Today’s WOTD – 15 November 2012

redoubtable

[ri-DOU-tuh-buhl]

adjective:

– Arousing fear or awe; evoking respect or honor.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Old French redoutable, from redouter (to dread), from re- (again) + douter (to doubt, fear). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dwo- (two) that also gave us dual, double, dubious, doubt, diploma, twin, between, and didymous. Earliest documented use: 1421.

USAGE:
“Even the redoubtable German economy now seems to be buckling.”
Powering Down; The Economist (London, UK); Jul 7, 2012.

Today’s aphorism

‘The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don’t ask for their love; only for their fear’.

– Heinrich Himmler

On this day

15 November 1943 – Nazi SS leader, Heinrich Himmler issues an order stating that Gypsies were to be treated the same as Jews and sent to concentration camps.

15 November 1988 – Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestinian National Conference, declares the independence of Palestine.

15 November 2007 – Cyclone Sidr, with 160km/h winds, strikes Bangladesh. Over 2 million people are evacuated from coastal areas. Around 5,000 people were killed.