megalo-mnemonical sat vocab: words that sound like food

it’s too bad that you’re not allowed to eat during the sat, right? okay, so maybe four hours isn’t exactly an eternity to go without food, especially when you can (and should) have a little snack during the breaks, but it’d be nice to have a more relaxed atmosphere like that.

anyway, if you’re hungry, you might start seeing food everywhere—including in the vocabulary the test throws at you.

 

kudos

the food: kudos is a brand of granola bar that likes to wear candy bar clothes. by that, i mean that they’re covered in chocolate, m&m’s, and peanuts, depending on the kind you get. my mom used to put these in my lunch as a “dessert,” and i always felt a bit cheated. granola in a candy bar? pshh.

the sat word: kudos is praise. if you’ve heard it, it was probably used as an exclamation to mean the same thing as “congrats.” it can also be used in sentences, though.

the mnemonic: after his promotion, he got a lot of kudos from his coworkers in the form of kudos bars.

 

relish

the food: no need for an introduction. even if you’re not a relish user, you have to admit that it really makes a nice array of colors along with ketchup and mustard. (also, can we talk about how weird it is that amazon sells hot dog condiments?)

the sat word: if you do something “with relish,” then you’re really enjoying yourself while you do it. it’s also a verb—to relish—meaning pretty much the same thing: to enjoy doing something. so if i say “i took the first sip of my hot chocolate with relish,” i don’t mean that i’m putting pickle sauce into my swiss miss.

the mnemonic: i never relish hot dogs as much as i do when they’re topped with relish.

 

canny

the food: i don’t actually mean that cans are food, clearly. but they hold food. close enough.

the sat word: you could tie this one in with prudent from our old-people mnemonics, if you wanted. canny also means cautious and, at times, cheap. a canny shopper never spends more than they should. but you can also be a canny test-taker if you follow the right sat strategies at the right times.

the mnemonic: doomsayers thought they were being canny as they stocked up on cans in december of 2012.

 

sure, these may not be the most common sat words, but hopefully the mnemonics help you remember a little more than your typical sat vocabulary flashcards.