12 January 2013

hagiography

[hag-ee-og-ruh-fee, hey-jee-]

noun,
plural hag·i·og·ra·phies.

1. the writing and critical study of the lives of the saints; hagiology.
2. biography or writing that idolises its subject.

Example sentence:

‘Spare us the hagiography regarding the politician; the spin does not match the reality’.

Today’s aphorism

‘ We find comfort among those who agree with us — growth among those who don’t’.

– Frank A. Clark

On this day

12 January 1948 – The United States Supreme Court that the all-white law school at University of Oklahoma must provide education to black students that is equal to the education provided to white students.

12 January 2012 – magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Haiti, killing between 100,000 and 250,000. Humanitarian aid was slow in coming to Haiti because of the damage to the country’s infrastructure, which resulted in the high death toll. The earthquake is the fourth deadliest on record.

12 January 2003 – death of Maurice Gibb on the Isle of Man. Founded the Bee Gees with his brothers, Robin and Barry. Born 22 December 1949.

11 January 2013

moribund

[mawr-uh-buhnd, mor-]

adjective

1. in a dying state; near death.
2. on the verge of extinction or termination.
3. not progressing or advancing; stagnant: a moribund political party.

Origin:

1715–25; < Latin moribundus dying, equivalent to mori- (stem of morī to die) + -bundus adj. suffix

Related forms
mor·i·bun·di·ty, noun.
mor·i·bund·ly, adverb.
un·mor·i·bund, adjective.
un·mor·i·bund·ly, adverb.

Today’s aphorism

‘Any religion which professes to be concerned about the souls of men and women and is not concerned about the social and economic conditions that can scar the soul, is a spiritually moribund religion only waiting for the day to be buried’.

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

On this day

11 January 1986 – Brisbane’s Gateway Bridge opens.

11 January 2008 – death of Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. Hillary and sherpa Tbeenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Mt Everest.

10 January 2013

deluge

[del-yooj, -yoozh, del-ooj, -oozh, dih-looj, -loozh]

noun, verb, del·uged, del·ug·ing.

noun
1. a great flood of water; inundation; flood.
2. a drenching rain; downpour.
3. anything that overwhelms like a flood: a deluge of mail.
4. the Deluge, flood ( def 3 ) .
verb (used with object)
5. to flood; inundate.
6. to overrun; overwhelm: She was deluged with congratulatory letters.

Today’s aphorism

‘I could see that the white man did not care for each other the way our people did …  They would take everything from each other if they could … some … had more of everything than they could use, while crowds of people had nothing at all … This could not be better than the old ways of my people’.

– Black Elk, Sioux Holy Man, Second-cousin of Crazy Horse, 1863 – 1950.

On this day

10 January 1946 – the inaugural meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, with 51 nations, convenes in London.

10 January 1949 – RCA introduces the world’s first vinyl record which played at 45rpm while Columbia released the world’s first vinyl record which played at 33rpm.

10 January 1998 – Night of Noah, Townsville. The city was deluged with rains from ex-Tropical Cyclone Sid. In a 24-hour period, 549mm fell on the city as recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology, however of this, more than 500mm during a 12 hour period. There were unofficial recordings that exceeded 700mm during this period.

9 January 2013

factoid

[fak-toid]
noun
1. an insignificant or trivial fact.
2. something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as fact, devised especially to gain publicity and accepted because of constant repetition.

Origin:
1973; fact + -oid

Related forms
fac·toi·dal, adjective.

Example sentence:

This website provides some fascinating factoids.

Today’s aphorism

‘When my cats aren’t happy, I’m not happy. Not because I care about their mood but because I know they’re just sitting there thinking up ways to get even’.

– Percy Bysshe Shelley

On this day

9 January 1324 – death of Marco Polo, Italian explorer. Born 15 September 1254.

8 January 2013

solecism

[sol-uh-siz-uh m, soh-luh-]

noun

1. a nonstandard or ungrammatical usage, as unflammable and they was.
2. a breach of good manners or etiquette.
3. any error, impropriety, or inconsistency.

Origin:

1570–80; < Latin soloecismus < Greek soloikismós, equivalent to sóloik ( os ) ( Sólo ( i ) a city in Cilicia where a corrupt form of Attic Greek was spoken + -ikos -ic) + -ismos -ism

Related forms
sol·e·cist, noun.
sol·e·cis·tic, sol·e·cis·ti·cal, adjective.
sol·e·cis·ti·cal·ly, adverb.

Example sentences:

‘This is just between you and I’ rather than ‘This is just between you and me’

‘Whom shall I say is calling?’ rather than ‘Who shall I say is calling?’

Today’s aphorism

‘Breathe in, breathe out, move on’.

– Jimmy Buffett.

On this day

8 January 1935 – birth of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.

8 January 1947 – birthday of David Bowie, British musician and actor, born David Robert Jones.

8 January 1959 – Fidel Castro’s rebel forces take control of Cuba. Castro eventually became President and ruled the nation until 2011.

7 January 2012

rancour

[rang-ker]
noun

– bitter, rankling resentment or ill will; hatred; malice.
Also, especially American, ran·cor.

Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English rancour < Middle French < Late Latin rancōr- (stem of rancor ) rancidity, equivalent to Latin ranc ( ēre ) (see rancid) + -ōr- -or1

Example sentence:

The rancour between the Capulets and the Montagues, culminated in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

Today’s aphorism

‘Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire’.

– Confucius

On this day

7 January 1979 – Brutal Cambodian dictator, Pol Pot, is overthrown as Vietnamese forces invade Phnom Penh. Pol Pot and his army, the Khmer Rouge, were responsible for killing approximately 1.7 million people.

5 January 2013

nefarious

[ni-fair-ee-uh s]
adjective

– extremely wicked or villainous; iniquitous: e.g. ‘a nefarious plot’.

Origin:
1595–1605; < Latin nefārius wicked, vile, equivalent to nefās offense against divine or moral law ( ne- negative prefix + fās law, right) + -ius -ious, with intervocalic s > r

Related forms
ne·far·i·ous·ly, adverb.
ne·far·i·ous·ness, noun.
un·ne·far·i·ous, adjective.
un·ne·far·i·ous·ly, adverb.
un·ne·far·i·ous·ness, noun.

Synonyms
flagitious, heinous, infamous; vile, atrocious, execrable.

Antonyms
good, honest.

Today’s aphorism

‘The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now’.

– Chinese proverb.

On this day

5 January 1914 – Henry Ford introduces the $5 per day wage, which was double the rate previously offered. Ford believed it would help him keep his best people and that it would enable his workers to buy Ford cars.

5 January 1933 – work commences on San Fransisco’s Golden Gate bridge. It was completed on 19 April 1937. The bridge is 2.7km long and 227.4m high.

5 January 1945 – Japanese Kamikaze pilots crash their planes into American ships, sinking 30 ships and killing approximately 5,000 Americans.

5 January 1968 – the ‘Prague Spring’ in Czechoslovakia occurred through the political and economic reforms of leader Alexander Dubcek aimed at introducing ‘socialism with a human face’. The reforms included freedom of speech and allowing non-communist political organisations. The Soviet Union were less enthusiastic about these reforms and invaded Czechoslovakia with 600,000 troops.

4 January 2013

pampas

[pam-puh z; attributively pam-puh s; Spanish pahm-pahs]

plural noun, singular pampa [-puh; Spanish -pah]

– the vast grassy plains of southern South America, especially in Argentina.

Example sentence:

‘The Argentinian government, to populate the country (Patagonia) and to attract settlers to its vast pampas, hit on the idea of giving at least 150 acres of land, seed, implements, horses etc, tax free, all loans to be repayable after five years’.

– Emilio Duran’s memoirs, 1904 – 1976.

Today’s aphorism

‘Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm. But the harm does not interest them’.

– T.S. Eliot

On this day

4 January 1903 – Thomas Edison electrocutes an elephant to prove the dangers of ‘alternating current’ electricity. He had previously electrocuted stray cats and dogs and even horses and cows. He snidely referred to it as ‘getting Westinghoused’. Topsy, the elephant, had squashed 4 trainers at the Luna Park Zoo on Coney Island, so the zoo had decided to hang her, before someone suggested she ‘ride the lightning’. More on this at http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0104

 4 January 1965 – death of Thomas Stearns Eliot (T.S. Eliot), poet, playwright, publisher, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, described as ‘arguably the most important English language poet of the 20th century’. Wrote ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock‘,  ’The Waste Land‘, ‘Ash Wednesday‘, ‘The Hollow Men‘. Born 26 September 1888.

3 January 2013

privation

[prahy-vey-shuh n]

noun
1. lack of the usual comforts or necessaries of life: His life of privation began to affect his health.
2. an instance of this.
3. the act of depriving.
4. the state of being deprived.

Origin:

1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French privacion ) < Latin prīvātiōn- (stem of prīvātiō ) a taking away. See private, -ion

Synonyms
1. deprivation, want, need, distress. See hardship.

Example Sentence:

‘The New World, with its chances, was beckoning to every able-bodied man who was not afraid of hard work and suffering privations, to achieve some kind of emancipation, whether the ownership of land or of business’.

– from Emilio Duran’s memoirs (1904 – 1976).

Today’s aphorism

‘I wish life was not so short, he thought. languages take such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about’.

– J.R.R. Tolkien

On this day

3 January 1892 – birth of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of ‘The Hobbit‘ and ‘Lord of the Rings‘. Died 2 September 1973.