Imagine that one day you have to walk home by a different route, because they’re doing construction on the main street to mitigate the traffic congestion. You walk by a small restaurant you’ve never seen before, and go in for a look. Inside, you find delicious food, and singing waiters who serenade you with beautiful arias from your favorite operas. If you hadn’t been forced into this different path, you’d never have found this restaurant. That’s “serendipity” – the accidental discovery of something good or beneficial. In fact, serendipity is sometimes called a “happy accident”.

Example:  “She met her future husband through serendipity, when they were seated together at a friend’s wedding party.”

There won’t be much tension to mitigate when you’re with someone congenial. “Congenial” means “having the same likes and dislikes”. You and your best friend are likely congenial kindred spirits. If you’re in a group of people who enjoy the same thing – for example, an activity like skiing, or singing in a choir – then you’re in congenial company. You can also be in a congenial situation: one where you’re completely in your comfort zone, surrounded by affable people, even if you’re not a part of any particular group.

Example: “Being a music lover, I found myself in congenial company at the opening of the Sydney Opera House’s new season.”

If there’s conflict between two people in a group, one thing an amiable person can do is help decrease, or mitigate the tension. “Mitigate” means to reduce or decrease the effect of something negative. Sometimes that negative thing is more tangible, like a migraine:  medication can mitigate the pain of a headache. Sometimes it’s a negative emotion or feeling. Have you ever given someone flowers when they’ve had bad news, because you want to mitigate their sadness?

Example: “Construction workers are often required to wear earplugs to mitigate the noise of the machinery they operate.”

“Equanimity” means “calmness, especially during stressful situations”. It’s a characteristic of someone who maintains his or her composure. It’s often used to refer to a person’s way of speaking as well as their attitude – for example, “Although his tone was very aggressive, she answered him with equanimity”. Equanimity also refers to stability or steadiness, in a mental or emotional sense.

Example: “His exercises in meditation and prayer helped him view the chaos in his life with perfect equanimity”

An affable person is someone who is sociable and easy to talk to, and also someone who finds it easy to talk to other people. “Affable” means “friendly”, but in a quiet, calm way. Affable people are not necessarily the life of the party or the centers of attention. Instead, they’re the ones who listen as much as they talk. Everybody feels comfortable talking to them, because they’re comfortable talking to anyone. Other adjectives that describe this type of person are “amiable” and “cordial” – that is to say, polite and willing to go along with others, in a spirit of friendship.

Example: “Alex is invited to every outing – she’s so affable, she can get along with anyone”

Today’s word (which sounds pretty good to me) is “sinecure“. This might be your ultimate goal when using a curriculum vitae to find work – a sinecure is a job where you don’t have any duties or responsibilities, but you still get paid.

Example: “Rather than being a sinecure, this job has me doing something every minute of the day!”

 “elucidate” means “to make clear” or “to shed light on.” A synonym of elucidate is “explain.” If you’re a teacher, this is something you’ll be doing quite often.

Example: “His clear explanation helped elucidate the details of the complicated instructions.”

Welcome to another day of vocabulary building!

A hiatus is a pause or break in something that is otherwise ongoing. For example, a newspaper editor might write a column each week for publication, but when the editor is away on holiday, the column goes on hiatus – that is, there is a gap in the regularly-scheduled publishing. You could say that both the editor and the column are on vacation. “Hiatus” is both singular and plural, though it’s also correct to say “hiatuses.” However, since the term is most frequently used when talking about one instance in time, you generally won’t be faced with the problem of which form to use.

Example: “The offices are closed while the department is on hiatus.”