23 August 2014

riven

[riv-uh n]
verb

1. a past participle of rive.
adjective

2. rent or split apart.

3. split radially, as a log.

Related forms
unriven, adjective

rive

[rahyv]

Syllables

verb (used with object), rived, rived or riven, riving.

1. to tear or rend apart:
to rive meat from a bone.
2. to separate by striking; split; cleave.
3. to rend, harrow, or distress (the feelings, heart, etc.).
4. to split (wood) radially from a log.
verb (used without object), rived, rived or riven, riving.
5. to become rent or split apart:
stones that rive easily.
Origin

1225-75; Middle English riven < Old Norse rīfa to tear, split. See rift
Related forms
unrived, adjective

Examples for riven
Lame duck president, deeply riven board, ridiculous faculty senate.
And yet, this comment made me think of the cochlear implant controversy that has riven the deaf community.
Amid this pressure the hacker underground, riven by squabbles and splits over personality and policy, has turned on itself.

Today’s aphorism

The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.

– Frederick Douglass

On this day

23 August 1305 – Sir William Wallace, leader of Scottish rebellion, executed for high treason in England.

23 August 1791 – St Domingue Slave Revolt – commencing 21 August, the slaves of St Domingue (now known as Haiti) revolted against the French colonial government, plunging the country into civil war. This revolt was the catalyst for the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

23 August 1946 – birth of Keith Moon, British musician, drummer for ‘The Who’.

23 August – International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. The United Nations chose this date as it is the anniversary of the St Domingue Slave Revolt.

22 August 2014

nary

[nair-ee]

adjective, Older Use.

1. not any; no; never a:
nary a sound.

Origin
1740-1750
variant of ne’er a never a

Examples for nary

– Not a plank left in the dam, and nary a bridge on the river.
– He was then perfunctory-marched through two days of interviews by depressed handlers, with nary a call later.
– They said nary a word and the service was uninterrupted.

Anagram

yarn

Today’s aphorism

Video games are a waste of time for men with nothing else to do. Real brains don’t do that.

– Ray Bradbury

On this day

22 August 565 – St Columba claims to see a monster in Loch Ness.

22 August 1770 – Captain James Cook sets foot on the east cost of Australia.

22 August 1864 – signing of the First Geneva Convention (for ‘Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field’)

22 August 1917 – birth of John Lee Hooker, American blues guitarist.

22 August 1920 – birth of Ray Bradbury, American fantasy, science-fiction, horror and mystery fiction writer. Author of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustratred Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes. The movie Butterfly Effect uses a similar theory to that described in Bradbury’s short-story A Sound of Thunder. In one scene, a Sound of Thunder pennant is hanging on the dormitory door of the main character, Evan. Michael Moore’s movie Fahrenheit 9/11 was named after Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury was not happy with this and pressured Moore to change the title, which Moore refused to do. Died 5 June 2012.

22 August 1952 – birth of Joe Strummer, British rock singer with ‘The Clash’.

22 August 1963 – birth of Tori Amos, American pianist/singer.

21 August 2014

ingénue

[an-zhuh-noo, -nyoo; French an-zhey-ny]

noun, plural ingénues [an-zhuh-nooz, -nyooz; French an-zhey-ny]

1. the part of an artless, innocent, unworldly girl or young woman, especially as represented on the stage.
2. an actress who plays such a part or specializes in playing such parts.

Also, ingenue.
Origin

1840-50; < French, feminine of ingénu < Latin ingenuus native, inborn, etc.; see ingenuous

Examples for ingénue
– The ingenue couldn’t see garden-variety jealousy when it smacked her with her own rising star.
– In the tragedy, she chain-smokes and fidgets, while in the comedy she has an ingenue ‘s golden glow.
– Her character is neither a simple ingenue nor a vamp.

Anagram

genuine

Today’s aphorism

There are no absolute rules of conduct, either in peace or war. Everything depends on circumstances.

– Leon Trotsky

On this day

21 August 1940 – death of Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary. Murdered by ice-pick wielding Rámon Mercader.

21 August 1970 – birth of Fred Durst, American rock vocalist with Limp Bizkit.

21 August – International Day of Lucid Dreaming. For further information check out this podcast on ABC radio

20 August 2014

palpable

[pal-puh-buh l]

adjective

1. readily or plainly seen, heard, perceived, etc.; obvious; evident:
a palpable lie; palpable absurdity.
2. capable of being touched or felt; tangible.
3. Medicine/Medical. perceptible by palpation.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English < Late Latin palpābilis that can be touched, equivalent to palpā (re) to stroke, touch, palpate1+ -bilis -ble

Related forms

palpability, palpableness, noun
palpably, adverb
nonpalpability, noun
nonpalpable, adjective
nonpalpably, adverb

Synonyms
1. manifest, plain. 2. material, corporeal.
Antonyms
1. obscure.

Examples for palpable

– At the meeting, the electricity about it was palpable, and it was obvious what it was.
– There was some palpable resentment.
– But there is a palpable need for consistent rules of engagement.

Anagram

be appall
papa bell
lab apple

Today’s aphorism

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

– Buddha

On this day

20 August 1866 – American Civil War formally ends.

20 August 1940 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, states ‘never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few‘, in relation to the Royal Air Force who was repelling German attacks on the United Kingdom in the Battle of Britain.

20 August 1948 – birth of Robert Plant, British rock singer, musician and songwriter. During the 1960′s, Plant sang with a number of bands, including The Crawling King Snakes, Listen, Band of Joy and Hobbstweedle. In 1968, Jimmy Page of successful blues band, The Yardbirds (which had previously featured Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck), convinced Plant to front his new band, The New Yardbirds. Page and Plant began writing songs for the new band, as well as playing some of the Yardbirds classics, such as Dazed and Confused, and For Your Love. Towards the end of 1968, the band was renamed Led Zeppelin. Musicologist Robert Walser stated, ‘Led Zeppelin’s sound was marked by speed and power, unusual rhythmic patterns, contrasting terraced dynamics, singer Robert Plant’s wailing vocals, and guitarist Jimmy Page’s heavily distorted crunch‘. Led Zeppelin has been widely regarded as the forerunner of Heavy Metal.

20 August 1966 – birth of Dimebag Darrell, (born Darrell Lance Abbott), American musician, founding member of Pantera. Dimebag was shot dead on stage on 8 December 2004 while playing for Damageplan.

20 August 1968 – the USSR and a number of other Warsaw Pact nations, invade Czechoslovakia to halt the ‘Prague Spring’ liberalisation reforms being implemented by the Czech leader, Alexander Dubček. This invasion caused a significant rift in support by Communists across the globe and condemnation by many non-Communist nations, leading to a weakening of communism in general and the Soviet Union in particular.

19 August 2014

repudiate

[ri-pyoo-dee-eyt]

verb (used with object), repudiated, repudiating.

1. to reject as having no authority or binding force:
to repudiate a claim.
2. to cast off or disown:
to repudiate a son.
3. to reject with disapproval or condemnation:
to repudiate a new doctrine.
4. to reject with denial:
to repudiate a charge as untrue.
5. to refuse to acknowledge and pay (a debt), as a state, municipality, etc.

Origin

1535-45; < Latin repudiātus (past participle of repudiāre to reject, refuse), equivalent to repudi (um) a casting off, divorce ( re- re- + pud (ere) to make ashamed, feel shame (see pudendum ) + -ium -ium ) + -ātus -ate1

Related forms

repudiable, adjective
repudiative, adjective
repudiator, noun
nonrepudiable, adjective
nonrepudiative, adjective

Can be confused

repudiate, refute, refudiate (see word story at refudiate )

Synonyms
1. disavow, renounce, discard, disclaim. 3. condemn, disapprove.

Antonyms
1. accept. 3. approve.

Examples for repudiate Expand

– To affirm this as a psychiatric malady is to repudiate the principles of science itself.
– Our leaders-and would-be leaders-should repudiate this sort of fatalism.
– Before me now is plaintiff’s motion to repudiate the settlement agreement.

Anagram

– idea erupt
– due pirate

Today’s aphorism

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

– Blaise Pascal

On this day

19 August 14AD – death of Augustus Caesar, founder of the Roman Empire and first Roman Emperor.

19 August 1662 – death of Blaise Pascal, controversial French mathematician, physicist, inventor and writer. Formulated ‘Pascal’s Triangle’, a tabular presentation for binomial coefficients, challenged Aristotle’s followers who claimed that ‘nature abhors a vacuum’. The computer programming language, ‘Pascal’, is named in his honour.

19 August 1900 – start of the first Olympic cricket match, played in Paris. It is the only Olympics in which cricket was played.

19 August 1919 – Afghanistan Independence Day, in which Afghanistan declared its independence from Britain.

19 August – World Humanitarian Day – a day to recognise those who face danger and adversity in order to help others. 19 August was chosen because it is the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Special Representative for Secretary-General to Iraq and 21 of his colleagues.

18 August 2014

expansive

[ik-span-siv]

adjective

1. having a wide range or extent; comprehensive; extensive:
expansive mountain scenery.
2. (of a person’s character or speech) effusive, unrestrained, free, or open:
Our expansive host welcomed us warmly.
3. tending to expand or capable of expanding.
4. causing expansion :
the expansive force of heat.
5. working by expansion, as an engine.
6. Psychiatry. marked by an abnormal euphoric state and by delusions of grandeur.

Origin
1645-1655 1645-55; expans(ion) + -ive
Related forms
expansively, adverb
expansiveness, noun
nonexpansive, adjective
nonexpansively, adverb
nonexpansiveness, noun

Synonyms
2. sociable, extroverted, outgoing, genial, unreserved; gushy, gushing.

Examples for expansive
– It is normally a time for upbeat comments about bright futures and expansive political visions.
– In previous entries of my sabbatical diary, one topic that arose was how to handle expansive periods of unstructured time.
– If you buy this premise, there are expansive implications.

Anagram

apes vixen
pain vexes

Today’s aphorism

Beauty is power; a smile is its sword.

– John Ray

On this day

18 August – Vietnam Veterans’ Day. The day was originally Long Tan Day, which commemorated the anniversary of the Australian Army’s victory in the Battle of Long Tan during the Vietnam War on this day in 1966. During the battle, 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers fought against 2,000 North Vietnamese and Viet-Cong troops. Eighteen Australian and New Zealand soldiers were killed and 24 wounded, while there were hundreds of North Vietnamese and Viet-Cong deaths.

18 August 1931 – the flooded Yangtze River, China, peaks in what becomes the worst natural disaster of the 20th century, killing up to 3.7 million people.

18 August 1948 – Australia’s greatest cricketer, Sir Donald Bradman, plays his last game of test cricket. It was played at the Oval in Britain against the English cricket team. Bradman was bowled for a duck, which left him 4 runs short of a career average of 100 runs. Bradman’s first test was in 1928. Over his 20 year test career, he played 52 tests, scored 6,996 runs, with a top score of 334 and an average of 99.94. Throughout his first-grade career, he played 234 games, scored 28,067 runs, with a top score of 452 not out and an average of 95.14.

17 August 2014

demure

demure

[dih-myoo r]

adjective, demurer, demurest.

1. characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved.
2. affectedly or coyly decorous, sober, or sedate.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English dem (e) ur (e) well-mannered, grave < Anglo-French demuré, past participle of demurer to demur; perhaps influenced by Old French mur, mëur grave, mature (< Latin matūrus)

Related forms
demurely, adverb
demureness, noun
undemure, adjective
undemurely, adverb
undemureness, noun

Can be confused
demur, demure.

Synonyms Expand
1. retiring. See modest.

Antonyms
1, 2. indecorous.

Anagram

red emu
rude me

Today’s aphorism

Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.

– Walt Whitman

On this day

17 August 1786 – birth of Davy Crockett, American frontiersman, King of the Wild Frontier.

17 August 1896 – Bridget Driscoll becomes the first car accident fatality after being run over by a Benz car in the grounds of the Crystal Palace, London, England.

17 August 1908 – the world’s first animated cartoon, Fantasmagorie by Émile Cohl, is shown in Paris.

17 August 1970 – Russia launches the Venera 7 spacecraft, which becomes the first man-made object to land on Venus (15 December 1970)

17 August 1980 – Azaria Chamberlain is reported missing at Ayers Rock, Northern Territory. Initially it was claimed that a dingo took her. In 1982, her mother, Lindy Chamberlain was tried for murder. Her husband, Michael, was charged for being an accessory after the fact. After three years in prison, Lindy was released after a piece of the baby’s clothing was found near a dingo’s lair. In 2012, a coroner confirmed the Chamberlain’s version of events that a dingo had taken Azaria.

17 August 1987 – death of Rudolf Hess, prominent Nazi politician who served as Deputy Fuhrer under Adolf Hitler. In 1941, Hess flew solo to Scotland in an effort to negotiate peace after being ignored by Hitler in various plans associated with the war. The flight was not sanctioned by Hitler. Hess was taken prisoner and charged with crimes against peace. He served a life sentence and remained in prison until his death. Born 26 April 1894.

16 August 2014

cauterise

[kaw-tuh-rahyz]

verb (used with object), cauterised, cauterising.
1. to burn with a hot iron, electric current, fire, or a caustic, especially for curative purposes; treat with a cautery.
Expand
Also, especially American, cauterize.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English < Late Latin cautērizāre to brand, equivalent to cautēr- (< Greek kautḗr branding iron, equivalent to kau-, variant stem of kaíein to burn (cf. caustic ), + -tēr agent suffix) + -izāre -ize

Anagram

rite cause
acute rise
a rescue it

Today’s quote

And I am fascinated by the spiritual man
I am humbled by his humble nature
What I wouldn’t give to find a soulmate
Someone else to catch this drift

– Alanis Morissette, All I Really Want

On this day

16 August 1938 – death of Robert Johnson. American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was 27.

16 August 1958 – birth of Madonna, American pop star, (born Madonna Louise Ciccone). The Guinness Book of World Records lists her as the biggest selling female recording artist of all time, with over 300 million records sold world-wide.

16 August 1962 – Ringo Starr becomes the new drummer for the Beatles, taking over from Peter Best who was sacked by the band. Ringo went on to fame and fortune, Best became a career public servant for 20 years, before forming the Peter Best Band.

16 August 1977 – death of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.