12 May 2015

cantillate

[kan-tl-eyt]

verb (used with object), cantillated, cantillating.
1. to chant; intone.

Origin of cantillate
Late Latin
1860-1865; < Late Latin cantillātus sung low, hummed (past participle of cantillāre), equivalent to cant- sing (see cant1) + -ill- diminutive suffix + -ātus -ate1

Related forms
cantillation, noun

Dictionary.com

Anagram

canal title

Today’s quote

I was asked once, ‘You’re a smart man. Why aren’t you rich?’ I replied, ‘You’re a rich man. Why aren’t you smart?’

– Jacques Fresco

On this day

12 May 1932 – the body of the Lindbergh baby is found near to the Lindbergh residence. The baby was the son of famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, and had been kidnapped days earlier. The kidnapper had accidentally killed the baby during the kidnapping and abandoned the body in a nearby forest.

12 May 1937 – King George VI is crowned King of Britain (and it’s colonies) at Westminster Abbey, following the abdication of his brother.

12 May 1980 – death of Bette Nesmith Graham. Bette is the inventor of Liquid Paper. Her son, Mike Nesmith, was a member of 1960s UK/American pop/rock band, The Monkees. Born 23 March 1924 in Dallas, Texas.

12 May 1994 – in response to thousands acts of violence in the USA against abortion clinics and their patients, a bill is submitted to President Clinton making it a federal crime to prevent access to an abortion clinic or to threaten or use force against people attending the clinics. The bill resulted in the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act 1994. Between 1978 and 1993 anti-abortion (or pro-life) activists had been responsible for at least 9 murders, 17 attempted murders, 406 death threats, 179 acts of assault, 5 kidnappings of abortion providers, 41 bombings, 96 attempted bombings or arsons, 692 bomb threats, 1993 incidents of trespassing, 1400 incidents of vandalism and 100 attacks with butyric acid (stink bombs).

10 May 2015

recant

[ri-kant]

verb (used with object)
1. to withdraw or disavow (a statement, opinion, etc.), especially formally; retract.
verb (used without object)
2. to withdraw or disavow a statement, opinion, etc., especially formally.

Origin of recant
Latin
1525-1535; < Latin recantāre to sing back, sing again, equivalent to re- re- + cantāre, frequentative of canere to sing; cf. chant

Related forms

recantation [ree-kan-tey-shuh n], noun
recanter, noun
recantingly, adverb
unrecanted, adjective
unrecanting, adjective

Can be confused
recant, recount.

Synonyms
1. revoke, recall, rescind, deny.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the web for recant

– However, she has since refused to recant her story and stands by her original claim.
(Somalia Jails Woman and Journalist Over Soldier Rape Claims Laila Ali February 8, 2013)

Anagram

trance
canter
nectar

Today’s aphorism

Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.

– Stevie Wonder

On this day

10 May 1837 – the Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail and unemployment reaches record levels.

10 May 1893 – the Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.

10 May 1908 – Mother’s Day first celebrated. Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia in the United States becomes the first place in the world to hold the first official Mother’s Day celebration. 407 women were in attendance that day. In 1872 Julie Ward Howe suggested a national holiday to celebrate peace and motherhood. At that time, many local groups held their own celebration of motherhood, but most were religious gatherings. Another influential figure was Anna Jarvis who campaigned for a national holiday following the death of her mother in 1905. Her mother, social activist Ann Jarvis used to hold an annual celebration, Mother’s Friendship Day, to help ease the pain of the US Civil War. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day a national holiday on the second Sunday of May. Anna Jarvis was arrested at a Mother’s Day celebration when she tried to stop the selling of flowers. She stated, ‘I wanted it to be a day of sentiment not of profit‘.

10 May 1924 – Edgard J. Hoover appointed Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A position he holds until his death in 1972.

10 May 1933 – in Germany, Nazis stage massive public book burnings.

10 May 1941 – Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess, parachutes into Scotland to negotiate a peace settlement between the UK and Germany. Hess was arrested and convicted of crimes against peace and spent the remainder of his life in jail. He died in 1987.

10 May 1954 – Bill Haley and His Comets release Rock Around the Clock, the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.

10 May 1960 – birth of Bono (Paul David Hewson), activist and Irish singer-songwriter with U2.

10 May 1994 – Nelson Mandela inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president.

10 May 2003 – The Golden Gumboot opens in Tully, North Queensland. It stands 7.9m tall and represents the record annual rainfall of 7900mm that Tully received in1950. Tully is officially Australia’s wettest town.

8 May 2015

sultry

[suhl-tree]

adjective, sultrier, sultriest.
1. oppressively hot and close or moist; sweltering:
a sultry day.
2. oppressively hot; emitting great heat:
the sultry sun.
3. characterized by or associated with sweltering heat:
sultry work in the fields.
4. characterized by or arousing passion:
sultry eyes.

Origin of sultry
1585-15951585-95; sult(e)r (variant of swelter ) + -y1

Related forms
sultrily, adverb
sultriness, noun
unsultry, adjective

Synonyms
1. oppressive, stifling, humid.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the web for sultry
– A saucy, sultry 5-foot-10, with long, dark hair, she created quite a stir and did not lack for admirers.
(Billionaire Divorcee’s Happy Ending Sandra McElwaine January 23, 2011)

– But she did offer a prediction: “My guess: with Mad Men the song will be sultry.”
(‘Mad Men’ Premiere: A History of ‘Zou Bisou Bisou,’ Megan’s Sultry Song to Don Lauren Streib March 25, 2012)

– Ruhi, a sultry 19-year-old, sees beauty pageants as her ticket to success.
(Models vs. Militants: Nisha Pahuja’s Film Shows Two Worlds of Indian Women Abigail Pesta May 4, 2012)

Anagram

sly rut

Today’s aphorism

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.

– Henry Ford

On this day

8 May 1911 – birthday of Robert Johnson. American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.

8 May 1945 – VE day. Victory in Europe – the day that Nazi Germany formally surrendered in World War II.

7 May 2015

rancid

[ran-sid]

adjective

1. having a rank, unpleasant, stale smell or taste, as through decomposition, especially of fats or oils:
rancid butter.
2. (of an odor or taste) rank, unpleasant, and stale:
a rancid smell.
3. offensive or nasty; disagreeable.

Origin of rancid
Latin
1640-1650; < Latin rancidus rank, stinking, equivalent to ranc (ēre) to be rotten + -idus -id4

Related forms
rancidly, adverb
rancidness, rancidity, noun
unrancid, adjective

Dictionary.com

Anagram

card in

Today’s aphorism

Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

– J.K. Rowling

On this day

7 May 351 – Jews in Palestine revolt against the rule of Constantius Gallus, Caesar of the East and brother-in-law of Emperor Constantius II, after he arrived in Antioch to take up his post.

7 May 1429 – Joan of Arc leads the victorious final charge in the Siege of Orleans, marking a turning point in the One Hundred Years war.

7 May 1718 – the city of New Orleans is founded on the banks of the Mississippi River in the American state of Louisiana, by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.

7 May 1919 – birthday of Eva Perón, first lady of Argentina and second wife of Argentine President, Juan Perón. Her life was immortalised in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Evita, which included the hit song, ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’.

7 May 1952 – the concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is published by Geoffrey W.A. Drummer.

6 May 2015

hebephrenia

[hee-buh-free-nee-uh]

noun, Psychiatry.
1. a type of schizophrenia characterized by emotionless, incongruous, or silly behavior, intellectual deterioration, and hallucinations, frequently beginning insidiously during adolescence.

Origin of hebephrenia Expand

Greek
1880-1885; < Greek hēbē- (see hebetic ) + -phrenia

Related forms
hebephrenic [hee-buh-fren-ik], adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the web for hebephrenia
– It can be entertaining to find hebephrenia or chlorosis, but do not share the news.

Anagram

nee hip rehab

Today’s aphorism

Only put off tomorrow what you are willing to die left undone.

– Pablo Picasso

On this day

6 May – Following ‘May the Fourth be with you’, and Cinco de Mayo yesterday, does this make today ‘Revenge of the Sixth?’

6 May 1937 – the German passenger dirigible (Zeppelin), The Hindenburg, crashes bursts into flames, falling 200 feet to the ground, killing 37 people. The Hindenburg was the world’s largest hydrogen airship and the disaster marked the end of the airship era. The disaster was captured on camera and a newsreel released, which can be viewed on Youtube.

6 May 1945 – Hermann Göring, Hitler’s second in command and the most powerful Nazi alive, surrenders to US forces, effectively marking the end of the Second World War. The official surrender was announced by German officers on 8 May 1945.

6 May 1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first man break the 4 minute mile on foot. He ran the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds at the Iffley Road Track, Oxford, England.

5 May 2015

synathroesmus

Noun

(usually uncountable, plural synathroesmi)

(rhetoric) Piling up of terms, especially adjectives, often as invective.

Origin
From Latin, from Ancient Greek συναθροισμός (synathroismos, “collection, union, rhetorical grouping of diverse words”).

Noun
Rare spelling of synathroesmus.

(yourdictionary.com)

Examples

– “He’s a proud, haughty, consequential, turned-up-nose peacock.”
(Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby)

-“He was a gasping, wheezing, clutching, covetous old man.”
(Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol)

Anagram

Aneurysm Shots
Mushy Senators
assumes thorny
a snouts rhymes

Today’s aphorism

On this day

5 May – Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for 5th of May), celebrates Mexican heritage and pride. It originated as a celebration of freedom for Mexicans following the victory by Mexican forces over the French at the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862.

5 May 1818 – birth of Karl Marx, German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist and revolutionary socialist. One of the most influential economists in history. Marx’s work included Das Kapital, as well as The Communist Manifesto which he co-authored with German social scientist, Friedrich Engels. He fathered modern communism and socialism with the aim of putting the means of production in the hands of the workers to end exploitation at the hands of the bourgeoisie. He believed in the redistribution of wealth for the benefit of all, rather than accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few. The wealth, he believed, was created by the workers and should therefore be shared amongst the workers. He stated that communism would not succeed in the individual nation unless other nations supported it, hence the adoption of L’internationale as the socialist anthem following the ‘First International’ conference held by Marx and Engels in 1864. His international theory perhaps makes him the world’s first globalisationist. He believed socialism would not succeed in poverty, but required the building of wealth to succeed and distribution of wealth to be sustainable. Died 14 March 1883.

5 May 1821 – death of Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor

5 May 1970 – University of New Mexico is the scene of protests against the Vietnam War, US attacks on Cambodia and the Kent State University massacre (see 4 May 1970), the National Guard and police are called in. The National Guard fixed bayonets and attacked the protestors, resulting in eleven protestors and journalists being bayonetted.

4 May 2015

exergasia

[ek-ser-gey-zhuh]

Noun

(plural exergasias)

(rhetoric) restatement, a form of parallelism where an idea is repeated and the only change is in the way it is stated.

Origin
From Ancient Greek ἐξεργασία (exergasia, “working out, completion”), from ἐξεργάζομαι (exergazomai, “to work out, finish”), from ἐξ (ex, “out”) + ἔργον (ergon, “work”)

In Latin it is known as ‘expolito’.

Examples of exergasia

Martin Luther King Jr from his ‘I have a dream’ speech:

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy;
now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice;
now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood;
now is the time to make justice a reality for all God’s children.

The idea of correcting injustice is repeated in all four lines to emphasize this idea. (From Wikipedia).

Anagram

eager axis

Today’s aphorism

One of the most beneficial things I’ve ever learned is how to keep my mouth shut.

– Eric Clapton

On this day

4 May – International Firefighters Day

4 May – Star Wars Day – May the Fourth be with you!

4 – 8 May 1942 – Battle of the Coral Sea, a major naval battle in the Pacific Theatre during World War 2, fought between the Japanese Imperial Navy and Allied forces from Australia and USA. Japan was attempting to occupy Port Moresby, but was repelled by the Allied forces.

4 May 1970 – National Guards open fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young wrote the song ‘Ohio’ about the incident.

4 May 1979 – Margaret Thatcher forms government in the UK. Her administration was controversial and ultra-conservative. Her policies of smaller government, privatisation, nationalism, lower taxes, and free markets gave rise to the term, ‘Thatcherism’. However, her policies were also seen as anti-worker and anti-Union. During the 1980s, United States President Ronald Reagan adopted similar economic conservatism which came to be known as Reaganism. Both Reagan and Thatcher ascribed to the economic theories espoused by neo-liberal economist Milton Friedman. Thatcher remained Prime Minister until her resignation in November 1990 after losing a leadership challenge from Michael Heseltine.

3 May 2015

anaphora

[uh-naf-er-uh]

noun

1. Also called epanaphora. Rhetoric. repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences.
Compare epistrophe (def 1), symploce.
2. Grammar. the use of a word as a regular grammatical substitute for a preceding word or group of words, as the use of it and do in I know it and he does too.
Compare cataphora.
3. (sometimes initial capital letter) Eastern Church.
the prayer of oblation and consecration in the Divine Liturgy during which the Eucharistic elements are offered.
the part of the ceremony during which the Eucharistic elements are offered as an oblation.

Origin of anaphora
Late Latin
1580-1590; < Late Latin < Greek: a bringing back, repeating, equivalent to ana- ana- + -phora, akin to phérein to carry, bring; cf. -phore, -phorous

Related forms
anaphoral, adjective
preanaphoral, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples of anaphora
– One of the most famous examples of anaphora is from Winston Churchill: ‘We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender … ‘.

– An example from Muhammad Ali: ‘Sonny Liston is nothing. The man can’t talk. The man can’t fight. The man needs talking lessons. The man needs boxing lessons. And since he’s gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons’.

Anagram

a ah apron

Today’s aphorism

I have been so great in boxing they had to create an image like Rocky, a white image on the screen, to counteract my image in the ring. America has to have its white images, no matter where it gets them. Jesus, Wonder Woman, Tarzan and Rocky.

– Muhammad Ali

On this day

3 May 1913 – The Indian film industry (otherwise known as Bollywood) kicks off with the release of its first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra.

3 May 1915 – The iconic poem In Flanders Fields written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

3 May 1919 – birth of Peter Seeger, American singer-songwriter, musician, activist. Died 27 January 2014.

3 May 1921 – birth of Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr), American welterweight and middleweight professional boxer, declared to be the greatest boxer of all time. Sugar Ray stood at 5′ 11″ (1.80m). He fought 200 fights, winning 173 (108 by knock-out), lost 19, drew six, with two no contests. By 1946 Sugar Ray had won 40 fights straight, but was denied a shot at the world welterweight championship because he refused to cooperate with the mafia, which controlled much of boxing. In December 1946, he was finally allowed to contest the world championship and won. In 1947 Sugar Ray defended his welterweight title against Jimmy Doyle. In the eighth round, Doyle was knocked out and died later that night. Sugar Ray crossed weight classes and also won the world middleweight championship. In 1950, he broke the record for the shortest fight by knocking out Jose Basora 50 seconds into the first round. The record wasn’t broken for a further 38 years. in 1951, he fought Jake La Motta in what became known as the St Valentine’s Day massacre after the fight was stopped in the 13th round when La Motta was out on his feet, unable to even lift his arms throw a punch. That fight and some of the other matches with La Motta were adapted for the Martin Scorsese movie, Raging Bull. Died 12 April 1989.

3 May 1933 – birth of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. He died 25 December 2006.

3 May 1978 – the first spam email (unsolicited bulk email) is sent by a marketing representative for Digital Equipment Corporation to every ARPANET address on the West Coast of the USA.