21 August 2013

progenitor

[proh-jen-i-ter]

noun

1. a biologically related ancestor: a progenitor of the species.
2. a person or thing that first indicates a direction, originates something, or serves as a model; predecessor; precursor: the progenitor of modern painting.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin prōgenitor the founder of a family. See pro-1 , genitor

Related forms
pro·gen·i·to·ri·al [proh-jen-i-tawr-ee-uhl, -tohr-] Show IPA , adjective
pro·gen·i·tor·ship, noun

Today’s aphorism

The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.

– Leon Trotsky

On this day

21 August 1940 – death of Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary. Murdered by ice-pick wielding Rámon Mercader.

21 August 1970 – birth of Fred Durst, American rock vocalist with Limp Bizkit.

21 August – International Day of Lucid Dreaming. For further information check out this podcast on ABC radio

20 August 2013

levee ⁽¹⁾

[lev-ee]

noun, verb, lev·eed, lev·ee·ing.
noun

1. an embankment designed to prevent the flooding of a river.
2. Geology , natural levee.
3. Agriculture . one of the small continuous ridges surrounding fields that are to be irrigated.
4. History/Historical . a landing place for ships; quay.
verb (used with object)
5. to furnish with a levee: to levee a treacherous stream.

Example:

If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
When The Levee Breaks I’ll have no place to stay.

– From When the Levee Breaks, a blues song written by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. Later recorded by Led Zeppelin and released on Led Zeppelin IV in 1971.

Origin:
1710–20, Americanism; < French levée < Medieval Latin levāta embankment, noun use of feminine past participle of Latin levāre to raise, orig. lighten, akin to levis light, not heavy

levee ⁽²⁾

[lev-ee, le-vee]

noun

1. (in Great Britain) a public court assembly, held in the early afternoon, at which men only are received.
2. a reception, usually in someone’s honor: a presidential levee at the White House.
3. History/Historical . a reception of visitors held on rising from bed, as formerly by a royal or other personage.

Origin:
1665–75; < French levé, variant spelling of lever rising (noun use of infinitive) < Latin levāre to raise; see levee¹

Today’s aphorism

A daily blog would just about finish me off completely.

– Robert Plant

(Plant obviously hasn’t subscribed to Panda’s WOTD … one, because he hasn’t been finished off and two, because Panda’s daily word would complete his very being … word!)

On this day

20 August 1866 – American Civil War formally ends.

20 August 1940 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, states ‘never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few‘, in relation to the Royal Air Force who was repelling German attacks on the United Kingdom in the Battle of Britain.

20 August 1948 – birth of Robert Plant, British rock singer, musician and songwriter. During the 1960’s, Plant sang with a number of bands, including The Crawling King Snakes, Listen, Band of Joy and Hobbstweedle. In 1968, Jimmy Page of successful blues band, The Yardbirds (which had previously featured Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck), convinced Plant to front his new band, The New Yardbirds. Page and Plant began writing songs for the new band, as well as playing some of the Yardbirds classics, such as Dazed and Confused, and For Your Love. Towards the end of 1968, the band was renamed Led Zeppelin. Musicologist Robert Walser stated, ‘Led Zeppelin’s sound was marked by speed and power, unusual rhythmic patterns, contrasting terraced dynamics, singer Robert Plant’s wailing vocals, and guitarist Jimmy Page’s heavily distorted crunch‘. Led Zeppelin has been widely regarded as the forerunner of Heavy Metal.

20 August 1966 – birth of Dimebag Darrell, (born Darrell Lance Abbott), American musician, founding member of Pantera. Dimebag was shot dead on stage on 8 December 2004 while playing for Damageplan.

20 August 1968 – the USSR and a number of other Warsaw Pact nations, invade Czechoslovakia to halt the ‘Prague Spring’ liberalisation reforms being implemented by the Czech leader, Alexander Dubček. This invasion caused a significant rift in support by Communists across the globe and condemnation by many non-Communist nations, leading to a weakening of communism in general and the Soviet Union in particular.

18 August 2013

détente

[dey-tahnt; French dey-tahnt]

noun, plural dé·tentes [dey-tahnts; French dey-tahnt]

– a relaxing of tension, especially between nations, as by negotiations or agreements, e.g. The USA and USSR reached a détente regarding the escalating missile crisis.

Also, de·tente.

Origin:
1905–10; < French; see detent

Today’s aphorism

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

– Maya Angelou

On this day

18 August 1931 – the flooded Yangtze River, China, peaks in what becomes the worst natural disaster of the 20th century, killing up to 3.7 million people.

18 August 1948 – Australia’s greatest cricketer, Sir Donald Bradman, plays his last game of test cricket. It was played at the Oval in Britain against the English cricket team. Bradman was bowled for a duck, which left him 4 runs short of a career average of 100 runs. Bradman’s first test was in 1928. Over his 20 year test career, he played 52 tests, scored 6,996 runs, with a top score of 334 and an average of 99.94. Throughout his first-grade career, he played 234 games, scored 28,067 runs, with a top score of 452 not out and an average of 95.14.

17 August 2013

bower

[bou-er]

noun

1. a leafy shelter or recess; arbor.
2. a rustic dwelling; cottage.
3. a lady’s boudoir in a medieval castle.
verb (used with object)
4. to enclose in or as in a bower; embower.

Example:

‘Sister I implore you, take him by the hand,
take him to some shady bower, save me from the wrath of this man,
please take him, save me from the wrath of this mad man’.

– from ‘Gallow’s Pole‘ by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, who had rewritten and reinterpreted the song ‘Gallow’s Pole‘ by Fred Gerlach, which was a version of an old blues song called ‘Gallis Pole‘ by Leadbelly, which was based on a country and western song called ‘Slack Your Rope‘ by Jimmie Driftwood, which was based on a 15th century British ballad called ‘The Maid Freed from the Gallows‘. Many versions of this song have been done, but Zeppelin’s version is one of the few in which the protagonist is hanged even after all the bribes given to the hangman.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English bour, Old English būr chamber; cognate with Old Norse būr pantry, German Bauer birdcage; akin to neighbor

Related forms
bow·er·like, adjective

Today’s aphorism

We must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living.

– Davy Crockett

On this day

17 August 1786 – birth of Davy Crockett, American frontiersman, King of the Wild Frontier.

17 August 1970 – Russia launches the Venera 7 spacecraft, which becomes the first man-made object to land on Venus (15 December 1970)

16 August 2013

felicitation

[fi-lis-i-tey-shuhn]

noun

– an expression of good wishes; congratulation.

Origin:
1700–10; felicitate + -ion

Related forms
self-fe·lic·i·ta·tion, noun

Today’s aphorism

Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.

– Elvis Presley

On this day

16 August 1938 – death of Robert Johnson. American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was 27.

16 August 1958 – birth of Madonna, American pop star, (born Madonna Louise Ciccone). The Guinness Book of World Records lists her as the biggest selling female recording artist of all time, with over 300 million records sold world-wide.

16 August 1962 – Ringo Starr becomes the new drummer for the Beatles, taking over from Peter Best who was sacked by the band. Ringo went on to fame and fortune, Best became a career public servant for 20 years, before forming the Peter Best Band.

16 August 1977 – death of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.

15 August 2013

constitutional

[kon-sti-too-shuh-nl, -tyoo-]

adjective
1. of or pertaining to the constitution of a state, organization, etc.
2. subject to the provisions of such a constitution: a constitutional monarchy.
3. provided by, in accordance with, or not prohibited by, such a constitution: the constitutional powers of the president; a constitutional law.
4. belonging to or inherent in the character or makeup of a person’s body or mind: a constitutional weakness for sweets.
5. pertaining to the constitution or composition of a thing; essential.
6. beneficial to one’s constitution; healthful: constitutional exercise.

noun
7. a walk or other mild exercise taken for the benefit of one’s health: taking his morning constitutional.

Today’s aphorism

A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.

– Mahatma Gandhi

On this day

15 August 1769 – birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor.

15 August 1945 – Japan announces its surrender to the Allies following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The official ‘Instrument of Surrender’ was signed on 2 September 1945.

15 August 1947 – India Independence Day. At the stroke of midnight (14/15 August), India was partitioned and granted independence from British rule.

14 August 2013

coquette

[koh-ket]

noun

1. a woman who flirts lightheartedly with men to win their admiration and affection; flirt.
verb (used without object)
2. to coquet.
Origin:
1605–15; < French, feminine of coquet

Related forms
co·quet·tish, adjective

Can be confused: coquette, croquet, croquette.

Synonyms
1. tease, vamp.

Usage note
See -ette.

Today’s aphorism

It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.

– Yogi Berra

On this day

14 August 1248 – construction begins on the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.

14 August 1880 – construction of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany is finally completed … 632 years after commencement.

14 August 1947 – Pakistan Independence Day. At the stroke of midnight (14/15 August), India was partitioned and the nation of Pakistan created, independent of British and Indian rule.

14 August 1956 – death of Bertolt Brecht, German playwright, writer and theatre practitioner.

14 August 1963 – Considered to be the founding documents of Australia’s indigenous land rights (native title) movement, the first Bark Petition was presented to the Australian Government’s House of Representatives by Jock Nelson, Member for the Northern Territory on behalf of the Yolngu people of Yirrkala. The second Bark Petition was presented to the House of Representatives by then Opposition Leader, Arthur Calwell. The petitions were ochre paintings on bark and signed by 13 clan leaders of the Yolngu region (Gove peninsula), protesting the Commonwealth Government granting mining rights to Nabalco on Yolngu land . The petitions resulted in a parliamentary inquiry that recommended compensation be paid to the Yolngu people. It was the first recognition of native title in Australia.

13 August 2013

effete

[ih-feet]

adjective

1. lacking in wholesome vigor; degenerate; decadent: an effete, overrefined society.
2. exhausted of vigor or energy; worn out: an effete political force.
3. unable to produce; sterile.

Origin:
1615–25; < Latin effēta exhausted from bearing, equivalent to ef- ef- + fēta having brought forth, feminine past participle of lost v.; see fetus

Related forms
ef·fete·ly, adverb
ef·fete·ness, noun
non·ef·fete, adjective
non·ef·fete·ly, adverb
non·ef·fete·ness, noun

Today’s aphorism

The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow.

– H. G. Wells

On this day

13 August 1784 – British Parliament enacts ‘Pitt’s India Act’, which brought the East India company under the control of the British government.

13 August 1899 – birthday of Alfred Hitchcock, English movie director and producer.

13 August 1926 – birthday of Fidel Castro, former Cuban President.

13 August 1946 – death of Herbert George ‘H.G.’ Wells, British science fiction writer, author of The War of the Worlds, Time Machine, Island of Dr Moreau, The War of the Worlds. Born 21 September 1866.

13 August 1961 – construction of the Berlin Wall commences.

12 August 2013

cogitation

[koj-i-tey-shuhn]

noun

1. concerted thought or reflection; meditation; contemplation: After hours of cogitation he came up with a new proposal.
2. the faculty of thinking: She was a serious student and had a great power of cogitation.
3. a thought; design or plan: to jot down one’s cogitations.

Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English cogitaciun < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin cōgitātiōn- (stem of cōgitātiō ), equivalent to cōgitāt ( us ) (see cogitate) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms
pre·cog·i·ta·tion, noun

Today’s aphorism

‘The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success’.

― Ian Fleming

On this day

12 August 30BC – Cleopatra VII, last Pharoah of Ancient Egypt, suicides after learning of the suicide of her lover, Mark Antony (after he lost the Battle of Actium to Emperor Octavian). She reportedly allowed herself to be bitten by an asp. Soon after, Egypt became a Roman province under Octavian.

12 August 1964 – death of Ian Fleming, British author of the ‘James Bond’ novels.

12 August 2009 – death of Les Paul, (born Lester William Polsfuss) American musician and inventor of the solid body electric guitar. The popular Gibson Les Paul was designed in collaboration with him. (Born 1915)