This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for August 30–September 5, 2025

Three Scottish brothers set a record for the fastest row across the Pacific Ocean. As Jamie, Ewan, and Lachlan Maclean completed their 139-day voyage, one brother played the bagpipes as the others waved Scottish, Australian, and United Kingdom flags. The three rowed a harrowing 9,000 miles nonstop to raise money for clean water projects. Jamie frequently picked up the iconic Scottish Highland instrument, its distinctive drone accompanying them on their arduous journey.

Massachusetts ecologists constructed a winter "hotel" for snakes, a place for at-risk reptiles to spend their cold-weather season of dormancy. They hope several species will use the underground hibernaculum, built to be warm and secure, but their main focus is the North American racer, a long, black snake that preys on rodents. Snakes' winter inactivity helps them conserve calories but also leaves them more vulnerable to harm. The Latin root of dormancy means "to sleep."

Over the past decade, an army of divers has smashed millions of sea urchins to help to save a threatened California kelp forest. The purple urchins, which feed on the sea plant, exploded in population after the decline of their natural predator, the sea otter. By destroying sea urchins, ecologists have cleared more than 80 acres for the kelp to grow freely, forming what's been described as an "otherworldly underwater forest" of towering seaweed.

The al-Nuri mosque reopened in Iraq eight years after it was destroyed by the Islamic State. The historic building, topped by a distinctive leaning minaret, was 850 years old when militants set off explosives inside the Islamic place of worship in 2017. With help from UNESCO, Iraqi religious and heritage authorities raised money to reconstruct the building using material salvaged from the original structure. Mosque is from the Arabic masjid, "temple."

A festival of tall ships celebrated Amsterdam's 750th anniversary as well as its nautical history. The maritime celebration, SAIL, is held every five years in the Dutch city. About 10,000 ships filled the harbor during the five-day event, with two million spectators attending. Many of the vessels were reproductions of 14th to 17th-century tall ships. The Greek root of nautical is nautikos, "seafaring."

A year-long trial of a four-day work week by the Scottish government found that employees were not only happier, but their productivity also increased. Two public organizations participated in the experiment, paying workers the same salaries but reducing their weekly work hours from 40 to 32. There were fewer sick days at both offices, and employees worked more efficiently. The number of job-related tasks that were accomplished actually increased, despite the shorter work week.

New analysis shows there are quadruple the previously estimated number of African giraffe species. Scientists had believed that all of the long-necked animals belonged to just one species. A closer look at genetic material and other data led researchers to divide African giraffes into four distinct groups: Northern giraffes, Southern giraffes, reticulated giraffes, and Masai giraffes. Quadruple derives from the Latin quadruplus, "fourfold," and quadri-, "four."

Attendance at the 2025 Pokémon World Championships made it absolutely clear how culturally relevant the 30-year-old franchise continues to be. More than 25,000 people gathered for the event at California's Anaheim Convention Center. Fans, many in costume, competed in the Pokémon video game, traded collectible cards, and battled each other using Pokémon decks. Enthusiasm for the brand has barely waned over the last three decades — it remains important to kids and nostalgic adults alike.

Moderate solar storms produced dazzling northern lights over parts of North America and Northern Europe on September 1. The unsettled activity on the sun wasn't as powerful as predicted, but it was enough to cause electromagnetic eruptions resulting in brilliant green and purple auroras. Solar derives from the Latin solaris "of the sun," and its root sol, "sun."

For the first time ever, the band Queen approved a translation of their iconic rock anthem Bohemian Rhapsody into another language. South Africa's Ndlovu Youth Choir released a Zulu version of the song to coincide with its fiftieth anniversary. Choir members who worked on the translation said they aimed to keep it "as true to the original as possible." Translation is from the Latin translationem, "a carrying across or a transfer of meaning."