This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 19–April 25, 2026

In a meeting between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the leaders agreed to nearly double bilateral trade by 2030. The two countries currently do about $27 billion in trade annually, with South Korea exporting goods including electronics, steel, and car parts to India, while India trades mainly chemicals, aluminum, and petroleum in return. Bilateral is from the Latin bi-, "two," and latus, "side."

A vintage ensemble worn by Madonna at Coachella went missing after her surprise performance. When the pop star joined Sabrina Carpenter onstage at the California music festival to perform "Vogue" and "Like a Prayer," she was wearing a purple jacket, corset, and dress, which vanished later that day. Officials suspect a bag containing the outfit may have fallen off a golf cart. Ensemble is from the French ensemblée, "parts of a thing taken together."

Several letters written by English poet John Keats were found by a book dealer and returned to their owners. The epistles that Keats sent to Fanny Brawne in 1819 and 1820 are widely celebrated as works of poetry. Eight of the missives were stolen from a Whitney family home in the 1980s. When a man tried to sell them to B&B Rare Books, the owner alerted authorities; this week, they were returned to the Whitney estate. The Greek root of epistle means "message or letter."

A new study showed that although people tend to eschew small talk, most find these routine conversations more interesting than expected. Nine experiments included 1800 participants. Even when told to expect boring chitchat, the kind nearly all claimed to avoid in real life, the majority said the exchanges were engaging and pleasant. Researchers suggested interaction with another person is more important than the topic discussed. The Germanic root of eschew means "to shun."

The FAA is investigating an incident in which air traffic controllers at National Airport in Washington, D.C., heard pilots meowing and barking over the radio. In a rare moment of levity, one pilot said, "Meow," and another responded, "Meow." An air traffic controller scolded, "You guys, you need to be professional pilots," only to hear the replies, "Meow meow meow meow," and "Ruff! Ro-ro-ro-ro-ro!" Nonessential communication, no matter how hilarious, is prohibited below 10,000 feet.

A California man was arrested for a complex scheme that involved buying thousands of Lego sets, replacing the pieces with small bags of uncooked pasta, returning them to Target stores, and collecting refunds. These machinations earned 28-year-old Jarrelle Augustine about $34,000 before he was caught by officers from the Irvine police department and charged with grand theft.

U.K. lawmakers objected to changes in the country's official definition of marmalade. A new deal with the EU means revised labeling rules for food and drink, including the toast spread. Any fruit preserves can now be called marmalade, a term once strictly reserved for citrus flavors. Opponents to the change want to "protect the integrity" of orange marmalade. Ironically, marmalade, originally "preserve made from quince," is from a root meaning "quince."

A life vest worn by a first-class passenger who survived the sinking of the Titanic was among several mementos of the infamous ocean liner that were auctioned off last weekend. Other memorabilia up for sale included a seat cushion from one of the lifeboats and one of two metal whistles known to have been recovered from the ship. The life vest was sold for more than $900,000. In Latin, memento means "remember."

Three people who used a bear suit to swindle insurance companies were sentenced to serve six months in jail. A fourth defendant has a court hearing scheduled for September. The four scammed insurers out of nearly $150,000 by staging attacks on their own cars and claiming a bear had done it. The scheme involved one of them donning a bear suit and scratching the cars with kitchen implements, while the others took photographs and videos that they then submitted with their insurance claims.

After dozens of tornadoes tore through multiple Midwestern states, many communities spent this week tackling the cleanup. At least 66 twisters were reported in states including Iowa, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri. The violent windstorms damaged more than 100 homes and buildings and ripped down power lines, leaving about 10,000 people without electricity. No deaths were reported from the storms. Tornado is from the Spanish tronada, "thunderstorm."