21 September 2016

artless

[ahrt-lis]

adjective

1. free from deceit, cunning, or craftiness; ingenuous:
an artless child.
2. not artificial; natural; simple; uncontrived:
artless beauty; artless charm.
3. lacking art, knowledge, or skill.
4. poorly made; inartistic; clumsy; crude:
an artless translation.

Origin of artless

1580-1590; art1+ -less

Related forms

artlessly, adverb
artlessness, noun

Synonyms

1. naive, unsophisticated, guileless, open, frank, plain, unaffected, candid, sincere.

Antonyms

1. cunning.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for artless

Contemporary Examples

Closest as in “closest to her heart,” or something clutched, or something unvarnished, artless, some plain truth?
Three Cheers for Alice Munro’s Nobel Prize in Literature
Malcolm Jones
October 9, 2013

Relevant backstory is condensed into a few lines of artless dialogue.
Ashton Kutcher’s ‘Jobs’ Is Actually Not That Bad
Rob Fishman
August 15, 2013

It was spoken as if by a condemned man: largely devoid of emotion, implausible, halting, artless, and sad.
Four Exes on Tiger
Rebecca Dana
February 18, 2010

Anagram

re salts
El Tsars

Today’s quote

When men are ruled by fear, they strive to prevent the very changes that will abate it.

– Alan Paton

On this day

21 September – International Day of Peace.

21 September – World Alzheimer’s Day.

21 September 1866 – birth of Herbert George ‘H.G.’ Wells, British science fiction writer, author of The War of the Worlds, Time Machine, Island of Dr Moreau, The War of the Worlds. Died 13 August 1946.

21 September 1937 – J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ first published.

21 September 2012 – ‘The Hobbit Second Breakfast’ at 11am – to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Hobbit, people everywhere are invited to celebrate the Hobbit Second Breakfast at 11am by popping on the kettle and sitting down with family and friends for camaraderie, companionship and a love of good food.

20 September 2016

ablate

[a-bleyt]

verb (used with object), ablated, ablating.

1. to remove or dissipate by melting, vaporization, erosion, etc.:
to ablate a metal surface with intense heat.
verb (used without object), ablated, ablating.
2. to become ablated; undergo ablation.

Origin of ablate

Latin

1535-1545; < Latin ablātus carried away (past participle of auferre), equivalent to ab- ab- + lātus (past participle of ferre to bear); see -ate1

Dictionary.com

Anagram

a table
bat ale

Today’s quote

When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive.

– Alan Paton

On this day

20 September 2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush declares a ‘war on terror’.

20 September 2011 – the U.S. military ends its ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, allowing gay servicemen and women to serve openly.

20 September 2012 – death of Robert G. Barrett, Australian author of books such as ‘Davo’s Little Something’ and the Les Norton series which included, ‘High Noon in Nimbin’, ‘The Tesla Legacy’, ‘Crime Scene Cessnock’, ‘Rosa-Marie’s Baby’, ‘Guns n Rosé’. Barrett sold over 1,000,000 books in Australia. Born 14 November 1942.

19 September 2016

mise en scène

[mee zahn sen]

noun, French.

1. the process of setting a stage, with regard to placement of actors, scenery, properties, etc.
2. the stage setting or scenery of a play.
3. surroundings; environment.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for mise en scène

Contemporary Examples

But the master manipulator of mise-en-scène is back to what he does best in his fifth feature.
Michel Gondry on ‘Mood Indigo,’ Kanye West, and the 10th Anniversary of ‘Eternal Sunshine’
Marlow Stern
July 19, 2014

Historical Examples

Since nothing was altered in the mise-en-scène of their love, why should their love itself be changed?

The Child of Pleasure
Gabriele D’Annunzio

There is no pose about this town, no mise-en-scène, no stage-setting.
Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome
Apicius

There is no mise-en-scène, no searching after recondite ideas, with Verrocchio.
A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign Schools
Various

It would seem that the dramatists have not so much influence in the matter of mise-en-scène as they might wish.
The English Stage
Augustin Filon

At any rate, the above lonely landmarks cannot affect our comprehensive estimate of the mise-en-scène.
The Dramatic Values in Plautus
Wilton Wallace Blancke

Only their uniforms, the ribands and decorations, the mise-en-scène render them tolerable imitations of the average military man.
Secret Memoirs: The Story of Louise, Crown Princess
Henry W. Fischer

Thus the mise-en-scène of the Lubliner closing was excellent.
Elkan Lubliner, American
Montague Glass

The mise-en-scène is then excellent, and Browning was always careful to make it right, fitting and enlivening.
The Poetry Of Robert Browning
Stopford A. Brooke

The brilliant picture before him became the mise-en-scène of an opera, the babble of voices its chorus.
A Daughter of the Vine
Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

Anagram

incenses me
sense mince
me in scenes

Today’s quote

Try not to become a man of success but rather become a man of value.

– Albert Einstein

On this day

19 September – International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

19 September 1952 – Charlie Chaplin exiled from the United States because of his anti-war and humanitarian beliefs which conflicted with McCarthy’s ‘reds under the bed’ policy.

19 September 1959 – USSR President Nikita Khrushchev banned from visiting Disneyland … ironically 31 years after Mickey Mouse debuted on screen. The reason given was that the Los Angeles Police Chief couldn’t provide adequate security.

19 September 1982 – birth of the emoticon. At 11.44am on this day, a computer scientist by the name of Scott Fahlman suggested on a bulletin board forum that the now iconic 🙂 be used to indicate a post was ‘not serious’. It has now come to also mean happy, as well as not serious for when people post comments, emails etc … or when they think a smiley will help ease a flame …

19 September 2003 – death of Slim Dusty AO, MBE, Australian country music singer, song-writer and producer. He was born as David Gordon Kirkpatrick and adopted the name of Slim Dusty at 11 years of age. He released his first record when he was 18. In 1957, he released ‘The Pub With No Beer‘, which became the biggest selling Australian song to that time, and the first Australian single to go gold. He won 36 Golden Guitar Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. In 2000, he recorded his 100th album, ‘Looking Forward, Looking Back‘. He is the only artist in the world to have recorded 100 albums with the same record label (EMI). Born 13 June 1927.

17 September 2016

objet d’art

[awb-zhe dar]

noun, plural objets d’art [awb-zhe dar] (Show IPA). French.

1. an object of artistic worth or curiosity, especially a small object.

Also called objet.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for objet d’art

Historical Examples

Remember, we may inherit a good antique or objet d’art, buy one, or bequeath one.
The Art of Interior Decoration
Grace Wood

If you look into the history of any objet d’art you will find that it was first used for a purpose.
The House in Good Taste
Elsie de Wolfe

Anagram

bad jotter
jotted bar

Today’s quote

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.

– William Wordsworth

On this day

17 September 1916 – Baron Manfred Von Richthofen (a.k.a The Red Baron), wins his first aerial combat in World War I.

17 September 1947 – the United State Department of Defense forms and is tasked with coordinating all defense related organisations in the U.S. The DoD is the largest employer in the world, with over 3.2 million employees, including active soldiers, sailors, airmen/women, and National Guard.

17 September 1951 – birth of Cassandra Peterson a.k.a Elvira, U.S. actress and host of late-night B-grade horror and sci-fi movies.

17 September 1961 – birth of Baz Luhrmann, Australian film director (Romeo and Juliet, Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge).

17 September 1966 – St George Dragons beat Balmain Tigers 23-4, to win the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) grand final for the 11th consecutive year. The longest premiership-winning streak in Australian sport.

17 September 1972 – M*A*S*H* premieres on NBC-TV.

17 September 1991 – first version of Linux released.

16 September 2016

bibelot

[bib-loh; French beebuh-loh]

noun, plural bibelots [bib-lohz; French beebuh-loh] (Show IPA)

1. a small object of curiosity, beauty, or rarity.

Origin of bibelot

1870-1875; < French, equivalent to bibel- (expressive formation akin to bauble ) + -ot noun suffix

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for bibelot

Historical Examples

She was terribly hurt; in her heart she had always feared her husband regarded her as a bibelot.
The Twelfth Hour
Ada Leverson

I set to work at once, and in a very little while my bibelot was selected.
Certain Personal Matters
H. G. Wells

Regarded as a bibelot, Mrs. Wigger was, I think, of the first perfection.
Turns about Town
Robert Cortes Holliday

Anagram

to bible
boil bet
tie blob

Today’s quote

Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.

– Unknown

On this day

16 September – International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.

16 September 1908 – General Motors is founded by William C. Durrant.

16 September 1920 – The bombing of Wall St, New York, which kills 38 and injures 143. The crime has never been solved, but is believed to have been committed by Italian anarchists known as Galleanists, (after their leader Luigi Galleani), who were protesting against capitalism. The bomb had been placed in a horse wagon.

16 September 1927 – birth of Peter Falk, U.S. actor (Colombo) … ‘therrre ya go‘… (died 23 June 2011.

16 September 1975 – Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia. PNG National Day.

16 September 1977 – death of Marc Bolan in a car accident. Singer/guitarist for T-Rex. (Born 30 September 1947 as Mark Feld).

16 – 18 September 1982 – Lebanese Christian militia (Phalange) massacres between 765 and 3,500 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut. An inquiry in 1983 held Israeli troops indirectly responsible as they had surrounded the camps, controlling access to them, and were aware a massacre was occurring without taking steps to stop it.

15 September 2016

bagatelle

[bag-uh-tel]

noun

1. something of little value or importance; a trifle.
2. a game played on a board having holes at one end into which balls are to be struck with a cue.
3. pinball.
4. a short and light musical composition, typically for the piano.

Origin of bagatelle

French

1630-1640; French < Upper Italian bagat (t) ella, equivalent to bagatt (a) small possession (perhaps bag (a) berry (< Latin bāca; cf. bay4) + -att (a) diminutive suffix) + -ella < Latin -illa diminutive suffix

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for bagatelle

Historical Examples

This morning I had the “No. 9” towed to the railing of bagatelle by means of its guide rope.
My Airships
Alberto Santos-Dumont

I don’t know that there is much soaring upwards in bagatelle.
Is He Popenjoy?
Anthony Trollope

In the region of bagatelle in the Argonne two German counterattacks were repulsed.
The Story of the Great War, Volume III (of VIII)
Various

But this is a mere trifle, a bagatelle, to the many other infractions of which he is guilty.
The Mystery of Space
Robert T. Browne

I know one to be had a bargain,—a bagatelle,—five hundred naps a-year.
The Parisians, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Anagram

gate label
beat legal
agate bell

Today’s quote

Looking is different from seeing, hearing is different from listening.

– Nikos Lygeros

On this day

15 September – International Day of Democracy.

15 September 1254 – birth of Marco Polo, Italian explorer. Died 9 January 1324.

13 September 2016

wampum

[wom-puh m, wawm-]

noun

1. Also called peag, seawan, sewan. cylindrical beads made from shells, pierced and strung, used by North American Indians as a medium of exchange, for ornaments, and for ceremonial and sometimes spiritual purposes, especially such beads when white but also including the more valuable black or dark-purple varieties.
2. Informal. money.

Origin of wampum

1630-1640; short for wampumpeag

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for wampum

Contemporary Examples

America with lakes of lucre, waves of wampum, a Superstorm Sandy of simoleons, a Hurricane Katrina of cash.
The Federal Government Has Violated My Right to Chainsaw
P. J. O’Rourke
April 26, 2014

Historical Examples

In the old days she used to do it in one plait wound around with wampum.
Indian Child Life
Charles A. Eastman

If you love your women and children, receive the belt of wampum I present you.
Daniel Boone
John S. C. Abbott

It was the wampum which recorded their words and gave their pledge of sincerity.
Wampum
Ashbel Woodward

Sh-me-ks-see, the Wolf; one of the Chiefs; his head curiously ornamented, and numerous strings of wampum on his neck.
Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. I (of 2)
George Catlin

But hides and furs were not the only articles which wampum purchased from the natives.
Wampum
Ashbel Woodward

In the early days the usual fee was ƒ6 in wampum, paid over to the church funds.
Jersey City and its Historic Sites
Harriet Phillips Eaton

Anagram

mum paw

Today’s quote

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

– Lao Tzu

On this day

13 September 1503 – Michelango commences his iconic sculpture, ‘David‘.

13 September 1922 – official highest temperature ever recorded: 57.8oC (138oF) at Azizya, Libya.

13 September 1940 – German Luftwaffe bombs Buckingham Palace, London, while King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) are in residence.