1 August 2015
temerity
[tuh-mer-i-tee]
noun
1. reckless boldness; rashness.
Origin of temerity
late Middle English Latin
1400-1450; late Middle English temeryte < Latin temeritās hap, chance, rashness, equivalent to temer (e) by chance, rashly + -itās -ity
Synonyms
audacity, effrontery, foolhardiness.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for temerity
Contemporary Examples
Just two weeks ago, The New York Times Magazine had the temerity to ask, “Has the Libertarian Moment Finally Arrived?”
(The Libertarian Moment in Ferguson, Nick Gillespie, August 20, 2014)
Nor is it where the gunman then viciously pistol whips his victim repeatedly for having the temerity not to die.
(Bronx Gunman Shot His Friend, Didn’t Spill His Drink, Michael Daly, August 4, 2014)
Should the caller have the temerity to ask where they were, the phone call would be quietly ended.
(The Bookstore That Bewitched Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and Greta Garbo, Felice Picano, December 15, 2014)
Anagram
teem I try
merit yet
Today’s quote
The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return.
– Gore Vidal
On this day
1 August – the official birthday for all thoroughbred horses in the Southern Hemisphere .(see 1 January for Northern Hemisphere).
1 August 10BC – birth of Claudius, Roman Emperor. He was treated as an imbecile because he’d been born with a limp and slight deafness. As a result he was not seen as a threat by others and therefore survived the purges by Caligula and Tiberius. He was the last surviving man in his family following Caligula’s assassination, leading to him being declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard. He proved himself to be an able administrator and constructed many roads, aqueducts and canals across the empire. He successfully invaded Britain, something that previous emperors, including Caligula, had failed to do achieve. He was assassinated by poisoning, many believe by his wife. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew, Nero. Died 13 October 54AD.
1 August 1774 – Joseph Priestly discovers oxygen. Controversially, Carl Willhelm Scheele claims to have discovered oxygen in 1773, but did not publish his findings until 1777, well after Priestly published his own in 1775. Scheele claimed Priestly was an oxygen thief. Other claimants to the discovery of oxygen include Michal Sędziwój (in the 16th century) and Antoine Laurent Lavoisier who was working concurrently with Priestly and Scheele.
1 August 1794 – Whiskey Rebellion, which was a protest against a tax imposed by George Washington on the production of whiskey by grain growers.
1 August 1799 – France becomes the first country to introduce the metric system.
1 August 1834 – slavery officially abolished throughout the British Empire.
1 August 1882 – death of Henry Kendall, Australian poet. Born 18 April 1839.
1 August 1936 – Adolph Hitler opens the XI Olympiad in Berlin, Germany.
1 August 2012 – death of Gore Vidal, American author, playwright, essayist and political activist.