31 May 2014

gravitas

[grav-i-tahs, ‐tas]

noun

– seriousness or sobriety, as of conduct or speech. ‘His gravitas was captivating’.

Origin:
1920–25; < Latin gravitās ; see gravity

Anagram

rag vista
a vast rig

Today’s aphorism

In the information age, you don’t teach philosophy as they did after feudalism. You perform it. If Aristotle were alive today he’d have a talk show.

– Timothy Leary

On this day

31 May 1930 – birth of Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, producer and politician.

31 May 1948 – birth of John Bonham, Led Zeppelin drummer. Died 25 September 1980.

31 May 1965 – birth of Brooke Shields, American actor, model and producer.

31 May 1996 – death of Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author. Leary was a major proponent of the use of pscyhedelic drugs, particularly LSD and psilocybin (mushrooms). He conducted numerous psychiatric experiments using psychedelics, particularly during the 1950s and and 1960s, when the drugs were legal. LSD was banned by the USA in 1966. Leary popularised 1960′s catch-phrases such as ‘turn on, tune in and drop out’, ‘set and setting’, and ‘think for yourself and question authority’. He was friends with beat generation poets, such as Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. Leary was arrested numerous times over his possession and use of drugs. He wrote a number of books on the benefits of psychedelic drugs. Leary became fascinated with computers, declaring that ‘the PC is the LSD of the 1990s’. He encouraged bohemians to ‘turn on, boot up, jack in’. Leary was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1995. He chose to stream his dying moments over the internet. Seven grams of Leary’s ashes were placed aboard a Pegasus rocket, launched on 21 April 1997. It remained in orbit around the Earth for six years until it burned up in atmosphere. Born 22 October 1920.

30 May 2014

picaresque

[pik-uh-resk]

adjective

1. pertaining to, characteristic of, or characterized by a form of prose fiction, originally developed in Spain, in which the adventures of an engagingly roguish hero are described in a series of usually humorous or satiric episodes that often depict, in realistic detail, the everyday life of the common people: picaresque novel; picaresque hero.
2. of, pertaining to, or resembling rogues.

Origin:
1800–10; < Spanish picaresco. See picaro, -esque

Related forms
un·pic·a·resque, adjective

Can be confused: picaresque, picturesque (see synonym study at picturesque).

Synonyms
2. prankish, rascally, devilish, raffish.

Anagram

risque cape
epic square
cirque apes
pace squire

Today’s aphorism

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

– John F. Kennedy

On this day

30 May 1778 – death of François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire. French enlightment writer, historian and philosopher. A man of wit who advocated freedom of religion, freedom of expression and separation of church and state. Voltaire wrote more than 20,000 letters, 2,000 books and pamphlets. He criticised intolerance, religious dogma and social institutions. Born 21 November 1694.

30 May 1911 – death of Milton Bradley, U.S. board-game maker, credited with launching the board-game industry. Born 8 November 1836.

28 May 2014

anarchy

[an-er-kee]

noun

1. a state of society without government or law.
2. political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control: The death of the king was followed by a year of anarchy.

Synonyms: lawlessness, disruption, turmoil.
3. anarchism – describes a number of political philosophies that generally promote stateless societies, ranging from extreme indivualism to collectivism.

4. lack of obedience to an authority; insubordination: the anarchy of his rebellious teenage years.

5. confusion and disorder: Intellectual and moral anarchy followed his loss of faith. It was impossible to find the book I was looking for in the anarchy of his bookshelves. Synonyms: chaos, disruption, turbulence; license; disorganization, disintegration.

Origin:
1530–40; (< Middle French anarchie or Medieval Latin anarchia ) < Greek, anarchía lawlessness, literally, lack of a leader, equivalent to ánarch ( os ) leaderless ( an- an-1 + arch ( ós ) leader + -os adj. suffix) + -ia -y3

Related forms
hy·per·an·ar·chy, noun
pro·an·ar·chy, adjective

Anagram

ya ranch

Today’s aphorism

One of the bibles of my youth was ‘Birds of the West Indies,’ by James Bond, a well-known ornithologist, and when I was casting about for a name for my protagonist I thought, ‘My God, that’s the dullest name I’ve ever heard,’ so I appropriated it. Now the dullest name in the world has become an exciting one.

– Ian Fleming

On this day

28 May 1908 – birth of Ian Fleming, British author of the ‘James Bond’ novels.

28 May 1964 – establishment of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), which was founded with the purpose of liberating Palestine through armed struggle. It has since rejected violence and been recognised as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by the United Nations.

28 May 1987 – West German, Matthias Rust, illegally flies his Cessna 172 from Finland to Moscow, landing in Red Square. Rust claimed that he wanted to build an imaginary bridge between the Soviet Union and the West. Rust was charged and convicted of hooliganism, disregard of aviation laws and breaching the Soviet border. He was sentenced to four years in a general-regime labour camp, but spent his imprisonment in the high security Lefortovo. During Rust’s imprisonment, US President Reagan and the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhael Gorbachev signed an intermediate-range nuclear weapons treaty. As a sign of good faith following the signing of the treaty, the Supreme Soviet ordered Matthias Rust be released in August 1988.

27 May 2014

involution

[in-vuh-loo-shuhn]

noun

1. an act or instance of involving or entangling; involvement.
2. the state of being involved.
3. something complicated.
4. Botany, Zoology .
a. a rolling up or folding in upon itself.
b. a part so formed.
5. Biology . retrograde development; degeneration.

Origin:
1605–15; < Medieval Latin involūtiōn- (stem of involūtiō ). See involute, -ion

Related forms
su·per·in·vo·lu·tion, noun

Anagram

violin unto
nut oil vino

Today’s aphorism

A man who limits his interests, limits his life.

– Vincent Price

On this day

27 May – 3 June – National Reconciliation Week, which is celebrated in Australia every year on these dates. The dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey — the anniversaries of the successful 1967 referendum (27 May) and the High Court Mabo decision (3 June 1992). The 1967 referendum saw over 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census. On 3 June, 1992, the High Court of Australia delivered its landmark Mabo decision which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land—that existed prior to colonalisation and still exists today. This recognition paved the way for land rights called Native Title. 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of the Mabo decision. http://www.reconciliation.org.au/nrw

27 May 1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the Russian city of St Petersburg.

27 May 1907 – bubonic plague breaks out in San Francisco.

27 May 1911 – birth of Vincent Price, American actor, starred in a number of horror films, including House of Wax, House of Usher and The Raven. He also acted in the 1960s television series Batman, in which he played the evil mastermind, Egghead; a master criminal with a fixation on eggs. Price provided a voice-over on Alice Cooper’s 1975 album Welcome to My Nightmare. In 1976, Price recorded a cover version of Bobby Pickett song, Monster Mash. Died 25 October 1993.

27 May 1922 – birth of Christopher Lee, CBE, English actor and singer. Lee starred in hammer horror movies, including Dracula (in which he played the title character), Dracula has risen from the grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, and Scars of Dracula. Fearing that he would become type-cast in horror roles as had happened to Vincent Price and Peter Cushing, he went in search of other roles. Lee starred in the 1974 James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun. He played Saruman in Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies, and Count Dooku in two of the Star Wars prequel films, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

26 May 2014

salient

[sey-lee-uhnt, seyl-yuhnt]

adjective

1. prominent or conspicuous: salient traits.
2. projecting or pointing outward: a salient angle.
3. leaping or jumping: a salient animal.
4. Heraldry. (of a beast) represented as leaping: a lion salient.

noun
5. a salient angle or part, as the central outward-projecting angle of a bastion or an outward projection in a battle line.
6. Physical Geography . a landform that extends out beyond its surroundings, as a spur projecting from the side of a mountain. Compare reentrant ( def 4 ) .

Origin:
1555–65; < Latin salient- (stem of saliēns, present participle of salīre to spring, jump), equivalent to sali- verb stem + -ent- -ent

Related forms
sa·li·ent·ly, adverb
un·sa·li·ent, adjective
un·sa·li·ent·ly, adverb

Synonyms
1. important; striking, remarkable.

Antonyms
1. inconspicuous, unimportant.

Anagram

entails

Today’s aphorism

Those who love deeply never grow old. They may die of old age, but they die young.

– Dorothy Canfield Fisher

On this day

26 May – National Sorry Day. Since 1998, National Sorry Day occurs on 26 May every year to commemorate the maltreatment of Australia’s indigenous population.

26 May 1890 – Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, is released in England.

26 May 2012 – death of Festus, our beloved and most awesome budgie.

25 May 2014

ruction

[ruhk-shuhn]

noun

– a disturbance, quarrel, or row. e.g. Politician quits parliament after internal party ructions.

Origin:
1815–25; origin uncertain

Anagram

to incur
coin rut

Today’s aphorism

Expectation is the root of all heartache.

– Unknown. This quote is falsely attributed to William Shakespeare, however it does not appear in his works and no accurate source has been identified.

On this day

25 May – Towel Day. A tribute to Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which states that a towel is ‘about the most massively useful thing that an interstellar hitchhiker can have‘. First held in 2001, two weeks after the death of Adams. Fans carry a towel with them on this day in appreciation of Adams and his work.

25 May 1999 – Bill Morgan, who had been resuscitated after spending 14 minutes clinically dead following a heart-attack, wins a $27,000 car from a Tatts Scratch lotto ticket. During a reenactment of the event for a Melbourne TV station, Bill won $250,000 from a Scratch-It ticket. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBYuxQBSc0o

23 May 2014

stipend

[stahy-pend]

noun

1. a periodic payment, especially a scholarship or fellowship allowance granted to a student.
2. fixed or regular pay; salary.

Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English stipendie < Latin stīpendium soldier’s pay, syncopated variant of *stipipendium, equivalent to stipi-, combining form of stips a coin + pend ( ere ) to weigh out, pay (see pend) + -ium -ium

Related forms
sti·pend·less, adjective

Synonyms
1, 2. See pay

Anagram

pits end

Today’s aphorism

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

On this day

23 May 1568 – the Netherlands declare independence from Spain.

23 May 1934 – notorious bank robbers, Bonny Parker and Clyde Barrow, are killed in a shoot-out with police in Black Lake, Louisiana. Bonny and Clyde have been immortalised in songs and movies.

23 May 1944 – birth of John Newcombe, Australian tennis player.

22 May 2014

vastitude

[vas-ti-tood, -tyood, vah-sti-]

noun

1. vastness; immensity: the vastitude of his love for all humankind.
2. a vast expanse or space: the ocean vastitude.

Origin:
1535–45; < Latin vastitūdō. See vast, -i-, -tude

Anagram

Dave Titus

Today’s aphorism

The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.

– Che Guevara

On this day

22 May 1927 – A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits the city of Xining in the Chinese province of Quinghai, killing up to 200,000 people. It is the 5th deadliest earthquake recorded.

22 May 1972 – Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka to break away from its colonial past. Ceylon had been the colonial name given by Great Britain to the island. The name itself was derived from Portuguese when part of the island was a colony of Portugal.

22 May 2010 – Jordan Romero, a 13 year old U.S. boy, becomes the youngest person to conquer Mt Everest.