13 July 2014

quarantine

[kwawr-uhn-teen, kwor-, kwawr-uhn-teen, kwor-]

noun

1. a strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease.
2. a period, originally 40 days, of detention or isolation imposed upon ships, persons, animals, or plants on arrival at a port or place, when suspected of carrying some infectious or contagious disease.
3. a system of measures maintained by governmental authority at ports, frontiers, etc., for preventing the spread of disease.
4. the branch of the governmental service concerned with such measures.
5. a place or station at which such measures are carried out, as a special port or dock where ships are detained.
6. the detention or isolation enforced.
7. the place, especially a hospital, where people are detained.
8. a period of 40 days.
9. social, political, or economic isolation imposed as a punishment, as in ostracizing an individual or enforcing sanctions against a foreign state.

verb (used with object), quar·an·tined, quar·an·tin·ing.
10. to put in or subject to quarantine.
11. to exclude, detain, or isolate for political, social, or hygienic reasons.

Origin:
1600–10; < Italian quarantina, variant of quarantena, orig. Upper Italian (Venetian): period of forty days, group of forty, derivative of quaranta forty ≪ Latin quadrāgintā

Related forms
quar·an·tin·a·ble, adjective
quar·an·tin·er, noun
pre·quar·an·tine, noun, verb (used with object), pre·quar·an·tined, pre·quar·an·tin·ing.
un·quar·an·tined, adjective

Anagram

inane quart
near quaint

Today’s quote

I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.

– Albert Einstein

On this day

13 July 1863 – the New York Draft Riots – three days of rioting by opponents of conscription. President Abraham Lincoln had enacted the draft to boost military numbers during the American Civil War. Most opponents were working- class men who resented that the rich could pay $300 to hire a substitute in the place. By the time the rioters were suppressed, there were 120 civilians dead and 2000 injured. Considered to be the worst anti-draft riots in US history.

13 July 1985 – Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organise and stage the Live Aid Concert. The concert was held simultaneously in London, UK, and Philadelphia, USA, to raise money to fight famine in Ethiopia. Similar concerts were performed across the globe in solidarity with Live Aid. The Live Aid concerts were broadcast live to an estimated audience of 1.9 billion people across 150 nations. An estimated £150 million was raised. Some of the world’s biggest musical acts participated, including Elton John, Boomtown Rats, Dire Straits, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Sting, U2, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Joan Baez, BB King, Paul McCartney, The Who, Black Sabbath, Eric Clapton, Status Quo, Sade, ‘Crosby, Stills & Nash’, George Thorogood, Madonna, Duran Duran, Bob Dylan, and a host of others.

12 July 2014

pandiculate

Verb

(third-person singular simple present pandiculates, present participle pandiculating, simple past and past participle pandiculated)

(transitive, intransitive)

– To fully stretch the torso and upper limbs, typically accompanied by yawning. ‘The first thing many people do upon awakening is to pandiculate’.

anagram

antacid pule
decant pilau
a citadel pun

Today’s aphorism

To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.

– G.K. Chesterton, A Short History of England, Ch.10

On this day

12 July 1943 – The Soviet Army commences a counter-offensive in the Battle of Kursk, Russia to combat the German Army’s ‘Operation Citadel’ offensive on the Eastern Front. It was the largest tank battle in history, involving more than 8,000 tanks, 3 million troops, 35,000 guns and mortars, and more than 5,000 aircraft, between both sides. By mid-August, the Soviets had prevailed, driving the German’s out.

12 July 1950 – birth of Eric Carr (Paul Charles Caravello), drummer with Kiss. Died 24 November 1991.

12 July 1962 – Rolling Stones make their first live performance. The concert was at the Marquee Club on London’s Oxford St.

11 June 2014

drubbing

[druhb-ing]

noun

1. a beating; a sound thrashing.
2. a decisive, humiliating defeat, as in a game or contest.

Origin:
1640–50; drub + -ing

drub [druhb]

verb (used with object), drubbed, drub·bing.

1. to beat with a stick or the like; cudgel; flog; thrash.
2. to defeat decisively, as in a game or contest.
3. to drive as if by flogging: Latin grammar was drubbed into their heads.
4. to stamp (the feet).

noun
5. a blow with a stick or the like.

Origin:
1625–35; perhaps by uncertain mediation < Arabic ḍarb blow, beating

Related forms
drub·ber, noun
un·drubbed, adjective

Anagram

bring Bud
bind grub

Today’s aphorism

There’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless’. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.

– Arundhati Roy

On this day

11 July 1977 – Nine years after his assassination, Martin Luther King is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by United States President Jimmy Carter.

11 July 1979 – US space station, Skylab, ignites on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, causing debris to rain down on Australia. The space station was unoccupied at the time.

10 July 2014

risible

[riz-uh-buhl]

adjective

1. causing or capable of causing laughter; laughable; ludicrous.
2. having the ability, disposition, or readiness to laugh.
3. pertaining to or connected with laughing.

Origin:
1550–60; < Late Latin rīsibilis that can laugh, equivalent to Latin rīs ( us ) (past participle of rīdēre to laugh) + -ibilis -ible

Related forms
un·ris·i·ble, adjective

Synonyms
1. funny, humorous, comical.

Anagram

sir bile
rib lies

Today’s aphorism

I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.

– Maya Angelou

On this day

10 July 1942 – birth of Ronald James Padavona, otherwise known as Ronny James Dio, heavy metal singer. Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne as lead singer of Black Sabbath, for two years before leaving after disagreements with other band members. Dio was also associated with Rainbow, Dio, and Elf. Died 16 May 2010.

10 July 1947 – birth of Sixto Rodriguez, elusive American folk musician. Rodriguez recorded two albums, Cold Fact and Coming From Reality, in the early 1970s. Neither album sold well in the USA, however, unknown to Rodriguez, he gained cult status in Australia and South Africa. Rodriguez disappeared into obscurity as legends abounded of his fate, including that he had either shot himself or set fire to himself on stage. In the 1996, two South African fans, Stephen ‘Sugar’ Segerman and Craig Styrdrom, tracked him down in Detroit, breaking the news to him that he was bigger than Elvis and the Rolling Stones in South Africa. Rodriguez flew out to South Africa and performed six concerts. Rodriguez has since played concerts across the globe, including Australia, South Africa, USA, UK. The Oscar-winning documentary, ‘Searching for Sugarman’ is a gritty, intriguing biopic of this story.

7 July 2014

pestilent

[pes-tl-uhnt]

adjective

1. producing or tending to produce infectious or contagious, often epidemic, disease; pestilential.
2. destructive to life; deadly; poisonous.
3. injurious to peace, morals, etc.; pernicious.
4. troublesome, annoying, or mischievous.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin pestilent- (stem of pestilēns ) unhealthy, noxious, alteration of pestilentus, equivalent to pesti- (stem of pestis ) pest + -lentus -lent

Related forms
pes·ti·lent·ly, adverb
an·ti·pes·ti·lent, adjective
an·ti·pes·ti·lent·ly, adverb
non·pes·ti·lent, adjective
non·pes·ti·lent·ly, adverb

Anagram

nestle tip
silent pet

Today’s aphorism

Rewards and punishment is the lowest form of education.

– Chuang Tzu

On this day

7 July 1941 – birth of Bill Oddie, English comedian, start of ‘The Goodies’.

7 July 1953 – Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.

7 July 1985 – 17 year old Boris Becker becomes the youngest player to win Wimbledon.

7 July 2005 – Four suicide bombers detonate themselves on London’s transport system, killing 56 people and injuring 700.

7 July 2007 – The New 7 Wonders Foundation officially declares a new ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ list:

1. The Great Wall of China
2. Petra, Jordan (a city carved into rock)
3. Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
4. Machu Picchu, Peru
5. Chichén Itzá Pyramid, Mexico
6. Roman Colisseum, Italy
7. Taj Mahal, Indian

1. Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt
2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
4. Statue of Zeus, Olympia, Greece
5. Mausoleum of Maussollos at Hallicarnassus
6. Colossus of Rhodes
7. Lighthouse of Alexandria

6 July 2014

lackadaisical

[lak-uh-dey-zi-kuhl]

adjective

1. without interest, vigor, or determination; listless; lethargic: a lackadaisical attempt.
2. lazy; indolent: a lackadaisical fellow.

Origin:
1760–70; lackadais(y) (variant of lackaday) + -ical

Related forms
lack·a·dai·si·cal·ly, adverb
lack·a·dai·si·cal·ness, noun

Synonyms
2. slothful, unambitious, idle.

Anagram

Cicadas Alkali
Acacia All Disk
Lack Acid Alias

Today’s aphorism

If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.

– Doug Larson

On this day

6 July 1925 – birth of Bill Haley, who arguably had the world’s first ever rock’n’roll song, ‘Rock Around the Clock’. Died 9 February 1981.

6 July 1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the ‘Secret Annexe’ above her father’s office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

6 July 1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time. Three years later they formed the Beatles.

5 July 2014

frenemy

[fren-uh-mee]

noun (Informal)

– a person or group that is friendly toward another because the relationship brings benefits, but harbors feelings of resentment or rivalry: Clearly, turning the competition into frenemies is good for your business.
Origin:
1975-80; fr(iend) + enemy

Anagram

ferny me

Today’s aphorism

There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.

– Carl Sandburg

On this day

5 July 1937 – The canned meat, Spam (spiced ham) released to market by Hormel Food Corporation.

5 July 1946 – the first bikini goes on sale after its debut at a fashion show in Paris.

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).

5 July 1996 – Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

4 July 2014

shill

[shil]
Slang.
noun

1. a person who poses as a customer in order to decoy others into participating, as at a gambling house, auction, confidence game, etc.
2. a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty.
verb (used without object)
3. to work as a shill: He shills for a large casino.
verb (used with object)
4. to advertise or promote (a product) as or in the manner of a huckster; hustle: He was hired to shill a new TV show.
Origin:
1920–25; origin uncertain

Anagram

hills

Today’s aphorism

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

– Andy Warhol

On this day

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

4 July 1991 – Dr Victor Chang, a Chinese-Australian cardiac surgeon is shot dead during a failed extortion attempt. Chang pioneered heart transplants. He was born on 21 November 1936.