10 November 2014
palliasse
[pal-yas, pal-yas, pal-ee-as, pal-ee-as]
noun
1. (Chiefly British). a mattress of straw; pallet.
Also, paillasse. (American)
Origin
French, Italian
1500-1510; < French < Italian pagliaccio straw pallet, equivalent to pagli (a) straw (< Latin palea chaff) + -accio pejorative noun suffix. From French paillasse, from Italian pagliaccio, ultimately from Latin palea
Dictionary.com
Example
– Trainees recalled wire beds with palliasses and the iron wardrobes: ‘they used to wake you up by running down the centre of the hut belting these iron wardrobes with a truncheon’. From ‘Gough Whitlam: a moment in history: the biography – Volume 1’, by Jenny Hocking.
Anagram
alias spiel
pals liaise
Today’s aphorism
If your world doesn’t allow you to dream, move to one where you can.
– Billy Idol
On this day
10 November 1919 – birth of Mikhail Kalashnikov, Soviet Union hero, inventor of the world’s most popular assault weapon, the AK-47, or ‘Kalashnikov’. The AK-47 stood for Kalashnikov Assault, 1947, the year it was designed. He was awarded the ‘Hero of Russia’ medal as well as Lenin and Stalin prizes. Kalashnikov invented the AK-47 to protect the national borders of the Soviet Union. The AK-47 has a simple design, which makes it very reliable and easy to replicate. Kalashnikov hadn’t patented the design internationally. As a result, of the estimated 100 million AK-47s in the world today, it is believed that at least half are copies. Although his weapon has been favoured by armies and guerillas across the globe, Kalashnikov claimed he never lost sleep over the numbers of people killed by it. He always maintained that he invented it to protect the ‘Fatherland’s borders’. He did however, rue the use of it by child soldiers. Kalashnikov was a World War II veteran who was wounded in 1941. While recovering in hospital he conceived the design. Died 23 December 2013.
10 November 1969 – Sesame Street debuts on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), featuring muppets by Jim Henson. It is one of the longest running tv shows in history and has been highly successful at increasing the literacy and numeracy skills of children.
10 November 1982 – Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet President, dies in office from a heart attack.