This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for June 17–June 23, 2023

The disappointing box-office opening of Pixar's latest movie is causing concern about the animation studio's health. The computer-animated film Elemental, which cost more than $200 million to produce, took in $29.5 million last weekend, the worst ticket sales in Pixar's 30-year history. Animation, "action of imparting life," derives from the Latin anima, "life." The "moving cartoon pictures" meaning was first used in 1912.

After two major hurricanes last fall, Florida’s groves are yielding the smallest citrus crop in almost 100 years. Orange farmers have seen a decline in production for about two decades, but storm damage along with an epidemic of "greening disease" will make juice and other citrus products much more expensive this year. Florida orange juice is already costly — more than $10 per gallon. The Latin word citrus denotes the lemon-like citron tree.

Residents of Elko, Nevada, are struggling to clean up after an overwhelming insect infestation. Millions of Mormon crickets have blanketed the area, resulting in smelly, slippery conditions on roads and sidewalks as the stinky, ground-dwelling bugs are crushed under people's feet and car tires. Cricket comes from the French word criquer, "to creak or rattle," an imitation of the sound a cricket makes.

A new book has revealed details of a failed Russian plot to kill a defector in Florida. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, was involved in the attempt to kill Aleksandr Poteyev, who fled Russia and abandoned his job as a spy for the country's intelligence service more than 10 years ago. Poteyev became a CIA informant and was resettled in Miami. Russia's assassination attempt on U.S. soil resulted in sanctions and expulsions.

Dancing or going for brisk walks on a regular basis can slash the risk of diabetes by over 70 percent, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 60,000 participants who measured their level of physical activity, finding that an hour of moderate exercise significantly reduced occurrences of diabetes. Scientists speculate that brisk movement helps insulin work better, more efficiently managing blood sugar levels.

Over the long Juneteenth weekend, Washington D.C.'s National Archives gave visitors a rare opportunity to view the Emancipation Proclamation. The historic 1863 document, which declared that formerly enslaved Americans were free, was displayed along with General Order No. 3., officially informing enslaved Texans of their freedom two years later. The Latin roots of emancipation mean "deliver from the hand of ownership."

As concerns about Argentina’s financial crisis increase, the dining scene in Buenos Aires is flourishing. Economists say restaurants are thriving in part because people are spending their money before it loses more value. The Argentine peso has declined at a fast rate, as inflation soars above 114 percent. Wealthy and middle-class Argentinians are hurrying to use up a currency with which they can purchase less and less, in the process helping restaurants prosper like never before.

A nine-year-old boy found a 200-million-year-old ammonite fossil on a beach in Wales. The boy and his family were on the Llantwit Major beach in Glamorgan when he discovered the impression of a preserved mollusk in a cliff face. The fossil is about a foot wide and particularly interesting, according to archaeologists, because it was filled with quartz during the process of becoming fossilized. The Latin root of fossil means "dug up."

On June 20, the Senate began an investigation into Amazon labor practices. The probe will closely examine the working conditions at the company's warehouses. Senator Bernie Sanders, chair of the Senate committee on health, education, labor, and pensions, asked Amazon's CEO for detailed information including worker injury rates and productivity targets. Sanders has accused the company of focusing on profits at the expense of protecting its workers.

The United Kingdom's former prime minister, Boris Johnson, lost the privilege of entering Parliament without an escort this week. Unless he's accompanied by a current member of the country's highest legislative body, Johnson is banned from the House of Parliament, part of an official rebuke for parties he held during Covid lockdown. Parliament, originally meaning "a talk," is from the French parler, "to speak."

With the number of workers who commute to offices in decline, transit agencies in many cities are struggling. The continued popularity of remote work since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic means that large systems like San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit must adjust to a likely future in which fewer people take daily downtown trips on subways and buses. Transit is from the Latin transitus, "passage," and a root meaning "to go beyond."

The Supreme Court upheld a law aimed at keeping Native American adoptees with their tribes and traditions. Justices considered whether the law, which gives preference to Native American families in the adoption of Native children, was constitutional. Though their decision focused on states' rights in family law, Indigenous leaders were pleased with the outcome, which continues the practice of keeping children within their cultural groups and upholds tribal rights.