5 July 2013

madcap

[mad-kap]
adjective
1. wildly or heedlessly impulsive; reckless; rash: a madcap scheme.
noun
2. a madcap person.
Origin:
1580–90; mad + cap1

Today’s quote

Tramp squares with rebellious treading!
Up heads! As proud peaks be seen!
In the second flood we are spreading
Every city on earth will be clean.

Vladimir Mayakovsky – “Our March” (1917); translation from C. M. Bowra (ed.) A Book of Russian Verse (London: Macmillan, 1943) p. 125.

On this day

5 July 1989 – Former US Marine and white-house aide, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North given a three-year suspended sentence, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours of community service after being convicted of ‘accepting an illegal gratuity’, ‘aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry’ and ordering the destruction of documents during his role in the Iran-Contra affair (a political scandal during the Reagan administration in which the US government was selling weapons via intermediaries to Iran, a nation that was blacklisted from receiving weapons. The profits were channeled through Nicaraguan terrorist groups, the Contras, which were violently opposing Nicaragua’s ruling left-wing Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction).

4 July 2013

niggle

[nig-uhl]

verb (used without object), nig·gled, nig·gling.
1. to criticize, especially constantly or repeatedly, in a peevish or petty way; carp: to niggle about the fine points of interpretation; preferring to niggle rather than take steps to correct a situation.
2. to spend too much time and effort on inconsequential details: It’s difficult to be meticulous and not niggle.
3. to work ineffectively; trifle: to niggle with an uninteresting task.
Origin:
1610–20; < Scandinavian; compare Norwegian nigla to be penurious (ultimately < Old Norse hnøggr stingy, cognate with Old English hnēaw ); cf. niggard

Related forms
nig·gler, noun

Today’s aphorism

‘My country, right or wrong’ is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying ‘My mother, drunk or sober’.

– G.K. Chesterton

On this day

4 July 1943 – birthday of Alan Wilson. American guitarist and singer-songwriter for Canned Heat.

3 July 2013

halcyon

[hal-see-uhn]

adjective

Also, hal·cy·o·ni·an [hal-see-oh-nee-uhn], hal·cy·on·ic [hal-see-on-ik]

1. calm; peaceful; tranquil: halcyon weather.
2. rich; wealthy; prosperous: halcyon times of peace.
3. happy; joyful; carefree: halcyon days of youth.
4. of or pertaining to the halcyon or kingfisher.
noun
5. a mythical bird, usually identified with the kingfisher, said to breed about the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea, and to have the power of charming winds and waves into calmness.
6. any of various kingfishers, especially of the genus Halcyon.
7. ( initial capital letter ) Classical Mythology , Alcyone ( def 2 )

Today’s aphorism

I see myself as an intelligent, sensitive human, with the soul of a clown which forces me to blow it at the most important moments.

– Jim Morrison

On this day

3 July 1969 – death of Brian Jones. English guitarist for the Rolling Stones. He was 27.

3 July 1971 – death of Jim Morrison, lead singer and song writer of the Doors. He was 27.

2 July 2013

platitude

[plat-i-tood, -tyood]

noun
1. a flat, dull, or trite remark, especially one uttered as if it were fresh or profound.
2. the quality or state of being flat, dull, or trite: the platitude of most political oratory.
Origin:
1805–15; < French: literally, flatness, equivalent to plat flat (see plate1 ) + -itude, as in French latitude, altitude, magnitude, etc.

Can be confused: platitude, plaudit.

Synonyms
1. cliché, truism.

Today’s aphorism

The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see.

Alexandra K. Tenfor

On this day

2 July 1961 – death of Ernest Hemingway, American author. He wrote books including ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls‘ and ‘Old Man and the Sea‘.