This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 27–February 2, 2024

A Pacific Ocean exploration team believes they've spotted the remains of Amelia Earhart's plane nearly 87 years after it disappeared. The pioneering aviator was attempting an around-the-world flight in a 10-passenger Lockheed 10-E Electra when she went missing. The company Deep Sea Vision announced on January 27 that its underwater drone had captured sonar images of what may be Earhart's aircraft. Aviator derives from the Latin avis, "bird."

An 85-year-old Virginia woman was reunited with her missing bridal portraits after a stranger won them for five dollars at an auction. The winner, Sandra Poindexter, enlisted the help of online researchers to help track down the bride, who was photographed wearing an elegant strapless wedding gown. They eventually found Harriet Galbraith, whose 1959 portrait had been taken after she and her husband eloped. Bridal originally meant "wedding feast."

The IRS announced that it collected more than $520 million in back taxes from delinquent millionaires and billionaires in 2023. The agency recouped the overdue payments from about 1,600 wealthy Americans as part of a push to "ensure that the taxpayers with the highest income pay what is legally owed under federal law," according to the IRS commissioner. The Latin root of delinquent is delinquere, "to fail, fall short, or do wrong."

Three U.S. troops were killed and more than 40 were wounded in a drone attack in Jordan on January 28. The Houthi military, a militia group, claimed responsibility for the strike, which they said was in retaliation for the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza. The remotely-piloted, armed aircraft may have been mistaken by air defenses at the military base for an American drone. Government officials have said the attack "requires a response."

A family-owned toy store that inspired the Toy Story movies will close permanently next month. One of the 12 animators who worked on Pixar's original Toy Story grew up working at Jeffrey's Toys, which operated in the city for 86 years. The closing is part of a larger retail exodus from San Francisco; many stores have shuttered in recent months, citing high rent and low foot traffic. The Greek root of exodus means "a going out."

A man who stole Dorothy's ruby slippers from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota said he believed the gems on them were real. Though Terry Martin took the famous bejeweled shoes 20 years ago, he wasn't caught and sentenced until this week. Martin said he never saw The Wizard of Oz, but he knew the slippers were insured for $1 million. He thought they must be made of genuine rubies that he could sell on the black market. Martin soon learned the red stones were made of glass.

One of Scotland's last kilt tailors created a new accreditation program to keep the skill alive. Marion Foster has been sewing and altering the traditional Scottish highland wear for years, after learning the craft and its history from a military kilt tailor. Now she's one of few who know how to stitch the tartan skirt-garment that's worn by men at formal events, like weddings, and for Highland dance. Kilt comes from the Middle English kilten, "to tuck up."

Property developer Evergrande, once the largest real estate company in China, was ordered by a judge in Hong Kong to liquidate. The firm defaulted in 2021 after running out of money and now owes more than $300 billion to creditors. Everything owned by Evergrande must now be sold in an attempt to pay back those debts. The decision is likely to further affect China's struggling economy. The original meaning of liquidate was "make clear," from a Latin root that means "fluid."

A new study comparing neural networks during handwriting and typing suggests that writing by hand improves the ability to learn. Researchers observed that the connections between nerves and the brain appeared to be stronger and more elaborate when subjects wrote letters with a pen and paper than when they typed on a computer keyboard. Scientists say those connections are vital to learning and remembering new information. Neural's Greek root, neuron, means "nerve."

Hundreds of unionized French farmers converged on Paris for what they described as a siege. They are protesting low wages and government regulations, as well as competition from imported food. Farmers have escalated their demonstrations, setting up roadblocks and erecting barricades around the city using tractors and bales of hay, resulting in miles of traffic jams.

After last year's devastating layoffs, which cut about 260,000 jobs in the technology industry, workers hoped the improving economy would bring better news. But despite lower inflation and higher profits, companies including Meta, Amazon, and Google have fired more than 25,000 employees just this month. Economists say that the more workers these large companies lay off, the higher their stock prices climb, giving them little incentive not to cut jobs.

A sports tribunal ruled on January 29 that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva would be banned from competing through 2025. The Court for Arbitration of Sport reached its final decision two years after Valieva was found to have taken a performance-enhancing drug during the Russian National Championships in St. Petersburg. In Latin, tribunal means "platform for the seat of magistrates," which led to its definition as "judgment seat."