out a window. For example, on Scrubs, Dr. Cox defenestrates a computer.

Try this today:

In fiction, what is the trope known as Captain Ersatz?

review today's word:

1. A close opposite of AKIMBO is

A. MEEK.
B. ALIGNED.
C. DISPERSED.

2. She placed her arms akimbo in a posture of _____.

A. severity
B. quizzicality
C. nervousness

Answers are below.

a final word:

Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From Liesl's blog:
   36 ways to study words.
   Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
   How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.

To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

Answers to review questions:
1. B
2. A

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