3 July 2014

spurious

[spyoor-ee-uhs]

adjective

1. not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit.
2. Biology . (of two or more parts, plants, etc.) having a similar appearance but a different structure.
3. of illegitimate birth; bastard.
Origin:
1590–1600; < Latin spurius bastard, perhaps < Etruscan; see -ous

Related forms
spu·ri·ous·ly, adverb
spu·ri·ous·ness, noun
non·spu·ri·ous, adjective
non·spu·ri·ous·ly, adverb
non·spu·ri·ous·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. false, sham, bogus, mock, feigned, phony; meretricious, deceitful.

Antonyms
1. genuine.

Anagram

I pours us

Today’s aphorism

Some of the worst mistakes of my life have been haircuts.

– Jim Morrison

On this day

3 July 1883 – Birth of Franz Kafka, Austrian novelist, who wrote in German. Two of his books (‘The Trial’ and ‘The Castle’) were published posthumously against his wishes. He wrote of a dehumanised world in which he explored paranoia, isolation, fear and bewilderment, from which the term ‘Kafka-esque’ has been coined. Died 3 June 1924.

3 July 1969 – death of Brian Jones. English guitarist for the Rolling Stones. He was 27.

3 July 1971 – death of Jim Morrison, lead singer and song writer of the Doors. He was 27.

3 July 1971 – birth of Julian Assange in Townsville, Queensland, former hacker and computer programmer, publisher, journalist and activist. Co-founder of WikiLeaks, a website on which he published classified military and diplomatic documents. The USA has been investigating Assange since 2010 when he published documents leaked by Chelsea Manning. Facing extradition to Sweden in 2012 on charges of sexual assault, Assange sought and obtained asylum by Ecuador. He has been accommodated in the Ecuadorean embassy in London ever since.

2 July 2014

hector

[hek-ter]

noun

1. Classical Mythology . the eldest son of Priam and husband of Andromache: the greatest Trojan hero in the Trojan War, killed by Achilles.
2. (lowercase) a blustering, domineering person; a bully.
3. a male given name.
verb (used with object)
4. (lowercase) to treat with insolence; bully; torment: The teacher hectored his students incessantly.
verb (used without object)
5. (lowercase) to act in a blustering, domineering way; be a bully.
Origin:
< Latin < Greek Héktōr, special use of adj. héktōr holding fast

Synonyms
4. torture, persecute; badger, harass.

Anagram
or etch

Today’s aphorism

About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.

– Ernest Hemingway

On this day

2 July 1839 – Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinqué take over the slave ship, Amistad. The 49 adults and four children had been captured in Sierra Leone and sold into slavery in Cuba. After commandeering the ship, the men demanded the ship’s navigator (Don Montez) to return them home. Montez deceived them and sailed up the USA east coast to Long Island. The USA took custody of the ship and a court-case ensued over the legal status of the slaves. In 1841, in the case of the United States v The Amistad, the US Supreme Court ruled that the slaves had been illegally transported and held as slaves. The Court ordered them to be freed. 35 of them returned to Africa in 1842.

2 July 1900 – the first Zeppelin flight takes place in Germany.

2 July 1937 – Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific while attempting an equatorial round-the-world flight.

2 July 1961 – death of Ernest Hemingway, American author. He wrote books including ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls‘ and ‘Old Man and the Sea‘. Born 21 July 1899.

2 July 1976 – The Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) falls to the Communist North Vietnam, resulting in the formation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.