Erika Cheung: Theranos, whistleblowing and speaking truth to power | TED

Important Vocabulary Words From The Video

gunpoint

When someone is gunpoint, they are holding a gun to someone's head and demanding that they do something. This can be a situation where someone is being mugged, or it can be a situation where someone is being forced to do something that they don't want to do.

  • The robber was gunpointing the cashier as she made her escape.
  • The government is using gunpointing to force people to pay their taxes.
spurring

Spurring is giving someone a push in the right direction. This can be done in a positive way, by encouragement, or in a negative way, by force.

  • The coach was trying to spur the team on by giving them encouragement.
  • The teacher was trying to spur the students on by scaring them.
outlier

An outlier is a person or thing that is different from the rest of the population. Outliers are usually unusual in some way, and they tend to stand out from the rest.

  • The outlier in the group was the one who was the tallest.
  • The outlier in the study was the one who smoked the most.
  • The outlier in the data set was the one with the most errors.
befriended

To befriend someone is to become friends with them. This can be a difficult process, because it takes a lot of trust to be friends with someone.

  • It can be difficult to befriend someone who is very closed off.
  • It was difficult to befriend her because she was always busy.
revolutionize

To revolutionize something is to change it completely. When the government starts to revolutionize, they are changing the way that the country is run.

  • The government is trying to revolutionize the education system.
  • The company is trying to revolutionize the way that they do business.
endearingly

Endearingly means affectionately. When she endearingly called him her little lamb, she was being affectionate.

  • She was endearingly polite to the customer.
  • She was endearingly apologetic for the mistake.
behemoth

A behemoth is a large, powerful creature. Behemoths can range in size from a small animal to a large animal like a elephant.

  • The behemoth was a huge animal, much larger than any other animal in the forest.
  • The behemoth was so big that he couldn't fit through the small opening.
culminate

To culminate is to reach a climax or the highest point. The climax of a story or movie is the point where the action is the most intense.

  • The movie culminates with the battle between the good and evil.
  • The story culminates with the wedding.
conceptualize

To conceptualize something is to understand it in a way that is separate from the actual physical object or thing. You might conceptualize a object in your mind before you ever see it.

  • The artist conceptualizes the objects in a very abstract way.
  • She conceptualized the idea of a school without walls.