11 May 2013

splenetic

[spli-net-ik]

adjective Also, sple·net·i·cal.
1. of the spleen; splenic.
2. irritable; peevish; spiteful.
3. Obsolete . affected with, characterized by, or tending to produce melancholy.
noun
4. a splenetic person.
Origin:
1535–45; < Late Latin splēnēticus. See splen-, -etic

Related forms
sple·net·i·cal·ly, adverb
un·sple·net·ic, adjective
un·sple·net·i·cal·ly, adverb

Synonyms
2. vexatious, irascible, testy, fretful, touchy, petulant, choleric.

Today’s aphorism

‘If you kick a stone in anger, you’ll hurt your own foot’.

– Korean proverb.

On this day

11 May 1904 – birth of Salvador Dali, Spanish surrealist painter. Died 23 January 1989.

11 May 1981 – death of Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer and musician. Born 6 February 1945.

11 May 1985 – death of Chester Gould, American creator of the cartoon strip, ‘Dick Tracy’. He drew the comic strip from 1931 to 1977. Born 20 November 1900.

10 May 2013

per se

[pur sey, see, per]

adverb

– by, of, for, or in itself; intrinsically: This candidate is not a pacifist per se, but he is in favor of peaceful solutions when practicable. Synonyms: innately, inherently, indigenously, fundamentally.

Origin:
1565–75; < Latin per sē by itself, translation of Greek kath’ autó

Today’s aphorism

The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.

-Eldridge Cleaver

On this day

10 May 2003 – The Golden Gumboot opens in Tully, North Queensland. It stands 7.9m tall and represents the record annual rainfall of 7900mm that Tully received in 1950. Tully is officially Australia’s wettest town.

9 May 2013

ad hoc

[ad hok; Latin ahd hohk]

adverb

1. for the special purpose or end presently under consideration: a committee formed ad hoc to deal with the issue.

adjective

2. concerned or dealing with a specific subject, purpose, or end: The ad hoc committee disbanded after making its final report.

Ad hoc can also mean makeshift solutions, shifting contexts to create new meanings, inadequate planning, or improvised events (Wikipedia).

Origin:
1550–60; < Latin ad hōc for this

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

9 May 1960 – the ‘pill’, a contraceptive, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is now used by 100 million women worldwide.

9 May 1970 – 100,000 protestors gather near the White House to protest US involvement in the war in Cambodia.

9 May 1994 – Nelson Mandela is chosen by the newly-elected South African parliament to be the country’s new President.

8 May 2013

logomachy

[loh-gom-uh-kee]

noun

plural lo·gom·a·chies.

1. a dispute about or concerning words.
2. an argument or debate marked by the reckless or incorrect use of words; meaningless battle of words.
3. a game played with cards, each bearing one letter, with which words are formed.

Origin:
1560–70; < Greek logomachía. See logo-, -machy

Related forms
log·o·mach·ic [law-guh-mak-ik, log-uh-] Show IPA , log·o·mach·i·cal, adjective
lo·gom·a·chist, log·o·mach, noun

Example:

‘In totalitarian regimes they have virtually absolute control over the semantic description of society and individuals. In democratic societies, the result may be called logomachy, or the “war of words”. This is the natural semantic consequence of disputes over such ‘essentially contested concepts’ as democracy, freedom, justice, equality and so on’.

– Geoffrey Hughes, Words in Time: A Social History of the English Vocabulary. Blackwell, 1988

Today’s aphorism

‘A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty’.

– Albert Einstein.

On this day

8 May 1911 – birthday of Robert Johnson. American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.

8 May 1945 – VE day. Victory in Europe – the day that Nazi Germany formally surrendered in World War II.

7 May 2013

contrail

[kon-treyl]

noun

– a visible condensation of water droplets or ice crystals from the atmosphere, occurring in the wake of an aircraft, rocket, or missile under certain conditions.

Also called condensation trail, exhaust trail, vapor trail.

Origin:
1940–45; con(densation) trail

Today’s aphorism

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.

– Walt Whitman, poet (1819-1892)

On this day

7 May 1919 – birthday of Eva Perón, first lady of Argentina and second wife of Argentine President, Juan Perón. Her life was immortalised in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Evita, which included the hit song, ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’.

5 May 2013

elide

[ih-lahyd]

verb (used with object), e·lid·ed, e·lid·ing.
1. to omit (a vowel, consonant, or syllable) in pronunciation. For example, headlines will often elide words that would otherwise be necessary: ‘Bank made record profit’, which normally would read: ‘The bank made a record profit’.
2. to suppress; omit; ignore; pass over.
3. Law. to annul or quash.
Origin:
1585–95; < Latin ēlīdere to strike out, equivalent to ē- e-1 + -līdere, combining form of laedere to wound

Related forms
un·e·lid·ed, adjective

Today’s aphorism

If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.

– Sun Tzu

On this day

5 May – Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for 5th of May), celebrates Mexican heritage and pride. It originated as a celebration of freedom for Mexicans following the victory by Mexican forces over the French at the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862.

5 May 1821 – death of Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor

4 May 2013

aegis

[ee-jis]

noun

1. Classical Mythology . the shield or breastplate of Zeus or Athena, bearing at its center the head of the Gorgon.
2. protection; support: ‘under the imperial aegis’.
3. sponsorship; auspices: ‘a debate under the aegis of the League of Women Voters’.
Also, egis.

Origin:
1695–1705; < Latin < Greek aigís shield of Zeus or Athena, probably from aig- (stem of aíx goat) + -is noun suffix, from a type of shield made of goatskin

Synonyms
3. patronage.

Today’s aphorism

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.

– Albert Einstein.

On this day

4 May 1970 – National Guards open fire on anti-war protesters, killing four. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young wrote the song ‘Tin Soldiers’ about the incident.

3 May 2013

malapert

[mal-uh-purt]

adjective
1. saucy or impudent, for example ‘a malapert person’.

noun
2. a saucy or impudent person, for example ‘a malapert’.

[C15: from Old French: unskilful (see mal- , expert ); meaning in English influenced by apert frank, from Latin apertus open]

‘malapertly

— adverb

‘malapertness

— noun

Today’s aphorism

When you focus on problems, you’ll have more problems. When you focus on possibilities, you’ll have more opportunities.

– Unknown

On this day

3 May 1933 – birth of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. He died 25 December 2006.

2 May 2013

fanfaron

[FAN-fuh-ron]

noun

– A boaster or a braggart.

ETYMOLOGY:
From French fanfaron, from Spanish fanfarrón (braggart), perhaps from Arabic farfar (talkative), of expressive origin. The words fanfaronade and fanfare have the same origin. Earliest documented use: 1622.

USAGE:
“I yelled in his ear congratulations for not spending his egg money on fancy clothes and strutting about like a fanfaron.”
Moritz Thomsen; Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle; University of Washington Press; 1990.

Today’s aphorism

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody. I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

– Mother Teresa.

On this day

2 May 1519 – death of Leonardo Da Vinci, Italian renaissance inventor, painter, sculptor, mathematician, writer.