18 April 2016

analeptic

adjective

1. restoring; invigorating; giving strength after disease.
2. awakening, especially from drug stupor.
noun
3. a pharmacological substance that stimulates the central nervous system and also acts as an anticonvulsant.

Origin of analeptic

Greek

1655-1665; < Greek analēptikós restorative, equivalent to analēp-, variant stem of analambánein to restore ( ana- ana- + lambánein to take) + -tikos -tic

Dictionary.com

Anagram

tin palace
at pelican
El Capital

Today’s quote

A Revolutionary Woman Can’t Have No Reactionary Man.

– Assata Shakur

On this day

18 April – World Heritage Day, more formerly known as ‘International Monuments and Sites’ Day as declared by UNESCO. A day for raising awareness of monuments and sites throughout the world that are of world heritage significance.

18 April 1839 – birthday of Henry Kendall, Australian poet. Died 1 August 1882.

18 April 1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.

18 April 1955 – death of Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the theory of relativity and of course his mass-energy equivalence formula, E=mc2 (energy = mass x speed of light squared). Born 14 March 1879.

18 April 1983 – a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb that destroyed the United States Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people, 17 of whom were American. Most of the victims were CIA and embassy staff, a number of soldiers and a Marine. Pro-Iranian group, Islamic Jihad Organization, claimed responsibility. However, it’s believed the attack was undertaken by Lebanese group, Hezbollah, in response to the intervention of a multinational force, comprised of western nations, in the Lebanese Civil War.

18 April 1996 – At least 106 civilians are killed in Lebanon when Israel shells a United Nations refugee compound at Quana where more than 800 Palestinians and Lebanese were sheltered. Israel claimed it was an accident and that they were trying to hit a nearby Hezbollah position that had fired at them. Hezbollah claimed they had fired because Israel breached the security zone in order to lay land-mines. Both the UN and Amnesty International investigated and found that Israel had deliberately attacked the refugee camp; a claim that Israel denies. Human Rights Watch found that Israel’s use of high-explosive shells and anti-personnel shells were designed to maximise casualities and their use so close to a civilian area, breached international humanitarian law.

17 April 2016

tinder

[tin-der]

noun

1. a highly flammable material or preparation formerly used for catching the spark from a flint and steel struck together for fire or light.
2. any dry substance that readily takes fire from a spark.

Origin of tinder

Middle English, Old English

900 before 900; Middle English; Old English tynder; akin to German Zunder, Old Norse tundr, Old English -tendan (as in ātendan to set on fire), Gothic tundnan to catch fire, German -zünden in entzünden to kindle

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for tinder

Contemporary Examples

The men of OKCupid and tinder, too, often perform the virtual equivalent of looking right back at you.
Online Shaming Gives Creeps the Spotlight They Deserve
Samantha Allen
September 22, 2014

Historical Examples

For striking a light, a flint and steel with tinder were used.
The Historical Child
Oscar Chrisman

I always like to hear what he says when his tinder brain has a spark fall into it.
Over the Teacups
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

We are each of us provided with a box of little phosphorus sticks by which we are to do away entirely with all use of tinder.
The Rose of Old St. Louis
Mary Dillon

Ormond took the hint like tinder, and grasped my hand on the bargain.
Captain Canot
Brantz Mayer

The fire engines throbbed up almost immediately, but the building was doomed from the start and went like tinder.
The War Romance of the Salvation Army
Evangeline Booth and Grace Livingston Hill

Anagram

i trend
nerd it

Today’s quote

When reading, we don’t fall in love with characters’ appearances. We fall in love with their words, their thoughts, and their hearts. We fall in love with their souls.

– Unknown

On this day

17 April 1521 – Martin Luther appears before the Diet of Worms to be questioned by representatives the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, over the alleged possession of heretical books. (Worms is a town in Germany and Diet is a formal assembly).

17 April 1961 – the U.S. government sponsor 1,500 Cuban exiles to invade the Bay of Pigs, Cuba in an effort to overthrow the socialist government of Fidel Castro. The attacks fails, resulting in the deaths or capture of all of the exiles.

17 April 1967 – the final episode of the sit-com, Gilligan’s Island, airs in the United States. The first episode aired on 26 September 1964. It told the story of four men and three women on board the S.S. Minnow are ship-wrecked on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean following a storm. Stranded are the ship’s mate, Gilligan and the ship’s skipper, a millionaire and his wife (the Howells), a sultry movie star (Ginger Grant), a professor and farm girl (Mary-Anne Summers).

17 April 1969 – Sirhan Sirhan convicted of 1968 assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He was originally given a death sentence, which was later commuted to life imprisonment. Robert Kennedy was the brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

17 April 2010 – A Manhattan library reveals that first President George Washington failed to return two library books, accruing overdue fees of $300,000. The library said they weren’t pursuing payment of the fees.

16 April 2016

oblast

[ob-last, -lahst; Russian aw-bluh st]

noun, plural oblasts Russian, oblasti [aw-bluh-styee] (Show IPA)

1. (in Russia and the Soviet Union) an administrative division corresponding to an autonomous province.
2. region; province.

Origin of oblast

1885-1890; < Russian óblast’, Old Russian oblastĭ, equivalent to ob- against, on + vlastĭ authority, power; see volost

Dictionary.com

Anagram

a bolts
lot abs
bloats

Today’s quote

No artist tolerates reality.

– Friedrich Nietzsche

On this day

16 April – Panda Appreciation Day. It was on this day in 1972, that the People’s Republic of China presented US President Richard Nixon with two pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing.

16 April 73AD – The Great Jewish Revolt ends when the fortress Masada falls to the Romans.

16 April 1850 – death of Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founder of Madam Tussaud’s wax museum. Born 1 December 1761.

16 April 1917 – Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia following exile in Switzerland.

16 April 1947 – Bernard Baruch coins the term ‘Cold War’ to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.

16 April 1990 – Dr Jack Kevorkian, (euthanasia activist, otherwise known as the Doctor of Death) participates in his first assisted suicide.

14 April 2016

penury

[pen-yuh-ree]

noun

1. extreme poverty; destitution.
2. scarcity; dearth; inadequacy; insufficiency.

Origin of penury

late Middle English Latin

1400-1450; late Middle English < Latin pēnūria; akin to Greek peîna hunger, penía poverty

Synonyms

1. indigence, need, want.

Antonyms

1. wealth.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for penury

Contemporary Examples

The Rev Dr John Jegasothy, a former Tamil refugee and now an Australian citizen, says life on a bridging visa is enforced penury and a poverty made worse because of its interminable nature.
‘We are the forgotten people’: the anguish of Australia’s ‘invisible’ asylum seekers
The Guardian, 13 April 2016
Ben Doherty & Abdul Karim Hekmat

Larry, it looks like traveling up the royal road you slashed through the forest of penury.
Norman Mailer vs. Everyone
Norman Mailer
February 26, 2009

Or perhaps the plague of Strawberry Quick-flavored meth that was luring children into a life of addiction and penury.
Parents Panic Over Old Fake Smarties Snorting Craze
Lizzie Crocker
January 22, 2014

Relative obscurity and penury, her anthem claims, rule just as hard as the point-oh-oh-one percent realm of excess and access.
Duck! Reality TV Returns Us to the Dark Age of Tribal Warfare
James Poulos
December 20, 2013

Historical Examples

Here he experienced all the rigour of penury and imprisonment for seven years.
A Tour throughout South Wales and Monmouthshire
J. T. Barber

The life that passes in penury must necessarily pass in obscurity.
The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in Nine Volumes
Samuel Johnson

For Care and penury, Night changes not with the ticking of the clock, nor with the shadow on the dial.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

The Admiral had in one hour been reduced from opulence to penury.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.
Thomas Babington Macaulay

In the next act there is a scene for Fides in the streets of Mnster, in which, reduced to penury, she begs for alms.
The Complete Opera Book
Gustav Kobb

For the badge of penury is desire, the badge of wealth contempt.
The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura
Lucius Apuleius

Notwithstanding her popularity and patronage, she died in France in great obscurity and penury.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology
Joel Munsell

Anagram

prey nu

Today’s quote

No amount of security is worth the suffering of a mediocre life chained to a routine that has killed your dreams.

– Maya Mendoza

On this day

14 April 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater, Washington DC. Lincoln died the following day.

14 April 1912 – the RMS Titanic strikes an ice-berg just before midnight in the north Atlantic ocean as it sailed on its maiden voyage from Southampton UK to New York City USA , resulting in the deaths of 1,502 of the 3,372 people onboard.

14 April 1988 – Soviet Union begins withdrawing troops from Afghanistan after nine years of occupation.

13 April 2016

deify

[dee-uh-fahy]

verb (used with object), deified, deifying.

1. to make a god of; exalt to the rank of a deity (god); personify as a deity :
to deify a beloved king.
2. to adore or regard as a deity :
to deify wealth.

Origin of deify

Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
1300-1350; Middle English deifien < Old French deifier < Late Latin deificāre. See deification, -ify

Related forms

deifier, noun
half-deified, adjective
hyperdeify, verb (used with object), hyperdeified, hyperdeifying.
self-deifying, adjective
undeified, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for deify

Contemporary Examples

To do so is to deify a celebrity for being what we need them to be, while willfully ignoring who they really are.
Phylicia Rashad and the Cult of Cosby Truthers
Stereo Williams
January 7, 2015

Historical Examples

Omitting further details, it is enough to say that Italy has elected to ignore Gozzi and to deify Goldoni.
The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the first
Count Carlo Gozzi

The nincompoop can always be counted on to deify the commonplace.
The Fighting Chance
Robert W. Chambers

Anagram

edify
I defy

Today’s quote

The downtrodden are the great creators of slang.

– Anthony Burgess

On this day

13 April 1570 – birth of Guy Fawkes, English soldier and one of the masterminds behind the failed ‘Gunpowder Plot’ to blow up English Parliament in an effort to assassinate King James 1 and VI of Scotland. Died 31 January 1606.

13 April 1923 – birth of Don Adams, American actor, most famous for his character Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) in the TV show ‘Get Smart’. Died 25 September 2005.

13 April 1947 – birth of Mike Chapman, Australian songwriter and record producer. Hailing from Nambour, Queensland, Chapman became one of the most influential record producers in Britain when he teamed with Nicky Chinn, with hits for Sweet, Smokie, Suzi Quatro, Mud, Racey and others, including Bow Wow Wow, Pat Benatar, Huey Lewis, Toni Basil. He also produced albums for the Knack and Blondie.

13 April 1975 – The 15 year long Lebanese Civil War starts when Christian Phalangists attack a bus, massacring 26 members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

12 April 2016

incipient

[in-sip-ee-uh nt]

adjective

1. beginning to exist or appear; in an initial stage:
an incipient cold.

Origin of incipient

Latin

1580-1590; < Latin incipient- (stem of incipiēns, present participle of incipere to take in hand, begin), equivalent to in- in-2+ -cipi- (combining form of capi- take) + -ent- -ent

Related forms

incipiently, adverb

Can be confused

incipient, insipid, insipient.

Synonyms

beginning, nascent, developing.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for incipient

Contemporary Examples

Similarly, much of the policy rhetoric coming from Washington focuses on fears of incipient inflation that have yet to pan out.
Chill Out About the Debt
Justin Green
February 27, 2013

He was a prime mover behind the Saudi military intervention in Bahrain a year ago to smash an incipient Shia reform movement.
Meet Prince Salman, the Next Saudi King
Bruce Riedel
June 15, 2012

At a dinner with journalists, hedge-fund manager George Soros spoke of an “ incipient war in currencies.”
Political Tensions Takes Center Stage at World Economic Forum
Daniel Gross
January 26, 2013

“We are all ready,” he said, with the mixture of hospitality and incipient lethalness that one finds here.
The Next 9/11
Ellen Knickmeyer
September 9, 2010

It seems inarguable that the donation has something to do with the incipient arrival of the unflattering film.
Insider: Zuckerberg Wanted to Delay $100 Million Donation
David Kirkpatrick
September 22, 2010

Historical Examples
They sang, and their voices were heavy with wine, passion and incipient catarrh.
Painted Veils
James Huneker

As such, they are associated with incipient centralized authority.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin

The halos do not, in cases of incipient storm condensation, always appear.
The Philosophy of the Weather
Thomas Belden Butler

There was poetry in it, however, even on the brow of an incipient apothecary.
Acadia
Frederic S. Cozzens

The air is exquisitely pure and clear, and has proved beneficial in many hundreds of cases of incipient consumption.
Lippincott’s Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, April 1875, Vol. XV., No. 88
Various

Anagram

cite inn pi
incite pin

Today’s quote

Give me time and I’ll give you a revolution.

– Alexander McQueen

On this day

12 April 1961 – Uri Gagarin (Russian) becomes the first man in space.

12 April 1989 – death of Sugar Ray Robinson (Walker Smith Jr), American welterweight and middleweight professional boxing champion, 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. Born 3 May 1921.

11 April 2016

vernissage

[ver-nuh-sahzh; French ver-nee-sazh]

noun, plural vernissages [ver-nuh-sah-zhiz; French ver-nee-sazh]

1. Also called varnishing day. the day before the opening of an art exhibition traditionally reserved for the artist to varnish the paintings.
2. a reception at a gallery for an artist whose show is about to open to the public.

Origin of vernissage

1910-1915; < French: literally, a varnishing, touching up (of paintings). See varnish, -age

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for vernissage

Historical Examples

We had not heard of his arrival until we ran across him at the vernissage in the New Salon.
Nights
Elizabeth Robins Pennell

The spring came at last, and with it vernissage at the Salon.
The Beautiful Miss Brooke
Louis Zangwill

By ten o’clock the night of the ” vernissage ” all his acquaintances and intimates in Paris had brought him their felicitations.
Fairfax and His Pride
Marie Van Vorst

You can’t imagine how impatient I was to get back in time for vernissage.
The Beautiful Miss Brooke
Louis Zangwill

Ledoyen’s has attained a particular celebrity as the restaurant where every one lunches on the vernissage day of the Salon.
The Gourmet’s Guide to Europe
Algernon Bastard

Anagram

I graveness
Avenger sis
Greens visa

Today’s quote

I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world.

– Eugene Debs

On this day

11 April 1979 – Ugandan President Idi Amin (Dada) is ousted when Tanzanian rebels sieze power. Amin flees to Libya and eventually settles in Saudi Arabia. Amin had been responsible for ethnic cleansing, killing an estimated 80,000 to 300,000 people.

11 April 1981 – Riots in Brixton, South London commence following the arrest of a black man. On a day known as ‘Black Saturday’, up to 5,000 youths confront police and run riot through the streets, looting, throwing petrol bombs, burning hundreds of cars and buildings, and injuring hundreds of people. Police arrested 82 people.

9 April 2016

acuity

[uh-kyoo-i-tee]

noun

1. sharpness; acuteness; keenness:
acuity of vision; acuity of mind.

Origin of acuity

late Middle English Old French Late Latin
1375-1425; late Middle English acuite < Old French < Medieval Latin, Late Latin acuitās, equivalent to Latin acu (ere) to sharpen or acū (tus) sharpened (see acute ) + -itās -ity

Related forms

hyperacuity, noun
nonacuity, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for acuity

Contemporary Examples

His remarkable memory has lost its acuity, and he tires easily.
Nelson Mandela Recovering in South Africa After Brief Hospital Scare
Charlene Smith
February 26, 2012

The unblinking electronic eye was an extension of his own reflexes and acuity —when the red light went on, all else was excluded.
‘A Fiery Tribune’
Clive Irving
August 31, 2013

Historical Examples

The portraits of certain artists in this unique volume recite the history of the critic’s acuity and clairvoyance.
Unicorns
James Huneker

Anagram

icy tau

Today’s quote

Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.

– Henry David Thoreau

On this day

9 April 1413 – Henry V crowned King of England.

9 April 1682 – Robert Cavelier de la Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River. He names it Louisiana and claims it in the name of France.

9 April 1865 – Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the Civil War.

9 April 1867 – United States Senate ratifies by one vote, a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska.

9 April 1937 – the first Japanese-made aircraft to fly to Europe lands at Croydon Airport, London. It’s name is the Kamikaze.

9 April 1945 – execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident. He was executed at Flossenburg Concentration Camp two weeks before the camp was liberated by US soldiers. Born 4 February 1904.

9 April 1948 – around 120 fighters from the Zionist paramilitary groups Irgun and Lehi attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, a Palestinian Arab village of roughly 600 people. The assault occurred as Jewish militia sought to retaliate against the blockade of Jerusalem by Palestinian Arab forces during the civil war that preceded the end of British rule in Palestine. The Palestinians tried to resist the attack, but the village fell after fierce house-to-house fighting. 107 Palestinians were murdered during and after the battle for the village, including women and children—some were shot, while others died when hand grenades were thrown into their homes. Several villagers were taken prisoner and may have been killed after being paraded through the streets of West Jerusalem. Four of the attackers were killed, with around 35 injured. The killings were condemned by the leadership of the Haganah—the Jewish community’s main paramilitary force—and by the area’s two chief rabbis. The Jewish Agency for Israel sent Jordan’s King Abdullah a letter of apology, which he rebuffed. Abdullah held the Jewish Agency responsible for the massacre, because they were the head of Jewish affairs in Palestine. He warned about “terrible consequences” if more incidents like that occurred. The deaths became a pivotal event in the Arab–Israeli conflict for their demographic and military consequences. The narrative was embellished and used by various parties to attack each other—by Palestinians against Israeli forces; by the Haganah to hide their complicity in the affair; and by the Israeli left to accuse the Irgun and Lehi of violating the Jewish principle of purity of arms, thus exposing Israel’s behaviour to the world. News of the killings sparked terror among Palestinians, encouraging them to flee from their towns and villages in the face of Jewish troop advances, and it strengthened the resolve of Arab governments to intervene, which they did five weeks later. (Wikipedia.org)