Unit 7 Vocabulary: The Choice to be Amish

Most definitions and example sentences are taken from either the

Merrium-Webster Online Learners’s Dictionary or the

NorthStar 3 Reading and Writing Book (3rd Edition)

Pious

• Synonyms: godly, religious

• Adjective: deeply religious; devoted to a particular religion

• The Amish are a pious people.

Allow

• Verb: permit to do something– Allow love to flow threw

you.

Convenience

• Noun: things that make life easier and more comfortable

• The Amish are known for living without modern conveniences such as a computer.

Socialize

• Synonyms: hang out, converse

• Verb: to talk and do things with other people in a friendly way

• The Amish meet in home-based churches and socialize with family and friends from the community.

Bond• Synonym: connection,

closeness

• Noun: a feeling of closeness

• He is trying to maintain his bonds with his family by using the Internet, but living far away has still been difficult.

• Verb: to join (something) together; to form a close relationship with someone

Maintain

• Synonyms: keep, preserve

• Verb: to keep or continue

• I want to maintain my weight, so I need to eat well and exercise.

• As the years pass, the Amish maintain their simple farming style.

Establish

• Synonyms: set up, start, found

• Verb: to begin something

• Pious and hardworking, the Amish established farming communities.

Settle down

• Synonyms: stabilize, take root• Verb:

1. to become quiet, calm, or orderly- The mother told the child to settle down.

2. to become a part of a community or region (to begin to live a quiet and steady life by getting a regular job, getting married)

- The Amish settled down in the United States and Canada.- My mom is always asking me when I am going to settle down.

Persecution

• Synonyms: abuse, mistreatment

• Noun: cruel and unfair treatment (especially because of race, religious or political beliefs).

• Different groups have been persecuted for their beliefs.

Increase

• Verb: to make great in size or amount

– The number of Amish has not declined but has increased.

Decline

• Verb: to decrease; to become lower in amount or less in number

• The number of Amish has not declined but has increased.

Be up in the air

• Verb phrase: to be unable to decide

• Ruth Irene was up in the air about her decision to marry Ottie.

The pros and cons

• Noun phrase: good and bad sides

• As Ruth and Ottie developed a friendship, she had to think about the pros and cons of being close to an outsider.

The deciding factor

• Noun: the most important reason

• He has the opportunity to start his own business in Hong Kong. This was the deciding factor for him.

Be stuck between a rock and a hard place

• Verb phrase: having a hard time with a difficult choice

• While she really liked Ottie, she knew that if she followed him into the outside world, she would lose her Amish relationships. She was really struck between a rock and a hard place.

Turn (someone) down

• Verb: to say no to someone

• If she turned Ottie down, she might never see him again.

Open up a can of worms

• Verb phrase: to make a problem more complicated

• Don’t make things more complicated than they need to be; don’t open up a can of worms.

Regret

• Noun: a feeling of sadness or disappointment about something you did or didn’t do– Synonym: remorse– He knew that he would face

a lifetime of regret if he did not try it.

• Verb: to feel sad or sorry about– I deeply regret what I said.