12 January 2016 – telegenic

12 January 2016

telegenic

[tel-i-jen-ik]

adjective

1. having physical qualities or characteristics that televise well; videogenic.

Origin of telegenic

1935-1940; tele(vision) + -genic

Related forms

telegenically, adverb

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for telegenic

Contemporary Examples

If Mike Huckabee runs for president in 2016, he could deliver the Republican nomination to a telegenic, rotund governor.
Huckabee 2016 Would Give Iowa to Christie
Ben Jacobs
December 18, 2013

He was also a charismatic, telegenic speaker with a face improved by plastic surgery several years earlier.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise
Jason Berry
January 2, 2015

Chelsea had been smitten with the man’s telegenic good looks, but Patti wasn’t quite buying it.
The Cattiest Matchmaker
Emily Gould
February 21, 2010

He was quite a sight— young, telegenic, vibrant, even if he was an unapologetic wonk.
Rating the 2012 Veep Candidates: How Biden, Ryan Did
Paul Alexander
November 7, 2012

Let me be clear, as the president would say: Obama is telegenic and charming.
From POTUS to SCOTUS: Obama’s Big Move?
Keli Goff
November 16, 2014

Historical Examples

They grow up accepting the politics of telegenic competition, a poor substitute for competence and commitment.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin

telegenic or not, a president or a TV star has little, if any, impact on our fulfillment in the interconnected world of our time.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin

Anagram

entice gel
gentle ice


Today’s quote

I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human.

– David Bowie


On this day

12 January 1948 – The United States Supreme Court that the all-white law school at University of Oklahoma must provide education to black students that is equal to the education provided to white students.

12 January 2012 – magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Haiti, killing between 100,000 and 250,000. Humanitarian aid was slow in coming to Haiti because of the damage to the country’s infrastructure, which resulted in the high death toll. The earthquake is the fourth deadliest on record.

12 January 2003 – death of Maurice Gibb on the Isle of Man. Founded the Bee Gees with his brothers, Robin and Barry. Born 22 December 1949.

11 January 2016 – forfend

11 January 2016

forfend

[fawr-fend]

verb (used with object)

1. to defend, secure, or protect.
2. to fend off, avert, or prevent.
3. Archaic. forbid.

Also, forefend.

Origin of forfend
Middle English
1350-1400; Middle English forfenden. See for-, fend

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for forfend

Historical Examples

Of all travelling companionship, forfend us from that of a married man!
Early Western Travels, 1748-1846 (Volume XXVI)
Various

Is it not rather the blind brute instinct of self-protection, forfend what may?
Canada: the Empire of the North
Agnes C. Laut

forfend me from a man who weighs every expression with Scotch prudence.
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I (of II)
Charles Darwin

Anagram

nerd off


Today’s quote

The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.

– Charles Darwin


On this day

11 January 1986 – Brisbane’s Gateway Bridge opens.

11 January 2008 – death of Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. Hillary and sherpa Tbeenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Mt Everest. Born 20 July 1919.

11 January 2011 – flood-waters from the Lockyer Valley reach the Brisbane River catchment, causing the river to break its banks, flooding the CBD and other river-side suburbs, including New Farm, Fortitude Valley, West End, St Lucia, Rocklea and Graceville, inundating 20,000 homes. The Brisbane River peaked on 13 January 2013 at a height of 4.46m. The city of Ipswich was also inundated, with the Bremer River peaking on 12 January 2011. The worst affected areas included Goodna and Gailes. There were reports of bull sharks in the city centre of Goodna. A total of 35 people died as a result of the flooding in Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley, Brisbane and Ipswich.

10 January 2016 – agitprop

10 January 2016

agitprop

[aj-it-prop]

noun

1. agitation and propaganda, especially for the cause of communism.
2. (often initial capital letter) an agency or department, as of a government, that directs and coordinates agitation and propaganda.
3. Also, agitpropist. a person who is trained or takes part in such activities.
adjective
4. of or relating to agitprop.

Origin of agitprop

1930-1935; < Russian Agitpróp, orig. for Agitatsiónno-propagandístskiĭ otdél Agitation Propaganda Section (of the Central Committee, or a local committee, of the Communist Party); subsequently the head of such a section, or in compound names of political education organs, as agitpropbrigáda, etc.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for agitprop

Historical Examples

Agitprop, in turn, is responsible for the transmission of guidelines down to the lowest levels of party organization.
Area Handbook for Bulgaria
Eugene K. Keefe, Violeta D. Baluyut, William Giloane, Anne K. Long, James M. Moore, and Neda A. Walpole


Today’s quote

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

– Lao Tzu


On this day

10 January 1946 – the inaugural meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, with 51 nations, convenes in London.

10 January 1949 – RCA introduces the world’s first vinyl record which played at 45rpm while Columbia released the world’s first vinyl record which played at 33rpm.

10 January 1998 – Night of Noah, Townsville. The city was drenched with rains from ex-Tropical Cyclone Sid. In a 24-hour period, 549mm fell on the city as recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology, however of this, more than 500mm during a 12 hour period. There were unofficial recordings that exceeded 700mm during this period.

10 January 2011 – Flash flooding strikes Toowoomba, Queensland, after 160mm of rain falls in 36 hours, killing four people. The flood water flowed down the Toowoomba range, inundating properties in the Lockyer Valley, including Grantham, Withcott, Helidon, killing nine people.

9 January 2016 – quomodocunquize

9 January 2016

quomodocunquize

[kwo-moh-duh-kun-kwuz]

verb

– to make money by any means possible.

Only recorded usage in Oxford English Dictionary:

“Those quomodocunquizing clusterfists and rapacious varlets.”
– Thomas Urquhart (1652)


Today’s quote

There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.

– Kurt Vonnegut Jr


On this day

9 January 1324 – death of Marco Polo, Italian explorer. Born 15 September 1254.

9 January 1944 – birth of Jimmy Page, legendary British guitarist and song-writer. Co-founder of iconic rock band, Led Zeppelin.

8 January 2016 – sabrage

8 January 2016

sabrage

[seh-bra-zh]

noun

– the act of opening a champagne bottle with a sabre. Usually reserved for ceremonial occasions.

Example

Instead of popping corks for their wedding, the couple celebrated their union with a spectacular sabrage.

Anagram

sag bare


Today’s quote

Many will call me an adventurer – and that I am, only one of a different sort: one of those who risks his skin to prove his platitudes.

– Che Guevara


On this day

8 January 1935 – birth of Elvis Aaron Presley, the King of Rock and Roll. Died 16 August 1977.

8 January 1947 – birthday of David Bowie, British musician and actor, born David Robert Jones.

8 January 1959 – Fidel Castro’s rebel forces take control of Cuba. Castro eventually became President and ruled the nation until 2011.

8 January 1964 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson introduces legislation that results in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, otherwise known as the War on Poverty, in an effort to reduce the increasing poverty rate, which at that time was around 19%. Through this a number of poverty-reduction strategies were implemented, including Social Security Act 1965, Food Stamp Act of 1964, Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965), Community Action Program, Job Corps, and Volunteers in Services to America. Within 10 years the poverty rate had been reduced to around 11%. In 2014, the rate had risen to around 15%.

7 January 2016 – vigesimation

7 January 2016

vigesimation
(alternative form of vicesimation)

[vy-jes-uh-mey-shun]

noun

1. the act of killing every twentieth person or destroying one-twentieth of something.

2. based on the number 20.

Origin

Probably formed by the suffixation of the Latin vīcēsimus (“twentieth”) with the English -ation on the pattern of decimation, but compare the Latin vīcēsimātiō (“a killing of every twentieth man”); the spelling vigesimation is an alteration of vicesimation under the influence of vigesimal.

Example

Any number system which passes the limit 10 is reasonably sure to have either a quinary, a decimal, or a vigesimal structure.
– The Number Concept
by Levi Leonard Conant


Today’s quote

I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men.

– Nikola Tesla


On this day

7 January 1943 – Death of Nikola Tesla, Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and futurist. Inventor of alternating current (A/C) electricity supply. Born 10 July 1856.

7 January 1979 – Brutal Cambodian dictator, Pol Pot, is overthrown as Vietnamese forces invade Phnom Penh. Pol Pot and his army, the Khmer Rouge, were responsible for killing approximately 1.7 million people.

5 January 2016 – cloche

5 January 2016

cloche

[klohsh, klawsh]

noun

1. a woman’s close-fitting hat with a deep, bell-shaped crown and often a narrow, turned-down brim.
2. a bell-shaped glass cover placed over a plant to protect it from frost and to force its growth.
3. a bell-shaped metal or glass cover placed over a plate to keep food warm or fresh.

Origin of cloche

Medieval Latin

1905-1910; < French: bell, bell-jar < Medieval Latin clocca. See cloak

Dictionary.com

Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2016.

Examples from the Web for cloche

Contemporary Examples

But am I wrong to assume that this movie was 90 minutes of Jolie looking worried in a cloche hat?
If I Ran the Oscars
Jessi Klein
January 22, 2009

Historical Examples

He forgot that; kept the cloche moving; fought the wind with his will as with his body.
The Trail of the Hawk
Sinclair Lewis

I followed down a narrow but well-beaten trail, and so at the end of a half-mile came to the meadow and the post of cloche.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White

By this time ” cloche ” has been spelled, so that the next question is, “Was it the bell?”
What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games and Pastimes
Dorothy Canfield Fisher


Today’s quote

Americans are apocalyptic by nature. The reason why is that we’ve always had so much, so we live in deadly fear that people are going to take it away from us.

– Stephen King


On this day

5 January – the twelfth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

5 January 1914 – Henry Ford introduces the $5 per day wage, which was double the rate previously offered. Ford believed it would help him keep his best people and that it would enable his workers to buy Ford cars.

5 January 1933 – work commences on San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge. It was completed on 19 April 1937. The bridge is 2.7km long and 227.4m high.

5 January 1945 – First use of kamikaze pilots. Battle of Lingayan Gulf, Philippines. Allied forces attack Japanese positions. Japan had a seriously weakened air force that was now mainly comprised of inexperienced pilots, so authorised the first use of kamikaze (divine wind) attacks. USA ships included the USS Mississippi, New Mexico and Colorado. Australian ships included the HMAS Australia, Shropshire, Arunta, Warramunga, Gascoyne and Warrego. The Allies lost 30 ships, with 67 others damaged. Japanese casualties are unknown, however, the battle was a victory for the Allies.

5 January 1968 – the ‘Prague Spring’ in Czechoslovakia occurred through the political and economic reforms of leader Alexander Dubcek aimed at introducing ‘socialism with a human face’. The reforms included freedom of speech and allowing non-communist political organisations. The Soviet Union were less enthusiastic about these reforms and invaded Czechoslovakia with 600,000 troops.

4 January 2016 – concilliabule

4 January 2016

concilliabule

[kohn-sil-lee-uh-byul]

noun

– a secret meeting or secret plans of people who are hatching a plot.

Example

Cabinet’s concilliabule to overthrow the Prime Minister was enacted after the most recent opinion poll.

Anagram

lineal bucolic
albino ice cull


Today’s quote

To love our neighbor as ourselves is such a truth for regulating human society, that by that alone one might determine all the cases in social morality.

– John Locke


On this day

4 January – the eleventh day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

4 January 1903 – Thomas Edison electrocutes an elephant to prove the dangers of ‘alternating current’ electricity. He had previously electrocuted stray cats and dogs and even horses and cows. He snidely referred to it as ‘getting Westinghoused’. Topsy, the elephant, had squashed 4 trainers at the Luna Park Zoo on Coney Island, so the zoo had decided to hang her, before someone suggested she ‘ride the lightning’. More on this at http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0104

4 January 1965 – death of Thomas Stearns Eliot (T.S. Eliot), poet, playwright, publisher, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, described as ‘arguably the most important English language poet of the 20th century’. Wrote ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock‘, ‘The Waste Land‘, ‘Ash Wednesday‘, ‘The Hollow Men‘. Born 26 September 1888.

3 January 2016 – cancatervate

3 January 2016

cancatervate

[kan-kat-uh-veyt]

verb

– to heap into a pile

Origin

unknown

Example

His job was to cancatervate the dirt removed from the building site.

Anagram

even cataract
cave reactant
vacate nectar


Today’s quote

Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.

– Marcus Tullius Cicero


On this day

3 January – the tenth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

3 January 106BC – birth of Marcus Tullius Cicero (sometimes anglicised as Tully), Roman statesman, politician, philosopher, orator. Tully’s influence on Latin and other European languages was immense and still felt up to the 19th century. The history of prose in Latin and other languages was said to be either a reaction against, or a return to, his style. Died 7 December 43BC.

3 January 1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

3 January 1892 – birth of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of ‘The Hobbit‘ and ‘Lord of the Rings‘. Died 2 September 1973. ‘The road goes ever on … ‘

3 January 1956 – birth of Mel Gibson, Australian actor.

3 January 1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.

3 January 1969 – birth of Michael Schumacher, German Formula 1 racing car driver.

3 January 1977 – Apple Computers is incorporated.

2 January 2016 – cagamosis

2 January 2016

cagamosis

[kag-uh-moh-sis]

noun

– an unhappy marriage

Example

Their cagamosis became apparent through each other’s constant nitpicking.

Anagram

mosaic gas
magic as so


Today’s quote

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.

– Edith Lovejoy Pierce

 

 


On this day

2 January – the ninth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

2 January 1952 – birth of Graeme ‘Shirley’ Strachan, in a helicopter crash near Maroochydore, Queensland. Lead singer of Australian band, Skyhooks. Died 29 August 2001.

2 January 1979 – Sid Vicious, former bass player with the Sex Pistols, goes on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spugen. Vicious and Spungen had allegedly been using heroin, and Vicious claimed he woke to find her dead on the bathroom floor. He was released on bail on 1 February 1979. It was later revealed that Mick Jagger paid the bail. That night he celebrated his release with friends. Vicious had stopped using heroin, however, his mother provided some that night. Early the following morning (2 February 1979), Vicious died of an overdose.