Chapter 2 of Introducing Irony is here in full — 565 sentences across 113 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Introducing Irony is here in full — 565 sentences across 113 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly. “No, I’ll leave that to death,” said the man. “Come inside and warm your candour.” “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes. “Come out to the well and we’ll haul her up,” said the man.
Chapter 2 of Introducing Irony is here in full — 565 sentences across 113 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/113 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
deprive somebody of something by deceit
From this reading ““Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.”
more quickly
From this reading ““No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.”
draw slowly or heavily
From this reading ““Come out to the well and we’ll haul her up,” said the man.”
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading ““Come inside and warm your candour.””
plural of “shriek” — sharp piercing cry
From this reading ““No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.”
having eyes half closed in order to see better
From this reading ““No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.”
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading ““No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.”
one whose business is the management of funerals
From this reading ““Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading ““No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.”
where the air is unconfined
In this reading ““No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.”
appear or become visible; make a showing
In this reading ““Come out to the well and we’ll haul her up,” said the man.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “Come inside and warm your candour.”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
the quality of being honest and straightforward in attitude and speech
From this reading “Come inside and warm your candour.”
a light shade of blue
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
deprive somebody of something by deceit
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “Come inside and warm your candour.”
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading “No, I’ll leave that to death,” said the man.
opinion or judgment
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
more quickly
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
draw slowly or heavily
From this reading “Come out to the well and we’ll haul her up,” said the man.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading “Come out to the well and we’ll haul her up,” said the man.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “No, I’ll leave that to death,” said the man.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading “Come inside and warm your candour.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
go away from a place
From this reading “No, I’ll leave that to death,” said the man.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “No, I’ll leave that to death,” said the man.
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
not any; not one
From this reading “No, I’ll leave that to death,” said the man.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
plural of “shriek” — sharp piercing cry
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
in a merry sportive manner
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
having eyes half closed in order to see better
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “No, I’ll leave that to death,” said the man.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “No, I’ll leave that to death,” said the man.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
hard to endure
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
one whose business is the management of funerals
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading “Come out to the well and we’ll haul her up,” said the man.
in a waggish manner
From this reading “Trying to cheat a poor old undertaker out of his business!” said Latour, waggishly.
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading “Come inside and warm your candour.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Come out to the well and we’ll haul her up,” said the man.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “Come out to the well and we’ll haul her up,” said the man.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “No, thank you, shrieks travel faster through the open air,” said Geroid, squinting at the man’s sportively cerulean eyes.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Come inside and warm your candour.”
Chapter 2 of Introducing Irony by Maxwell Bodenheim holds 565 sentences, grouped into 113 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 2 holds 565 sentences of Introducing Irony, unabridged, divided into 113 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Introducing Irony by Maxwell Bodenheim exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 565 sentences, grouped into 113 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 113 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 113 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 2 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Introducing Irony by Maxwell Bodenheim on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1074 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60427 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60427, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 89 minutes of reading across 215 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Introducing Irony section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of Introducing Irony to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Introducing Irony, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
