31 May 2013

voracious

[vaw-rey-shuhs, voh-, vuh-]

adjective

1. craving or consuming large quantities of food: a voracious appetite.
2. exceedingly eager or avid: voracious readers; a voracious collector.

Origin:
1625–35; voraci(ty) + -ous

Related forms
vo·ra·cious·ly, adverb
vo·ra·cious·ness, noun
un·vo·ra·cious, adjective
un·vo·ra·cious·ly, adverb
un·vo·ra·cious·ness, noun

Can be confused: veracious, vociferous, voracious.

Synonyms
1. See ravenous. 2. rapacious, insatiable.

Today’s aphorism

‘You only have power over people as long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power … he’s free again’.

— Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

On this day

31 May 1948 – birth of John Bonham, Led Zeppelin drummer. Died 25 September 1980.

27 May 2013

vermin

[vur-min]
noun, plural ver·min.

1. noxious, objectionable, or disgusting animals collectively, especially those of small size that appear commonly and are difficult to control, as flies, lice, bedbugs, cockroaches, mice, and rats.
2. an objectionable or obnoxious person, or such persons collectively.
3. animals that prey upon game, as coyotes or weasels.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English vermyne < Anglo-French, Middle French vermin, vermine < Vulgar Latin *verminum, *vermina, based on Latin vermin-; see verminate

Today’s aphorism

It’s never too late to be what you might have been.

– George Eliot

On this day

27 May – 3 June: National Reconciliation Week, which is celebrated in Australia every year on these dates. The dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey — the anniversaries of the successful 1967 referendum (27 May) and the High Court Mabo decision (3 June 1992). The 1967 referendum saw over 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census. On 3 June, 1992, the High Court of Australia delivered its landmark Mabo decision which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land—that existed prior to colonalisation and still exists today. This recognition paved the way for land rights called Native Title. 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of the Mabo decision. http://www.reconciliation.org.au/nrw/what-s-nrw-

26 May 2013

virulent

[vir-yuh-luhnt, vir-uh-]

adjective

1. actively poisonous; intensely noxious: a virulent insect bite.
2. Medicine/Medical . highly infective; malignant or deadly.
3. Bacteriology . causing clinical symptoms.
4. violently or spitefully hostile.
5. intensely bitter, spiteful, or malicious: a virulent attack.

Today’s aphorism

‘For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children’s futures, and we are all mortal’.

– John F. Kennedy

On this day

26 May 1890 – Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, is released in England.

26 May 2012 – death of Festus, our beloved and most awesome budgie.

25 May 2013

venal

[veen-l]

adjective

1. willing to sell one’s influence, especially in return for a bribe; open to bribery; mercenary: a venal judge.
2. able to be purchased, as by a bribe: venal acquittals.
3. associated with or characterized by bribery: a venal administration; venal agreements.

Origin:
1645–55; < Latin vēnālis, equivalent to vēn ( um ) (accusative) for sale (cf. vend) + -ālis -al1

Related forms
ve·nal·ly, adverb
non·ve·nal, adjective
non·ve·nal·ly, adverb
un·ve·nal, adjective

Can be confused: venal, venial.

Synonyms
1. bribable, corruptible. See corrupt.

Antonyms
1. incorruptible.

Today’s aphorism

‘A towel, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough’.

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

On this day

25 May – Towel Day. A tribute to Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which states that a towel is ‘about the most massively useful thing that an interstellar hitchhiker can have‘. First held in 2001, two weeks after the death of Adams. Fans carry a towel with them on this day in appreciation of Adams and his work.

24 May 2013

vanquish

[vang-kwish, van-]

verb (used with object)

1. to conquer or subdue by superior force, as in battle.
2. to defeat in any contest or conflict; be victorious over: to vanquish one’s opponent in an argument.
3. to overcome or overpower: He vanquished all his fears.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English vencuschen, venquisshen < Old French vencus past participle and venquis past tense of veintre < Latin vincere to overcome

Related forms
van·quish·a·ble, adjective
van·quish·er, noun
van·quish·ment, noun
un·van·quish·a·ble, adjective
un·van·quished, adjective

Today’s aphorism

Without the freedom to criticize, there is no true praise.

– Pierre Beaumarchais, playwright (1732-1799)

On this day

24 May 1930 – Amy Johnson, flying a Gypsy Moth, lands in Darwin. She is the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.

24 May 2012 – Tens of thousands of Norwegian public servants go on strike demanding pay rises and improvements in working conditions. It is the first such strike in Norway since 1984.

23 May 2013

vivify

[viv-uh-fahy]

verb (used with object), viv·i·fied, viv·i·fy·ing.

1. to give life to; animate; quicken.
2. to enliven; brighten; sharpen.

Origin:
1535–45; alteration (with -fy for -ficate ) of late Middle English vivificate < Latin vīvificātus (past participle of vīvificāre ). See vivi-, -ficate

Related forms
viv·i·fi·ca·tion, noun
viv·i·fi·er, noun
un·viv·i·fied, adjective

Today’s aphorism

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

– Thomas Paine

On this day

23 May 1934 – notorious bank robbers, Bonny Parker and Clyde Barrow, are killed in a shoot-out with police in Black Lake, Louisiana. Bonny and Clyde have been immortalised in songs and movies.

22 May 2013

vexation

[vek-sey-shuhn]

noun
1. the act of vexing.
2. the state of being vexed; irritation; annoyance: vexation at missing the bus.
3. something that vexes; a cause of annoyance; nuisance: Rush-hour traffic is a daily vexation.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English vexacioun < Latin vexātiōn- (stem of vexātiō ), equivalent to vexāt ( us ) (past participle of vexāre to vex; see -ate1 ) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms
self-vex·a·tion, noun
su·per·vex·a·tion, noun

Today’s aphorism

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring.

-Martin Luther King Jr

On this day

22 May 1927 – A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits the city of Xining in the Chinese province of Quinghai, killing up to 200,000 people. It is the 5th deadliest earthquakes recorded.

22 May 1972 – Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka to break away from its colonial past. Ceylon had been the colonial name given by Great Britain to the island. The name itself was derived from Portuguese when part of the island was a colony of Portugal.

22 May 2010 – Jordan Romero, a 13 year old U.S. boy, becomes the youngest person to conquer Mt Everest.