17 November 2013

wizened

[wiz-uhnd; wee-zuhnd]

adjective

– withered; shriveled: a wizened old man; wizened features.
Origin:
1505–15; wizen + -ed2

Dictionary.com Unabridged

wiz·en [wiz-uhn; wee-zuhn] British Dialect .

verb (used without object), verb (used with object)

1. to wither; shrivel; dry up.

adjective
2. wizened.

Origin:
before 900; (v.) Middle English wisenen, Old English wisnian; cognate with Old Norse visna to wither; (adj.) shortened form of wizened

Today’s aphorism

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.

– Dalai Lama

On this day

17 November 1950 – 15 year-old, Tenzin Gyatso becomes the 14th Dalai Lama in Tibet, a position he holds to this day.

17 November 1973 – U.S. President Richard Nixon televises a speech in which he states, ‘I am not a crook’. This was in relation to allegations of his involvement in the Watergate Scandal, in which documents were stolen from the offices of the Democratic National Convention at the Watergate Hotel in Washington on 17 June 1972. Nixon was implicated in the break-in when recordings of conversations held in the Oval Office showed his involvement. Impeachment proceedings were commenced, however, Nixon resigned on 8 August 1974 and avoided being impeached, although he faced possible criminal proceedings. Vice-President Gerald Ford became President immediately following Nixon’s resignations, and on 8 September 1974, Ford pardoned Nixon of any wrong-doing.