19 April 2013

shibboleth

[shib-uh-lith, ‐leth]
noun
1. a peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons, e.g. ‘The New York accent is a distinct shibboleth’, ‘political shibboleths distinguished the major parties during the election’.
2. a slogan; catchword.
3. a common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth.

Origin:
< Hebrew shibbōleth literally, freshet, a word used by the Gileadites as a test to detect the fleeing Ephraimites, who could not pronounce the sound sh (Judges 12:4–6)

Today’s aphorism

Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.

– Japanese proverb

On this day

19 April 1987 – The Simpsons is first aired on television in the United States.

19 April 1993 – 70 members of the cult Branch Davidian sect, led by David Koresh, perish following a fire at their Waco compound. It is believed they lit the fire deliberately as federal agents stormed the compound following a siege that began in February 1993.

19 April 1995 – Terrorist Timothy McVeigh detonates a bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, including 19 children, and injuring 680 people. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on 11 June 2001.