13 March 2013

pochemuchka

noun, Russian

[poh-chay-MOOCH-ka, почемучка]

– a person who asks too many questions, who always wants to know the reason or meaning of things, who is extremely inquisitive.

From the Russian children’s book, Alyosha Pochemuchka, in which the title character is an extremely inquisitive 5 year old boy.

Derived from the Russian word ‘pochemu’ (почему), meaning ‘why’.

Example sentence

‘Because of the highly disruptive pochemuchka in the front row, the professor failed to finish the lecture in the allocated time’.

Today’s aphorism

‘How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world’.

– William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

On this day

13 March 1929 – The Butler Act is passed, making it illegal to teach the theory of evolution in schools in Tennessee. The Act was repealed in 1967.

13 March 1969 – Disney releases the hit movie, The Love Bug, based on a Volkswagen Beetle with a life of its own.

13 March 1979 – a left-wing military coup in Grenada overthrows Prime Minister, Sir Eric Gairy. His leadership was controversial with allegations of illegitimately winning the election, rigging a Miss World contest and calling for the United Nations to establish a committee to investigate UFOs and extraterrestrial life.

13 March 1996 – Sixteen children at the Dunblane Primary School in Scotland are shot dead by former boy scout leader, Thomas Hamilton. The massacre resulted in stricter gun laws in the United Kingdom.

12 March 2013

onomasticon

[on-uh-mas-ti-kon, -kuhn]

noun

1. a list or collection of proper names.
2. a list or collection of specialized terms, as those used in a particular field or subject area.
Origin:
1700–10; < Greek onomastikòn ( bíblion ) vocabulary arranged by subjects; see onomastic

Today’s aphorism

Writing starts with living.

– L.L. Barkat

On this day

12 March 1922 – birth of Jack Kerouac, American beat-generation writer, ‘On the road‘. Died 21 October 1969.

12 March 1922 – Mahatma Gandhi arrested for promoting boycotts and civil unrest. He had campaigned for passive resistance to the British Empire and encouraged followers to not buy anything made in Britain or Europe.

12 March 1930 – Mahatma Gandhi, 61 years old, leads a peaceful protest against the ‘salt tax’ which the British Empire had introduced. He and his followers marched more than 320 km to the salt mines in Jalalpur.

12 March 1945 – death of Anne Frank, author of the ‘Diary of Anne Frank’, from typhus. She was born on 12 June 1929.

11 March 2013

visceral

[vis-er-uhl]

adjective
1. of or pertaining to the viscera (the abdominal cavity).
2. affecting the viscera.
3. of the nature of or resembling viscera.
4. characterized by or proceeding from instinct rather than intellect: a visceral reaction (a gut reaction).
5. characterized by or dealing with coarse or base emotions; earthy; crude: a visceral literary style.

Today’s aphorism

Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.

– Plato.

On this day

11 March 20013 – The United States renames the humble ‘french fries’ to ‘freedom fries’ in response to the French President, Jacques Chirac, condemning the U.S. actions in Iraq.

10 March 2013

malapropism

[mal-uh-prop-iz-uhm]

noun
1. an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.
2. an instance of this, as in “Lead the way and we’ll precede.”
Origin:
1840–50; Malaprop + -ism

Related forms
mal·a·prop·is·tic, adjective

Example sentence:

Like any good malapropism, this was a blunder that encapsulated a truth.

Today’s aphorism

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

– Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV)

On this day

10 March 1917 – British forces drive Turkish forces out of Baghdad, taking control of the city.

10 March 1940 – birth of Carlos Ray Norris, aka Chuck Norris, American actor, martial artist and invincible superhero.

8 March 2013

quaternary

[kwot-er-ner-ee, kwuh-tur-nuh-ree]

adjective, noun, plural quat·er·nar·ies.
adjective
1. consisting of four.
2. arranged in fours.
3. ( initial capital letter ) Geology . noting or pertaining to the present period of earth history, forming the latter part of the Cenozoic Era, originating about 2 million years ago and including the Recent and Pleistocene Epochs. See table under geologic time.
4. Metallurgy . (of an alloy) having four principal constituents.
noun
5. a group of four, e.g. primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary …
6. the number four.
7. ( initial capital letter ) Geology . the Quaternary Period or System.

Today’s quote

What’s another word for Thesaurus?

– Steven Wright

On this day

8 – 12 March 1917 – February Revolution. Part of the Russian Revolution which resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, ending the Romanov dynasty and the creation of the Russian Provisional Government, initially led by Prince George L’vov and then by socialist Alexander Kerensky.

8 March 1973 – Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia, is fire-bombed, killing 15 people. The building was on the corner of Amelia Street and St Paul’s Terrace. It was claimed the fire was part of an extortion attempt of night-club owners. The men found guilty of the crime, continued protesting their innocence from prison, claiming they were verballed.

7 March 2013

polylemma

noun

– a multiple dilemma or one with many equally unacceptable alternatives; a difficult predicament.

Example sentence:

The captain was confronted with a polylemma of solutions to the difficult problem.

Today’s aphorism

“And don’t try to enchant me with your manner of dress
‘Cause a monkey in silk is a monkey no less”

– Rodriguez, from the song, Like Janis

On this day

7 March 1876 – Scottish-born Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.

7 March 1988 – Cyclone Bola strikes Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne/East Cape region of north-eastern New Zealand. It is one of the costliest cyclones to hit N.Z. Three people were killed and thousands were evacuated.

7 March 1999 – death of Stanley Kubrick, legendary movie producer. Some of his movies include ’2001 – A Space Odyssey’, ‘The Shining’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’, ‘Full Metal Jacket’ and ‘Eyes Wide Shut’.

7 March 2011 – Charlie Sheen fired from U.S. sitcom, ‘Two and a Half Men’ after allegations of drug abuse.

6 March 2013

schadenfreude‏

noun (German)

– deriving pleasure from the misfortunes of others.

Example sentence:

“To feel envy is human, to savour schadenfreude is devilish.” (Arthur Schopenhauer)

Today’s aphorism

Humour is just Schadenfreude with a clear conscience.

– Friedrich Nietzsche

On this day

6 March 1836 – death of Davy Crocket, American frontiersman, King of the Wild Frontier.

6 March 1899 – aspirin is patented in Germany by Friedrich Bayer and Co. It is the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, which included an extract from the bark of the willow tree.

6 March 2012 – A three-year old McNuggett shaped like George Washington sells for $8,100 on eBay by a woman in Nebraska.

5 March 2013

harbinger

[hahr-bin-jer]

noun

1. a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; herald.
2. anything that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign: Frost is a harbinger of winter.
3. a person sent in advance of troops, a royal train, etc., to provide or secure lodgings and other accommodations.
verb (used with object)
4. to act as harbinger to; herald the coming of.
Origin:
1125–75; late Middle English herbenger, nasalized variant of Middle English herbegere, dissimilated variant of Old French herberg ( i ) ere host, equivalent to herberg ( ier ) to shelter (< Germanic; see harbor) + -iere -er2

Synonyms
2. herald, forerunner, precursor, portent, indication.

Today’s aphorism

I almost always urge people to write in the first person. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.

– William Knowlton Zinsser

On this day

5 March 1946 – The term ‘Iron Curtain’ to describe the Soviet Union and Communist Europe, is coined in a speech by Winston Churchill.

5 March 1953 – USSR leader Joseph Stalin died at his dacha at Kuntseva,15km west of Moscow, following a stroke three days earlier. An autopsy suggested he may have died from ingesting warfarin, a rat poison which thins the blood, and that this may have caused the cerebral hemorrhage. The warfarin may have been added to his food by Deputy Premier Beria and Nikita Khrushchev. It was later revealed by former Politburo member, Vyacheslav Molotov in his 1993 memoirs that Beria had boasted of poisoning Stalin.

4 March 2013

acolyte

[ak-uh-lahyt]

noun
1. an altar attendant in public worship.
2. Roman Catholic Church .
a. a member of the highest-ranking of the four minor orders.
b. the order itself. Compare exorcist ( def 2 ) , lector ( def 2 ) , ostiary ( def 1 ) .
3. any attendant, assistant, or follower.
Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English acolite < Medieval Latin acolytus < Greek akólouthos follower, attendant, equivalent to a- prefix denoting association + -kolouthos, variant of kéleuthos road, journey

Today’s aphorism

Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will.

– Thomas Carlyle

On this day

4 March 1987 – President Ronald Reagan admits that the U.S. negotiated the Iran-Contra deal, which swapped ‘arms for hostages’ in order to secure the release of hostages from Iran.