20 November 2013

arraign

[uh-reyn]

verb (used with object)

1. to call or bring before a court to answer to an indictment. ‘he was arraigned’.
2. to accuse or charge in general; criticize adversely; censure.

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English arainen < Anglo-French arainer, Old French araisnier, equivalent to a- a-5 + raisnier < Vulgar Latin *ratiōnāre to talk, reason; see ratio

Related forms
ar·raign·er, noun
un·ar·raigned, adjective

Today’s aphorism

Nothing haunts us like the things we don’t say.

– Mitch Albom

On this day

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

20 November 1910 – death of Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer, (‘Anna Karenina‘, ‘War and Peace‘). Born 9 September 1828.

20 November 1947 – Princess Elizabeth, who is crowned Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, marries Phillip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey.

20 November 1985 – Microsoft launches Windows 1.01, a graphical user interface for personal computers. The program required MS-DOS to operate.

19 November 2013

craven

[krey-vuhn]

adjective

1. cowardly; contemptibly timid; pusillanimous. For example, ‘The craven manager capitaluted’.
noun
2. a coward.
verb (used with object)
3. to make cowardly.
Idioms
4. cry craven, to yield; capitulate; give up.
Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English cravant, cravaunde defeated < Old French craventé, past participle of cravanter to crush, overwhelm (< Vulgar Latin *crepantāre ), influenced by Middle English creaunt defeated (see recreant)

Related forms
cra·ven·ly, adverb
cra·ven·ness, noun
un·cra·ven, adjective

Synonyms
1. dastardly, fearful, timorous.

Today’s aphorism

Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light.

– Bruce Lee

On this day

19 November 1863 – President Lincoln delivers the ‘Gettysburg Address’ during the American Civil War, while dedicating the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The speech commenced with the now-famous words, ‘Four score and seven years ago …’, which was referring to the Declaration of Independence in 1777. The speech addressed equality, freedom and democracy being representative of all people.

19 November 2007 – share markets across the globe crashed, as the world entered the Global Financial Crisis.

18 November 2013

furfuraceous

[fur-fyuh-rey-shuhs, -fuh-]

adjective

1. of or containing bran
2. resembling bran; branlike.
3. scaly; scurfy.
4. resembling dandruff
Origin:
1640–50; < Late Latin furfurāceus. See furfur, -aceous

Related forms
fur·fu·ra·ceous·ly, adverb

Example:

‘I met quite a number of composers who were frankly flaky, or furfuraceous, to use a more elegant term’.

– Nicolas Slonimsky
Musings of a Musical Mind
Los Angeles Times, 27 March 1988

Today’s aphorism

‘First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me —
and there was no one left to speak out for me’.

― Martin Niemöller

On this day

18 November 1922 – Benito Mussolini becomes the leader of Italy. Mussolini, was head of the National Fascist Party and one of the founders of fascism. As dictator he named himself ‘Il Duce’ (The Leader). Initially a socialist, Mussolini felt that socialism had failed and he opposed egalitarianism. He was an ardent supporter of Adolf Hitler. Mussolini was forced to stand down in 1943 by his opponents. He went into hiding and in 1945 was captured and executed.

18 November 1928 – Mickey Mouse makes his screen debut, in ‘Steamboat Willy’.

18 November 1978 – Jim Jones, leader of the cult ‘People’s Temple’ located in Jonestown, Guyana, instructs followers to drink a deadly brew of Kool-Aid, cyanide and sedatives. 914 people died in the mass suicide, including Jones. 303 children were among the victims. It is likely that some of the deaths were murder as a result of some people being forced to drink the concoction. Jones claimed that the cult was under surveillance of intelligence organisations who were preparing to raid Jonestown and either kill or capture the members. He claimed that survivors would be forced to convert to fascism.

18 November 2002 – death of James Coburn, actor (‘The Great Escape‘, ‘The Magnificent Seven‘).

17 November 2013

wizened

[wiz-uhnd; wee-zuhnd]

adjective

– withered; shriveled: a wizened old man; wizened features.
Origin:
1505–15; wizen + -ed2

Dictionary.com Unabridged

wiz·en [wiz-uhn; wee-zuhn] British Dialect .

verb (used without object), verb (used with object)

1. to wither; shrivel; dry up.

adjective
2. wizened.

Origin:
before 900; (v.) Middle English wisenen, Old English wisnian; cognate with Old Norse visna to wither; (adj.) shortened form of wizened

Today’s aphorism

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.

– Dalai Lama

On this day

17 November 1950 – 15 year-old, Tenzin Gyatso becomes the 14th Dalai Lama in Tibet, a position he holds to this day.

17 November 1973 – U.S. President Richard Nixon televises a speech in which he states, ‘I am not a crook’. This was in relation to allegations of his involvement in the Watergate Scandal, in which documents were stolen from the offices of the Democratic National Convention at the Watergate Hotel in Washington on 17 June 1972. Nixon was implicated in the break-in when recordings of conversations held in the Oval Office showed his involvement. Impeachment proceedings were commenced, however, Nixon resigned on 8 August 1974 and avoided being impeached, although he faced possible criminal proceedings. Vice-President Gerald Ford became President immediately following Nixon’s resignations, and on 8 September 1974, Ford pardoned Nixon of any wrong-doing.

16 November 2013

contumely

[kon-too-muh-lee, -tyoo-; kuhn-too-muh-lee, -tyoo-; kon-tuhm-lee, -tyoom, -chuhm]
noun, plural con·tu·me·lies.
1. insulting display of contempt in words or actions; contemptuous or humiliating treatment.
2. a humiliating insult.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English contumelie (< Anglo-French ) < Latin contumēlia, perhaps akin to contumāx (see contumacy), though formation and sense development are unclear

Related forms
con·tu·me·li·ous [kon-too-mee-lee-uhs, -tyoo-] Show IPA , adjective
con·tu·me·li·ous·ly, adverb
con·tu·me·li·ous·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. abuse, scorn, disdain, rudeness.

Today’s aphorism

Seek the truth or hide your head in the sand. Both require digging.

– Andrew Nolan

On this day

16 November 1793 – During the French Revolution, 90 Catholic priests who were opposed to the Republic, are executed by drowning at Nantes.

16 November 1938 – Swiss scientist, Dr Albert Hofmann, creates the synthetic drug, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland.

16 November 1945 – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is founded in order ‘to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice and the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion’.

16 November 1988 – 35 year old, Benazir Bhutto elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state. She was a member of the democratic-socialist Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

15 November 2013

solipsism

[sol-ip-siz-uhm]
noun

1. Philosophy. the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist. The extreme form of scepticism which denies the possibility of any knowledge other than of one’s own existence
2. extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one’s feelings, desires, etc.; egoistic self-absorption.

Example:

Avoiding solipsism requires that we assign consciousness (or reality) to everyone we could meet who is sufficiently similar to ourselves.

Origin:
1880–85; sol(i)-1 + Latin ips ( e ) self + -ism

Related forms
sol·ip·sis·mal, adjective
sol·ip·sist, noun, adjective
sol·ip·sis·tic [sol-ip-sis-tik]  adjective

Can be confused: solecism, solipsism.

Today’s aphorism

Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you’ve got to let it grow.

– John Lennon

On this day

15 November 1943 – Nazi SS leader, Heinrich Himmler issues an order stating that Gypsies were to be treated the same as Jews and sent to concentration camps.

15 November 1988 – Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestinian National Conference, declares the independence of Palestine.

15 November 2007 – Cyclone Sidr, with 160km/h winds, strikes Bangladesh. Over 2 million people are evacuated from coastal areas. Around 5,000 people were killed.

15 November 2008 – death of Ivan Southall AM, DFC, Australian writer of young-adult fiction and non-fiction. Books include ‘Ash Road’, ‘Let the Balloon Go’, ‘Hill’s End’, ‘Fly West’ and ‘Josh. Born 8 June 1921.

14 November 2013

nillionaire

Person without any money of their own.
He looks rich but it’s all borrowed and his bank account is nil, he’s a nillionaire.

Everything’s in his wife’s name, he’s just a nillionaire.

(Courtesy of urban dictionary).

Today’s aphorism

Such is life.

– Ned Kelly, (Australian bushranger, June 1854 or 1855 to 11 September 1880), when informed of the hour of his execution.

On this day

14 November 1868 – birth of Steele Rudd, Australian author, (pen-name for Arthur Hoey Davis). Wrote ‘On Our Selection‘, which introduced Australia to ‘Dad and Dave’. Died 11 October 1935.

14 November 2012 – Total solar eclipse visible from Cairns, North Queensland, Australia. Other areas saw a partial eclipse. The last total eclipse for Cairns was in 710AD, with the next one not expected for another 225 years.

13 November 2013

instauration

[in-staw-rey-shuhn]

noun

1. renewal; restoration; renovation; repair.
2. Obsolete . an act of instituting something; establishment.

Origin:
1595–1605; < Latin instaurātiōn- (stem of instaurātiō ) a renewing, repeating. See in-2 , store, -ation

Related forms
in·stau·ra·tor [in-staw-rey-ter] noun

Today’s aphorism

Be so good they can’t ignore you.

– Steve Martin

On this day

13 November 1940 – the prototype of the Jeep was submitted to U.S. Army for approval by car-maker Willys-Overland. Following the U.S. declaration of war 12 months later, production of the Jeep began. By the end of the war in 1945, there had been 600,000 produced.

13 November 1940 – Walt Disney releases his animated movie, Fantasia, which eventually became a cult-classic. At time of release though, the movie was not a commercial success.

13 November 1956 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that laws which segregated buses were illegal.

13 November 1970 – the worst natural disaster of the 20th century occurs when a devastating cyclone strikes Bangladesh, killing over 500,000 people. The cyclone with 160km/h winds, caused tidal waves and storm surges which swept over the densely-populated, low-lying regions of the Ganges Delta and nearby islands.

13 November 1971 – Space voyager Mariner 9, reaches Mars and becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.

13 November 2009 – NASA announces that a significant resource of water has been located on the moon by the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter.

12 November 2013

valediction

[val-i-dik-shuhn]

noun

1. an act of bidding farewell or taking leave.
2. an utterance, oration, or the like, given in bidding farewell or taking leave; valedictory.

Origin:

1605–15; < Latin valedictiōn- (stem of valedictiō ), equivalent to valedict ( us ), past participle of valedīcere ( vale farewell + dictus, past participle of dīcere to say) + -iōn- -ion

Today’s aphorism

Dealing with backstabbers, there was one thing I learned. They’re only powerful when you got your back turned.

– Eminem (Marshall Mathers III)

On this day

12 November 1927 – Josef Stalin takes full control of the Soviet Union after Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party a few weeks earlier.

12 November 1944 – sinking of the German battleship, Tirpitz. The Allies had tried for two years to sink the ship. Finally, 32 British Lancaster bombers attack and sink the ship.

12 November 1990 – Swiss computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, publishes a formal proposal for hyper-text transfer, this followed his proposal for Information Management, published in March 1989. On 25 December 1990, he makes the world’s first successful communication between a hyper-text transfer protocol (HTTP) client and a server; and the world wide web is born. He is director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which oversees the ongoing development of the world-wide web.