skewer

skewer

n.

: a long piece of wood or metal used for holding pieces of food, typically meat, together during cooking

v.

: fasten together or pierce with a pin or skewer

They nibbled chunks of Cheddar cheese skewered with toothpicks.

: informal: criticize (someone) sharply

ardent

ardent

adj.

: enthusiastic or passionate

an ardent baseball fan

compendious

compendious

adj.

: presenting the essential facts of something in a comprenhensive but concise way

innocuous

adj.

: not harmful or offensive

It was an innocuous question.

Both mushrooms look innocuous but are in fact deadly.

scruple

n.

: (usually scruples) a feeling of doubt or hesitation with regard to the morality or propriety of a course of action

I had no scruples about eavesdropping.

Without scruple, these politicians use fear as a persuasion weapon.

beside the point

irrelevant

uptight

adj.

: informal: anxious or angry in a tense and overly controlled way

Don't get so uptight about everything.

strip mall

: a shopping mall consisting of stores and restaurants typically in one-story buildings located on a busy main road

out of the bottle

not going back

kudos

praise and honor received for an achievement

weigh in on

: to bring one's weight or influence to bear especially as a participant, contributor, or mediator

weigh in with an opinion

it's not surprising that the AP would weigh in on the question.

call on

1. pay a visit to sb

He's planning to call on Katherine today.

2. have recourse to

We are able to call on academic staff with a wide variety of expertise.

3. demand that someone to do something

He called on the government to hold a plebiscite.

to throw spaghetti against the wall (to see what sticks)

to throw spaghetti against the wall (to see what sticks)

: to approach a task using the trial and error method

I want to do extensive research on this before we move forward. There's too much at stake to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.

en route

/ahn 'root/

adv.

: during the course of a journey; on the way

He stopped in Turkey en route to Geneva.

whammy

whammy /hwam-ee/, /wam-ee/

n.

: informal: an event with a powerful and unpleasant effect; a blow

The third whammy was the degradation of the financial system.

: an evil or unlucky influence

I've come to put the whammy on them.

double whammy

: a twofold blow or setbck