27 February 2014

tyro

[tahy-roh]

noun, plural ty·ros.

– a beginner in learning anything; novice.

Also, tiro.

Origin:
1605–15; < Latin tīrō recruit

Related forms
ty·ron·ic [tahy-ron-ik] Show IPA , adjective

Synonyms
neophyte, learner.

Anagram

Troy

Today’s aphorism

When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear.

– Mark Twain

On this day

27 February 1922 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed, giving women the right to vote.

27 February 1951 – the Twenty-Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, stating that ‘no person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once’.

27 February 1964 – the Italian government states that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is in danger of collapsing. It asks for international assistance in stabilising the Tower. Stabilisation work commenced in 1998 and concluded in 2003.

26 February 2014

roil

[roil]

verb (used with object)

1. to render (water, wine, etc.) turbid by stirring up sediment.
2. to disturb or disquiet; irritate; vex: to be roiled by a delay.

verb (used without object)
3. to move or proceed turbulently.

Origin:
1580–90; origin uncertain

Related forms
un·roiled, adjective

Can be confused: roil, royal.

Synonyms
2. annoy, fret, ruffle, exasperate, provoke, rile.

Today’s aphorism

I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.

– Albert Einstein

On this day

26 February 1829 – birth of Levi Strauss, German-born, American clothing manufacturer. Most notable for Levi jeans. Died 26 September 1902.

26 February 1928 – birth of Fats Domino, American rhythm and blues, and rock and roll musician. He sold more than 5 million records and had 35 U.S.A. Top 40 hits. His songs included Blueberry Hill, When My Dreamboat Comes Home, Whole Lotta Loving.

26 February 1932 – birth of Johnny Cash, American singer and musician. Cash was considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Hits included Folsom Prison Blues, Ring of Fire, Get Rhythm, I Walk the Line, A Boy Named Sue. Died 12 September 2003.

26 February 1945 – birth of Peter Brock, Australian car racing legend. Died 8 September 2006.

25 February 2014

provenance

[prov-uh-nuhns, -nahns]

noun

– place or source of origin: The provenance of the ancient manuscript has never been determined.

Origin:
1860–65; < French, derivative of provenant, present participle of provenir < Latin prōvenīre to come forth; see pro-1 , convene, -ant
Can be confused: provenance, province.

Anagram

proven acne
rap convene

Today’s aphorism

Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.

― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

On this day

25 February 1917 – birth of Anthony Burgess, English writer. Most famous for his dystopian novel, ‘The Clockwork Orange’, which Stanley Kubrick made into a controversial movie. Died 22 November 1993.

25 February 1921 – The Russian Army seized the capital of Georgia, eventually incorporating the republic into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

25 February 1948 – communist rule established in Czechoslovakia by President Eduard Benes.

25 February 1982 – the European Court of Human Rights rules that beating school children without the consent of their parents is a violation of the Human Rights Convention.

25 February 1986 – The People Power Revolution in the Philippines results in the ousting of corrupt dictator Ferdinand Marcos who is airlifted from the Presidential Palace in Manila by U.S. helicopters. The U.S. repatriated him to Hawaii where he lived in exile until his death in 1989 at the age of 72. Marcos had stolen billions from the Philippine treasury and was a suspect in the 1983 assassination of Benigno Aquino, the opposition party leader.

24 February 2014

derogate

[v. der-uh-geyt; adj. der-uh-git, -geyt]

verb (used without object), der·o·gat·ed, der·o·gat·ing.

1. to detract, as from authority, estimation, etc. (usually followed by from ).
2. to stray in character or conduct; degenerate (usually followed by from ).

verb (used with object), der·o·gat·ed, der·o·gat·ing.

3. to disparage or belittle.
4. Archaic. to take away (a part) so as to impair the whole.

adjective
5. Archaic. debased.
Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin dērogātus repealed, restricted (past participle of dērogāre ), equivalent to dē- de- + rog ( āre ) to ask + -ātus -ate1

Related forms
der·o·ga·tion, noun
non·der·o·ga·tion, noun
un·der·o·gat·ing, adjective

Can be confused: abdicate, abrogate, arrogate, derogate.

Synonyms
1. See decry.

Anagram

agreed to
trade ego
date goer

Today’s aphorism

Five percent of the people think;
ten percent of the people think they think;
and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think.

― Thomas Edison

On this day

24 February 1872 – death of William Webb Ellis, Anglican clergyman who is credited for creating Rugby Union after allegedly picking up the ball during a soccer match and running with it, while a student at Rugby School. Born 24 November 1806.

24 February 1955 – birth of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. Died 5 October 2011.

24 February 2008 – death of Larry Norman, pioneering Christian rock musician.

23 February 2014

horripilation

[haw-rip-uh-ley-shuhn, ho-]

noun

– a bristling of the hair on the skin from cold, fear, etc.; goose flesh. Example: ‘Suddenly he was swept by horripilation’. – Stephen King, The Dome.

Origin:
1615–25; < Late Latin horripilātiōn- (stem of horripilātiō ). See horripilate, -ion

Anagram

hairpin oil rot
phial iron riot

Today’s aphorism

Rebellion Against Tyrants Is Obedience To God.

– Benjamin Franklin

(Originally proposed by Franklin as the motto for the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States of America).

On this day

23 February 1836 – the Battle of the Alamo commences. It was a 13 day siege and a pivotal point in the Texas Revolution, in which Mexican forces attacked Texan forces stationed at the Alamo Mission. All 100 Texans were killed. Several months earlier, all Mexicans had been driven out of Mexican Texas.

23 February 1896 – the Tootsie Roll is invented.

23 February 1944 – the Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.

23 February 1954 – Polio vaccines first become available.

23 February 1958 – Five time Formula 1 racing car driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, is kidnapped by Cuban rebels led by Fidel Castro. The Batista Dictatorship had established a non-Formula 1 race (the Cuban Grand Prix) in 1957, so the rebels were hoping to embarrass Batista by forcing him to cancel the race. The race went ahead and the captors let Fangio listen to it on the radio. Fangio was released unharmed. Castro’s forces overthrew Batista in January 1959 and cancelled the race that year.

23 February 1987 – the light from Supernova 1987A reaches Earth, 170,000 years after it exploded. The supernova was 1 million trillion miles away.

23 February 2010 – death of Cuban plumber and activist, Orlando Zapata. Zapata was arrested in 2002 by Cuban police for contempt. In 2003 he was arrested during a crackdown on dissidents, for undertaking a hunger strike aimed at securing the release of prisoners. He was sentenced to 36 years imprisonment. Amnesty International recognised him as a ‘prisoner of conscience’. In December 2009 he began a hunger strike which ultimately led to his death. Born 15 May 1967.

22 February 2014

windrow

windrow
[wind-roh, win-]

noun
1. a row or line of hay raked together to dry before being raked into heaps.
2. any similar row, as of sheaves of grain, made for the purpose of drying.
3. a row of dry leaves, dust, etc., swept together by the wind.
verb (used with object)
4. to arrange in a windrow.

Anagram

word win
rind wow

Today’s aphorism

I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.

– Andy Warhol

On this day

22 February 1512 – Death of Amerigo Vespucci in Seville, Spain. Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer. Vespucci believed that Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the ‘New World’ or ‘East Asia’ (now known as the Bahamas) and the land mass beyond it, was not part of Asia, but a separate ‘super-continent’. America is named after Vespucci. Born 9 March 1454 in Florence, Italy.

22 February 1962 – birth of Steve Irwin, ‘The Crocodile Hunter’, Australian wildlife expert and television personality. (Died 4 September 2006).

22 February 1987 – death of Andy Warhol, American pop artist.

21 February 2014

loafing

[lohf-ing]

verb (used without object)

1. to idle away time: He figured the mall was as good a place as any for loafing.
2. to lounge or saunter lazily and idly: We loafed for hours along the water’s edge.
verb (used with object)
3. to pass idly (usually followed by away ): to loaf one’s life away.

Origin:
1825–35, Americanism; back formation from loafer

Related forms
un·loaf·ing, adjective

Synonyms
2. loll, idle.

Anagram

flag ion
nail fog
align of

Today’s aphorism

Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.

– Anais Nin

On this day

21 February 1903 – birthday of Anais Nin, French-Cuban author. Died 14 January 1977.