11 April 2015

fracas

[frey-kuh s; British frak-ah]

noun
1. a noisy, disorderly disturbance or fight; riotous brawl; uproar.

Origin of fracas
French, Italian
1720-1730; < French < Italian fracasso, derivative of fracassare to smash, equivalent to fra- (< Latin infrā among) completely + cassare to break; see cassation

Dictionary.com

Examples from the web for fracas
– The fracas is occurring amid the release of the first comprehensive industrywide study of commercial costs.
– When it responded with subtraction, a public-relations fracas ensued.
– But more worrying is what the fracas reveals about the bank’s management.

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Today’s aphorism

You must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be.

– Marianne Williamson

On this day

11 April 1979 – Ugandan President Idi Amin (Dada) is ousted when Tanzanian rebels sieze power. Amin flees to Libya and eventually settles in Saudi Arabia. Amin had been responsible for ethnic cleansing, killing an estimated 80,000 to 300,000 people.

11 April 1981 – Riots in Brixton, South London commence following the arrest of a black man. On a day known as ‘Black Saturday’, up to 5,000 youths confront police and run riot through the streets, looting, throwing petrol bombs, burning hundreds of cars and buildings, and injuring hundreds of people. Police arrested 82 people.