20 July 2014
dishabille
[dis-uh-beel, -bee]
noun
1. the state of being dressed in a careless, disheveled, or disorderly style or manner; undress. ‘She greeted me in a dishabille’.
2. a garment worn in undress.
3. a loose morning dress.
4. a disorderly or disorganized state of mind or way of thinking.
Also, des·habille.
Origin:
1665–75; < French déshabillé, noun use of past participle of déshabiller to undress, equivalent to dés- dis-1 + habiller to dress; see habiliment
Can be confused: décolletage, décolleté, dishabille.
Anagram
abide hills
shield bail
Today’s metaphor
Can you hear the ancient calling,
See the empires we’ve built are falling,
All we have is the human touch,
The clock is ticking even as we rush
– from Pyramid by Andrew Stockdale, Wolfmother
On this day
20 July 356 BC – birth of Alexander the Great, Macedonian King. He conquered the Persia Empire, which ruled Asia Minor, The Levant and Syria, Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia. He then invaded India before returning to Persia. He died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon, most likely by poisoning. Died 10 June 323 BC.
20 July 1919 – birthday of Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. Hillary and sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Mt Everest.
20 July 1969 – Apollo 11 becomes the first manned landing on the moon, with Neil Armstrong the first man to walk on the moon, followed by Edwin (Buzz) Aldren Jr. Michael Collins drew the short straw and remained in orbit in order to pick up Armstrong and Aldren later.
20 July 1973 – death of Bruce Lee, martial artist and actor.
20 July 1976 – birth of Andrew Stockdale, Australian rock musician, leader singer, lead guitarist and founding member of Wolfmother. In 2007, Stockdale and his Wolfmother mates, won ‘Songwriter of the Year’ at the APRA Awards. Stockdale’s vocal style has been described as a cross between Ozzy Osbourne and Robert Plant. Musically, he has been compared with Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi. He grew up in Ashgrove, Brisbane.