12 August 2015

schnozzola

schno-zoh-luh]

noun, Slang.

1.a nose, especially one of unusually large size.

Also, schnozz, schnozzle [shnoz-uh l], schnoz [shnoz]

Origin of schnoz

1935-1940, Americanism; probably expressive alteration of nose, nozzle; schn- by association with any of several semantically related Yiddish words, e.g. shnabl beak, shnoyts snout, shnuk beak, trunk; for suffix of schnozzola see -ola

Dictionary.com

Today’s quote

Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.

― Plato

On this day

12 August 30BC – Cleopatra VII, last Pharoah of Ancient Egypt, suicides after learning of the suicide of her lover, Mark Antony (after he lost the Battle of Actium to Emperor Octavian). She reportedly allowed herself to be bitten by an asp. Soon after, Egypt became a Roman province under Octavian.

12 August 1964 – death of Ian Fleming, British author of the ‘James Bond’ novels. Born 28 May 1908.

12 August 2009 – death of Les Paul, (born Lester William Polsfuss) American musician and inventor of the solid body electric guitar. The popular Gibson Les Paul was designed in collaboration with him. Born 9 June 1915.

11 August 2015

panjandrum

[pan-jan-druh m]

noun
1. a self-important or pretentious official.

Origin of panjandrum
1745-1755; pseudo-Latin word (based on pan- ) coined by Samuel Foote (1720-77), English dramatist and actor

Dictionary.com

Examples

My panjandrum is deposed and transported to herd with convicts.
Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress
George Bernard Shaw

He looks at the caller ID and isn’t surprised to see TONES in the window. Anthony “Tones” Frobisher, the grand high panjandrum of Discount Electrix (Birch Hill Mall Branch).
Mr Mercedes
Stephen King

Anagram

Damn jar pun

Today’s quote

The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are. The second greatest is being happy with what you find.

– Unknown

On this day

11 August 3114BC – ok, so there is an argument that the month of August didn’t exist in 3114BC, but humour me … some mathemetician type has calculated the equivalent Mesoamerican date using the Gregorian calendar and determined that it was on this day that the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, (aka the Mayan Calendar) came into being. It was used by a number of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. Oddly enough, the creation of the calendar wasn’t a problem. The problem has arisen with the lack of fore-thought on the end-date. Inconveniently, some inconsiderate Mesoamerican culture (let’s blame the Mayans) decided the calendar would end on 21 December 2012, which has caused a little consternation amongst some of the inhabitants of Earth, who fear the calendar ends on that date because the world ends on that date … considering that the earth has managed to survive beyond 21/12/12, speculation is rife that perhaps the calendar ended on that date because its creator got bored, or was called in for dinner, or went hunting sabre-tooth tigers and never returned …

11 August 480BC – death of Leonidas, King of Sparta, famous for the Battle of Thermopylae in which he led an Army of 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans and managed to hold off Persian Army (estimated to be at least 100,000 strong) led by Xerxes. Leonidas was eventually over-run and killed. He would have been stoked to know a Hollywood movie would be made about him in 1962 and again in 2006.

11 August 1897 – birth of Enid Blyton, British author of numerous series of children’s stories, including ‘Noddy‘, ‘Famous Five‘, and ‘Secret Seven‘. Died 1967.

11 August 1921 – birth of Alex Haley, U.S. author of ‘Roots‘, ‘Malcolm X‘. Died 10 February 1992.

11 August 1945 – Japan offers surrender, conditional on the retention of their Emperor, Hirohito. The U.S. rejects the offer, demanding that Emperor Hirohito subject himself to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces.

11 August 1994 – death of Peter Cushing OBE,English actor who mostly appeared in Hammer Horror films, including The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula (in which he played vampire hunter, Van Helsing). Born 26 May 1913.

10 August 2015

dewy

[doo-ee, dyoo-ee]

adjective, dewier, dewiest.
1. moist with or as if with dew.
2. having the quality of dew :
dewy tears.

Origin of dewy

Middle English, Old English

1000, before 1000; Middle English; Old English dēawig; see dew, -y1

Related forms
dewily, adverb
dewiness, noun
undewily, adverb
undewiness, noun
undewy, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for dewy

Contemporary Examples

When romancing the dewy Briony, the cosmopolitan New Yorker Andrew sounds like the creepy European Humbert Humbert.
The Brain Man: What is E. L. Doctorow Up to?
Tom LeClair
January 12, 2014

Historical Examples

So at the first toll of the deep-toned bell, I dressed myself, and went out into the dewy freshness of the new day.
The Doctor’s Dilemma
Hesba Stretton

Linda’s eyes opened wide and dewy with surprise and pleasure.
Her Father’s Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter

Today’s quote

Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with their heart and soul,there is no such thing as separation.

– Rumi

On this day

10 August 587BC – Solomon’s Temple (also known as the ‘First Temple’) destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzer II during the Siege of Jerusalem. The temple was later rebuilt.

10 August 70AD – Solomon’s Temple (also known as the ‘Second Temple’) set alight by Roman Army, led by future Emperor Titus.

10 August 1960 – birth of José Antonio Domínguez Banderas, Spanish actor, otherwise known as Antonio Banderas.

10 August 1964 – Following the Gulf of Tonkin incidents on 2 and 4 August 1964, the US Congress passes ‘The Southeast Asia Resolution’ (the ‘Gulf of Tonkin Resolution’), which authorised the United States ‘to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom‘. The passage of this Resolution led to US involvement in the Vietnam War.

8 August 2015

dybbuk or dibbuk

[Sephardic Hebrew dee-book; Ashkenazic Hebrew, English dib-uh k]

noun, plural dybbuks, dybbukim [Sephardic Hebrew dee-boo-keem; Ashkenazic Hebrew dih-boo k-im] (Show IPA). Jewish Folklore.

1. a demon, or the soul of a dead person, that enters the body of a living person and directs the person’s conduct, exorcism being possible only by a religious ceremony.

Origin of dybbuk

Hebrew

1900-1905; < Yiddish dibek < Hebrew dibbūq, derivative of dābhaq cleave (to); spelling dybbuk is a Pol transliteration of the Heb word

Dictionary.com

Today’s quote

I want to die as a slave to principles, not to men.

― Emiliano Zapata

On this day

8 August 1864 – Formation of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland.

8 August 1945 – The Soviet Union declares war on the Empire of Japan and invades the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. In late, July 1945 Japan, naively, had been petitioning the neutral Soviets to broker a peace deal favourable to the Japanese. While the invasion violated the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, it was in accordance with the secret Yalta Agreements that the Soviet Union made with the United States and the United Kingdom at the Crimea Conference held between 4-11 February 1945, in which Stalin agreed to attack Japan within 3 months of Germany’s surrender.

8 August 1953 – conclusion of negotiations for the 1953 London Debt Agreement which had begun on 27 February 1953, when West Germany was given debt relief by creditor nations, which included Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Pakistan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, the United States, Yugoslavia and others. The debt of 32 billion marks (16 billion owed to the United States and 16 billion to other nations) had accumulated since the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The London Agreement halved the debt to 15 billion marks to be paid out over 30 years. The repayments were capped at 3% of export earnings and were only required while West Germany had a trade surplus. This significantly boosted West Germany’s export market and directly resulted in Germany becoming an economic powerhouse.

8 August 1959 – death of Albert Namatjira, Australian Aboriginal artist. Born 28 July 1902.

8 August 1974 – USA President Richard Nixon resigns because of his impending impeachment for ‘obstruction of justice’, ‘abuse of power’, and ‘contempt of congress’, in relation to the Watergate Scandal.

8 August 1979 – birth of Emiliano Zapata Salazar, Mexican revolutionary.

8 August 1981 – birth of Roger Federer in Switzerland, champion tennis player.

8 August 1988 – The ‘8888’ Uprising in Burma, from which Aung Sun Suu Kyi gains popularity and becomes a national hero.

7 August 2015

calx

[kalks]

noun, plural calxes, calces [kal-seez]
1. the oxide or ashy substance that remains after metals, minerals, etc., have been thoroughly roasted or burned.
2. lime1(def 1).

Origin of calx
Middle English, Old French, Latin late Middle English
1350-1400; late Middle English < Latin: lime; replacing Middle English cals < Old French < Latin

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for calx

Historical Examples

This calx further calcined by a moderate fire, the flame being reverberated on it, soon grows white.
Elements of the Theory and Practice of Chymistry, 5th ed.
Pierre Joseph Macquer

Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry
Joseph Priestley

In this case no red sublimate arose as customarily takes place with that calx which is prepared by the acid of nitre.
Discovery of Oxygen, Part 2
Carl Wilhelm Scheele

Today’s quote

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

– Francis of Assisi

On this day

7 August 1876 – birth of Mata Hari, (born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle), Dutch dancer, courtesan and spy. She was charged with espionage and executed by firing squad in France, after being accused of spying for Germany during World War I. (Died 1917).

7 August 1964 – birth of John Birmingham, Australian author.

7 August 1987 – US long distance swimmer, Lynne Cox, swims the freezing Bering Strait from Alaska to the Soviet Union in an effort to warm the relationship between the USA and the USSR. Unlike the reception that Matthius Rust received in May 1987 for illegally entering the Soviet Union, Lynne Cox was welcomed by the Eskimos of the Diomede Islands and Soviet soldiers stationed there. Her effort was praised by the both US President Ronald Reagan and USSR General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.

6 August 2015

syncopate

[sing-kuh-peyt, sin-]

verb (used with object), syncopated, syncopating.

1. Music.
to place (the accents) on beats that are normally unaccented.
to treat (a passage, piece, etc.) in this way.
2. Grammar. to contract (a word) by omitting one or more sounds from the middle, as in reducing Gloucester to Gloster.

Origin of syncopate

Medieval Latin
1595-1605; < Medieval Latin syncopātus (past participle of syncopāre to shorten by syncope). See syncope, -ate1

Related forms

syncopator, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for syncopate

Historical Examples

syncopate and curtail a royal ornament, and leave a domestic animal.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878
Various

syncopate and curtail a greenish mineral, and leave a Turkish officer.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878
Various

syncopate a crown of a person of rank, and leave a musical instrument.
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, September 1878, No. 11
Various

syncopate and curtail a carpenter’s tool, and leave an insect.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878

Anagram

spy octane
pecan toys

Today’s quote

My fascination with letting images repeat and repeat – or in film’s case ‘run on’ – manifests my belief that we spend much of our lives seeing without observing.

– Andy Warhol

On this day

6 August 1661 – Holland sells Brazil to Portugal for 8 million guilders.

6 August 1806 – The Holy Roman Empire comes to an inglorious end at the hands of Napoleon.

6 August 1927 – birthday of Andy Warhol, American pop artist. American writer, Gore Vidal, once said, ‘Andy Warhol is the only genius I’ve ever known with an IQ of 60‘.

6 August 1945 – USA drops an atomic bomb, called ‘Little Boy’ on Hiroshima, Japan. It is estimated that between 70,000 to 140,000 people died within the four months of the bombing, with half that number dying on the day of the bombing.

6 August 1965 – President Lydon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act which removed discriminatory voting practices against African Americans. Essentially it meant African Americans could vote freely, without having to meet qualifications that white Americans didn’t need to meet, such as literacy tests.

5 August 2015

gung-ho

[guhng-hoh] Informal.

adjective
1. wholeheartedly enthusiastic and loyal; eager; zealous:
a gung-ho military outfit.
adverb
2. in a successful manner:
The business is going gung-ho.

Origin of gung-ho

Chinese introduced as a training slogan in 1942 by U.S. Marine officer Evans F. Carlson (1896-1947) < Chinese gōng hé, the abbreviated name of the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society, taken by a literal translation as “work together”

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for gung-ho Expand

Contemporary Examples

Ron Howard even cast him in a bit part in his 1986 movie gung ho.
‘No No,’ a Documentary on MLB Pitcher Dock Ellis, Who Pitched a No-Hitter While Tripping on Acid
Marlow Stern
February 4, 2014

An earlier generation of women at Princeton were gung ho to show they belonged on Princeton’s grand and gothic campus.
Princeton’s Woman Problem
Evan Thomas
March 20, 2011

I never wanted to be too happy or gung ho about something or too mad about something.
The Daily Beast Hip Hop Battle
Touré
December 20, 2008

Anagram

gun hog

Today’s quote

Every man dies. Not every man really lives.

– William Wallace

On this day

5 August 910 – Battle of Tettenhall, in which King Edward and Earl Aethelred defeat the last of the Viking armies to raid England.

5 August 1305 – Scottish revolutionary, William Wallace, captured by English forces near Glasgow. He was transported to London for trial and execution.

5 August 1861 – the United States Army abolishes flogging and increases enlistment terms from 3 months to 2 years.

5 August 1884 – construction of the Statue of Liberty commences in New York City with the laying of the cornerstone.

5 August 1930 – birthday of Neil Armstrong, astronaut, first man on the moon. Died 25 August 2012.

5 August 1944 – The Cowra Breakout – The largest prisoner-of-war escape in World War 2, when 1104 Japanese prisoners attempted to breakout of the Australian internment camp at Cowra, New South Wales. Four Australian soldiers and 231 Japanese prisoners were killed during the manhunt. The remaining prisoners were captured and returned to prison.

5 August 1957 – the ‘Andy Capp’ comic strip makes its debut.

5 August 1962 – Marilyn Monroe found dead. She was 36 years old. It is believed she deliberately over-dosed on drugs, but questions remain around whether she administered it voluntarily or someone murdered her.

5 August 1966 – Datebook magazine quotes John Lennon controversially declaring that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus. Lennon had made the comment on 4 March 1966 in England, where no-one paid attention to it. When Datebook published it in August in the United States it caused an uproar. The full quote was ‘Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me‘.

4 August 2015

bastion

[bas-chuh n, -tee-uh n]

noun
1. Fortification. a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.
2. a fortified place.
3. anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc.:
a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.

Origin of bastion

Middle French, Italian
1590-1600; < Middle French < Italian bastione, equivalent to Upper Italian bastí (a) bastion, orig., fortified, built (cognate with Italian bastita, past participle of bastire to build < Germanic; see baste1) + -one augmentative suffix

Related forms
bastionary [bas-chuh-ner-ee], adjective
bastioned, adjective

Synonyms
2. fortress, fort, bulwark, stronghold, citadel.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for bastion

Contemporary Examples

Once known as the most polluted place on earth, the city of Linfen is being held up as bastion of green progress.
China’s Chernobyl Cleans Up Its Act
The Telegraph
October 24, 2012

The Supreme Court, which has been a bastion of white men throughout its history, is a favorite target for these critics.
Closing the Case Against Sotomayor
Scott Horton
May 27, 2009

Kaine could be boosted by his subcommittee, a bastion of support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
How Tim Kaine Can Boost the Peace Process
Rachel Cohen
July 30, 2013

Anagram

Obtains
boast in

Today’s quote

Nothing wilts faster than laurels that have been rested upon.

– Percy Bysshe Shelley

On this day

4 August 1181 – Supernova (not the rock band), SN1181, observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was visible for 185 days. A supernova is the explosive death of a star, resulting in a nebula of illuminated gas.

4 August 1792 – birth of Percy Bysshe Shelley, English romantic poet, considered to be one the finest lyric poets of all time. Died 8 July 1822.

4 August 1914 – World War I officially starts as Great Britain declares war on Germany in response to the German invasion of Belgium the day before.

4 August 1914 – United States declares its neutrality in World War I.

4 August 1944 – German police and Gestapo officers arrest Jewish diarist, Anne Frank and her family, in Amsterdam. The family was eventually transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. In March 1945 a typhus epidemic spread through the camp, claiming the Anne’s life. The camp was liberated only weeks later, in April 1945, by British troops. Anne Frank kept a diary which later was published and became a best seller.

4 August 1964 – the second Gulf of Tonkin Incident in which it was believed North Vietnamese troops fired on two US destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy. It is now believed the second incident may have involved false radar images and not the North Vietnamese.

3 August 2015

corollary

[kawr-uh-ler-ee, kor-; especially British, kuh-rol-uh-ree]

noun, plural corollaries.
1. Mathematics. a proposition that is incidentally proved in proving another proposition.
2. an immediate consequence or easily drawn conclusion.
3. a natural consequence or result.

Origin of corollary
Middle English, Late Latin
1325-1375; Middle English < Late Latin corollārium corollary, in Latin: money paid for a garland, a gift, gratuity. See corolla, -ary

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for corollary

Contemporary Examples

A corollary to these tropes was that we must prize stability over democracy with allies as important as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
(Egypt and the End of Excuses for the U.S,Parag Khanna, January 31, 2011)

As a corollary, one must understand the importance of narrative.
(The David Eagleman Interview: How I Write, Noah Charney, May 15, 2012)

Of course, says Davis, the lack of parental encouragement is just a corollary of the fear.
(The Drowning Race Gap, Constantino Diaz-Duran , August 6, 2010)

Anagram

coal lorry

Today’s quote

Sometimes paranoia’s just having all the facts.

– William S. Burroughs

On this day

3 August 1811 – birthday of Elisha Graves Otis, American industrialist and founder of the Otis Elevator Company. In 1854, he put the finishing touches to his signature invention: a safety device to prevent elevators falling if the cable fails.

3 August 1905 – birthday of Maggie Kuhn, activist and founder of the Gray Panthers, who campaigned for nursing home reform and opposed ageism. She also fought for human rights, social and economic justice, global peace, integration, and mental health issues.

3 August 1914 – World War I heats up: Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, while Turkey signs a pact with Germany.

3 August 1914 – Formation of the World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches. It’s purpose was to help churches promote peace, disarmament,rights of racial and religious minorities, conscientious objection, arms control, and the League of Nations.

3 August 1963 – birthday of James Hetfield, US rock star, member of Metallica.

3 August 1973 – birthday of Patrick Wilson, American actor, from movies such as ‘the Alamo‘, ‘Watchmen‘, ‘The A-Team‘, ‘Phantom of the Opera‘ – with Gerard Butler and Emma Rossum.

3 August 1973 – Fire kills 51 people at an amusement park on the Isle of Man.

2 August 2015

piebald

[pahy-bawld]

adjective
1. having patches of black and white or of other colors; parti-colored.
noun
2. a piebald animal, especially a horse.

Origin of piebald

1580-1590; pie2(see pied ) + bald

Related forms

piebaldly, adverb
piebaldness, noun

Synonyms

1. dappled, mottled.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for piebald

Historical Examples

Were it not that a man owes loyalty to his house and to his King I would enlist under the piebald banner of the Templars.
(Masters of the Guild, L. Lamprey)

They tapered in size from right to left—the piebald on the left.
(Across the Equator, Thomas H. Reid)

Anagram

lip bead
able dip

Today’s quote

If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?

– Maya Angelou

On this day

2 August 216BC – 2nd Punic War, Battle of Cannae, in which Hannibal defeats the much larger Roman army.

2 August 1776 – the United States Declaration of Independence officially signed by 56 Congressional delegates who were not present on 4 July 1776, when 34 Congressional delegates signed and ratified it.

2 August 1934 – the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in the United States, levying $1 on commercial dealers of cannabis. It did not outlaw cannabis, but included hefty penalties if the Act was violated, namely five years imprisonment and a $2,000 fine. The Act was repealed in 1970.

2 August 1964 – the first Gulf of Tonkin Incident in which North Vietnamese troops fired on a US destroyer, the USS Maddox (the second incident allegedly occurred on 4 August 1964). The incident gave rise to the US Congress passing the ‘Gulf of Tonkin Resolution’ – officially the ‘Southeast Asia Resolution – which eventually led to the Vietnam War.

2 August 1997 – death of William Seward Burroughs, otherwise known as William S. Burroughs or William Lee, Beat Generation author, painter, spoken word performer. The beat generation rose to prominence in the 1950s and experimented with innovation in art, style, rules and drugs. Burroughs work includes Junkie, Queer, and Naked Lunch. Born on 5 February 1914 .