21 January 2017

lights(1)

[lahyts]

plural noun

1. a person’s ideas, knowledge, or understanding: he did it according to his lights

lights(2)

plural noun

1. the lungs, esp of sheep, bullocks, and pigs, used for feeding pets and occasionally in human food

Word Origin
C13: plural noun use of light ², referring to the light weight of the lungs

Anagram

slight

Today’s quote

There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.

– Vladimir Lenin

On this day

21 January – Squirrel Appreciation Day.

21 January – National Hug Day.

21 January 1863 – State funeral held in Melbourne for Australian explorers, Burke and Wills, who had died in June or July of 1861. 40,000 spectators lined the streets for the funeral procession as it travelled to the Melbourne General Cemetery.

21 January 1924 – death of Vladimir Lenin, Russian communist revolutionary and political leader. He served as Russian leader from 1917 to 1924 and concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Born 22 April 1870.

21 January 1950 – death of George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair), Democratic Socialist and English author of works such as ‘Nineteen-Eighty Four‘, ‘Animal Farm‘, and ‘Homage to Catalonia‘. Born 25 June 1903.

21 January 1992 – death of Eddie Mabo. Campaigner for indigenous land rights in the Torres Strait. Successfully challenged the concept of ‘terra nullius‘, resulting in indigenous ownership of land in Australia to be recognised. Born 29 June 2014.

20 January 2017

nanobot

[nan-uh-bot]

noun

1. a machine or robot built on the nanoscale, still in the research-and-development stage, with potential applications in medicine and industry.
2. a machine or robot that can manipulate nanoscale objects with great precision.

Also called nanorobot [nan-uh-roh-buh t, -bot], nanite, nanomachine.

Origin of nanobot

1990-1995; nano- + (ro)bot

Dictionary.com

Contemporary definitions for nanobot

noun

a microscopic robot used in nanotechnology, a nano-robot; an extremely small autonomous self-propelled machine that may reproduce

Word Origin

1989

Dictionary.com

Anagram

ban onto
no baton
bat noon

Today’s quote

Each person must live their life as a model for others.

– Rosa Parks

On this day

20 January – Penguin Awareness Day.

20 January 1952 – birth of Stanley Harvey Esien, better known as Paul Stanley, singer and guitarist in glam rock band, Kiss.

20 January 1982 – It was the chomp heard around the world, when Ozzy Osbourne, The Prince of Darkness, bit the head off a bat while performing on stage in Des Moines, Iowa. A fan had thrown a bat on stage. Ozzy claims he thought it was rubber, but found out the hard way, that it was, in fact, a real bat. He was taken to hospital and given rabies shots. This follows on from an incident in 1981, when Ozzy bit the head off a dove after signing his first solo record deal … as you do … Word has it that Ozzy had planned to release a number of doves as a symbol of peace, but was drunk and felt one of the doves could do with a trim … which didn’t work out too well for the dove. There is no truth in the rumour that the Prince song, ‘When Doves Cry’ is about the incident. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/ENT/502270318&nclick_check=1

19 January 2017

spar(1)

[spahr]

noun

1. Nautical. a stout pole such as those used for masts, etc.; a mast, yard, boom, gaff, or the like.
2. Aeronautics. a principal lateral member of the framework of a wing of an airplane.
verb (used with object), sparred, sparring.
3. to provide or make with spars.

Origin of spar(1)

Middle English
1250-1300; Middle English sparre (noun); cognate with German Sparren, Dutch spar, Old Norse sparri

Related forms

sparlike, adjective

spar(2)

[spahr]

verb (used without object), sparred, sparring.

1. (of boxers) to make the motions of attack and defense with the arms and fists, especially as a part of training.
2. to box, especially with light blows.
3. to strike or attack with the feet or spurs, as gamecocks do.
4. to bandy words; dispute.
noun
5. a motion of sparring.
6. a boxing match.
7. a dispute.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English: orig., thrust (noun and v.); perhaps akin to spur1

spar(3)

[spahr]

noun

1. any of various more or less lustrous crystalline minerals:
fluorspar.

Origin

1575-85; back formation from sparstone spar, Old English spærstān gypsum; compare Middle Low German spar

Related forms

sparlike, adjective

SPAR or Spar

[spahr]

Spell Syllables

noun

1. (during World War II) a woman enlisted in the women’s reserve of the U.S. Coast Guard (disbanded in 1946).

Origin

1942; Latin S (emper) par (ātus) “Always ready” the Coast Guard motto

SpAr

1. Spanish Arabic.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for spar

Contemporary Examples

spar comes from the co-ed world, a seemingly plain credential but one that will give her an enormous advantage at Barnard.
Big Woman on Campus
Kate Taylor
October 21, 2008

spar has a new book titled The Baby Business: How Money, Science and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception.
Want Blue Eyes With That Baby?: The Strange New World of Human Reproduction
Eleanor Clift
November 23, 2014

Asked if the ability to reproduce should be a human right, spar said she would leave that for the philosophers to think about.
Want Blue Eyes With That Baby?: The Strange New World of Human Reproduction
Eleanor Clift
November 23, 2014

Anagram

raps
pars

Today’s quote

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.”

― Albert Einstein, Living Philosophies

On this day

19 January 1809 – birth of Edgar Allan Poe, American poet and novelist, The Raven. Died 7 October 1849.

19 January 1920 – Night of the Palmer Raids, in which more than 4,000 suspected radical leftists were arrested. Most were members of the Industrial Workers of the World union. Alexander Palmer was the United States Attorney-General. Most of those arrested were either deported or charged under the Espionage Act 1917 and the Sedition Act 1918.

19 January 1935 – birth of Johnny O’Keefe, Australian rock and roll legend. Known as J.O.K. or ‘The Wild One’. Died 6 October 1978.

19 January 1943 – birth of Janis Joplin. American singer song-writer. Died on 4 October 1970.

19 January 1966 – A UFO saucer nest is discovered near Tully, North Queensland, Australia when a banana farmer, George Pedley, claims that he saw a large, saucer-shaped object fly out of a swamp at Horseshoe Lagoon. He said the saucer was 25 feet wide and 9 feet high. Further investigation of the lagoon revealed that in a particularly reedy part, there was a large circle that was clear of reeds. The circle was 30 feet in diameter and the reeds had been flattened in a clockwise manner. Five other similar, but smaller, circles were discovered. Apart from the UFO claim, no other explanation could account for the circles. These are the first crop-circles discovered in the modern world.

This photo of the crop circle was taken by Emil Duran:

______________________

17 January 2017

gainsay

[geyn-sey, geyn-sey]

verb (used with object), gainsaid, gainsaying.

1. to deny, dispute, or contradict.
2. to speak or act against; oppose.

Origin of gainsay

Middle English

1250-1300; Middle English gainsaien. See again, say1

Related forms

gainsayer, noun
ungainsaid, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for gainsay

Contemporary Examples

But it will be a cost, and it will be large — nobody can gainsay that.
You Still Can’t Wish Away the Facts on Immigration Amnesty
David Frum
May 12, 2013

As long as the United States was the economic primus inter pares, those arguments were hard to gainsay.
Obama’s G-20 Misfire
Zachary Karabell
November 10, 2010

Historical Examples

Victor was vexed by the stranger’s intrusion, but could not gainsay Mrs. Joyce.
Victor Ollnee’s Discipline
Hamlin Garland

No one who knows half these facts can dispute or gainsay them.
The New Avatar and The Destiny of the Soul
Jirah D. Buck

By some such reasoning as this Lady Dorothea persuaded herself to this course; and who should gainsay her?
The Martins Of Cro’ Martin, Vol. I (of II)
Charles James Lever

The title of Watt the Inventor is world-wide, and is so just and striking that there is none to gainsay.
James Watt
Andrew Carnegie

After the invading army had retired, no one will gainsay the sound sense of his behaviour.
Agesilaus
Xenophon

But no one could gainsay his eagerness and devotion to the cause.
A Tame Surrender, A Story of The Chicago Strike
Charles King

Anagram

as in gay
a saying
a gas yin
is a yang

Today’s quote

Journalism is printing what someone else does not want published; everything else is public relations.

– Anonymous (sometimes ascribed to George Orwell)

Today’s quote

17 January 1899 – birth of Al Capone, who grew up to be one of America’s most famous gangsters. He died on 25 January 1947.

17 January 1942 – birthday of Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr), American professional boxer (former world heavy-weight champion), philanthropist, social activist. Died 3 June 2016.

17 January 1966 – the United States loses 4 H-bombs after the B-52 that was carrying them, collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refuelling. The tanker exploded, killing all 4 crew, the B-52 broke apart, killing 3 of the 7 crew. Three of the hydrogen bombs were located on land near the Spanish town of Palomares. Two of the non-nuclear explosives in the weapons detonated, contaminating 2 km2 with plutonium. The fourth bomb was located 2.5 months later in the Mediterranean Sea.

17 January 1991 – Operation Desert Storm commences after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein refuses to comply with a US directive that he remove his forces from Kuwait. Hussein claimed that Kuwait was stealing Iraqi oil. 32 nations were involved in the Operation to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

17 January 1927 – birth of Eartha Kitt, American singer and actress. She played Catwoman in the 1960’s Batman TV series. Two of her more famous songs were ‘C’est Si Bon’ and ‘Santa Baby’. She died on 25 December 2008.

16 January 2017

avoirdupois

[av-er-duh-poiz]

noun

1. avoirdupois weight.
2. Informal. bodily weight:
He carries around a lot of excess avoirdupois.

Origin of avoirdupois

Middle English

1250-1300; Middle English avoir de pois literally, property of weight < Old French, equivalent to avoir (earlier aveir < Latin habēre to have) + de (< Latin dē) + pois (earlier peis < Latin pēnsum)

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for avoirdupois

Contemporary Examples

Its owner seems to take as much pride in her bones as the big girls of Rubens could take in their avoirdupois.
Skin, Bones and Beauty
Blake Gopnik
August 14, 2012

Historical Examples

She had so far successfully fought down an hereditary tendency to avoirdupois.
By the Light of the Soul
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

A single pair has been known to weigh as much as 60 pounds avoirdupois !
The Hunters’ Feast
Mayne Reid

avoirdupois weight

Word Origin

noun
1. a system of weight measurement based on a pound of 16 ounces or 7,000 grains, in wide use in English-speaking countries; the system is used for goods other than gems, precious metals, and drugs: 27 11/32 grains = 1 dram; 16 drams = 1 ounce; 16 ounces = 1 pound; 112 pounds (Brit.) or 100 pounds (U.S.) = 1 hundredweight; 20 hundredweight = 1 ton. The pound contains 7000 grains.

Abbreviation: av.; avdp.; avoir.

Origin of avoirdupois weight

1610-1620

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for avoirdupois weight

Contemporary example

In the avoirdupois measuring system, a dram is defined as 1/16 of an ounce which is exactly 1.7718451953125 grams.
Dramming.com

Historical Examples

A gallon contains 8.33 pounds avoirdupois weight of distilled water. Now we don’t want to sell our whisky by the pound by weight, but luckily there is also a liquid version of the dram, called the fluid dram. For some strange reason this is defined as 1/8 of a fluid ounce.
Practical Mechanics for Boys
J. S. Zerbe

One felt that each had measured the other by avoirdupois weight, and had found the balance even.
The Lowest Rung
Mary Cholmondeley

Most people give gratitude in grains for whole ounces of avoirdupois weight ; what a grateful soul yours is, Miss Lambert.’
Heriot’s Choice
Rosa Nouchette Carey

Throughout this book, the pound is avoirdupois weight —sixteen ounces.
Miss Leslie’s Lady’s New Receipt-Book
Eliza Leslie

One must weigh men by avoirdupois weight, and not by the jeweller’s scales.
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources
James Wood

Anagram

I pour avoids
saviour i pod

Today’s quote

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

On this day

16 January 1920 – Prohibition commences in the U.S. with the passing of the 18th Amendment which prohibited the importation, exportation, transporting, selling and manufacturing of alcohol.

16 January 1945 – Adolf Hitler flees to his bunker with his long-time companion, Eva Braun. They remain there for 105 days until he takes his own life.

16 January 1979 – The Shah of Iran is forced to flee Iran following the mutiny of his Army and a revolution led by students, which resulted in the Ayatollah Khomeini taking over the leadership of the country.

14 January 2017

blackleg

[blak-leg]

noun

1. Also called black quarter, symptomatic anthrax. Veterinary Pathology. an infectious, often fatal disease of cattle and sheep, caused by the soil bacterium Clostridium chauvoei and characterized by painful, gaseous swellings in the muscles, usually of the upper parts of the legs.
2. Plant Pathology.
a disease of cabbage and other cruciferous plants, characterized by dry, black lesions on the base of the stem, caused by a fungus, Phoma lingam.
a disease of potatoes, characterized by wet, black lesions on the base of the stem, caused by a bacterium, Erwinia atroseptica.
3. a swindler, especially in racing or gambling.
4. British Informal. a strikebreaker; scab.
verb (used with object), blacklegged, blacklegging. British Informal.
5. to replace (a worker) who is on strike.
6. to refuse to support (a union, union workers, or a strike).
7. to betray or deceive (a person or cause).
verb (used without object), blacklegged, blacklegging.
8. British Informal. to return to work before a strike is settled.

Origin of blackleg

1715-1725; black + leg; orig. of nonliteral senses unclear; cf. jackleg

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for blackleg

Historical Examples

That is to say, the assassin merely desires to remove one blackleg in order to make a place for some other blackleg.
The American Credo
George Jean Nathan

Knave he was,—cheat at cards, blackleg on the turf,—but forgery!
What Will He Do With It, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Her first husband—my poor boy, I am sorry for you—was a scoundrel, a thief, a blackleg.
The Honorable Miss
L. T. Meade

I released the blackleg, and he sat helpless in his chair, and glared at us.
Great Porter Square, v. 2
Benjamin Leopold Farjeon

In returning to my boarding-house I was met by the blackleg pettifogger, who treated me with great coldness.
Secret Band of Brothers
Jonathan Harrington Green

Could I think of treading in the boots of a blackleg, albeit they never were his own?
George Cruikshank’s Omnibus
George Cruikshank

So this gambler and blackleg was the gentlemanly Mr. Hawley, was he; well, what could be his little game?
Keith of the Border
Randall Parrish

Do you suppose any boy would be so mean as to be a blackleg ?
Pelle the Conqueror, Complete
Martin Anderson Nexo

It wad be awfu’ to hear folk cryin’ ‘ blackleg ‘ after yir faither, wadna’ it, Mysie?
The Underworld
James C. Welsh

You and your master are cheats, he says, and your master is a blackleg besides, he says.
The Inspector-General
Nicolay Gogol

Anagram

black gel
ball beck

Today’s quote

When we read, we start at the beginning and continue until the end. When we write, we start in the middle and fight our way out.

– Wendy Karp

On this day

14 January 1892 – birth of Martin Niemoller, German pastor. Niemoller originally supported Adolf Hitler, however, he soon realised he’d made a mistake. He blamed Hitler’s rise to power and the ensuing war and genocide, on the support and acceptance of his policies from churches and ordinary citizens, as well as the lack of speaking up against injustice. Niemoller is most well known for his statement, ‘First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me’. Died 6 March 1984.

14 January 1977 – death of Anais Nin, French-Cuban author. Born 21 February 1903.

14 January 1984 – death of Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s Corporation … and the Big Mac … Born 5 October 1902. Kroc had bought out Dick and Mac McDonald’s barbeque and hamburger food chain before establishing the franchise network of fast-food restaurants.

13 January 2017

oriel

[awr-ee-uh l, ohr‐]

noun

1. a bay window, especially one cantilevered or corbeled out from a wall.
2. (in medieval architecture) a large bay window of a hall or chamber.

Origin of oriel

Latin, Middle English, Anglo-French

1350-1400; Middle English < Anglo-French oriol porch, passage, gallery, perhaps ≪ Latin aureolus “gilded”

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for oriel

Historical Examples

“That young gentleman is my most esteemed and intimate friend;” replied oriel.
Lady Eureka, v. 1 (of 3)
Robert Folkestone Williams

And she hurried forth to the oriel window, where Jack was already perched.
In Convent Walls
Emily Sarah Holt

“But Macbeth merely imagined that he beheld such a weapon,” observed oriel, amused at the credulity of his host.
Lady Eureka, v. 2 (of 3)
Robert Folkestone Williams

Again was Baker at sea, and again did his glance seek the chandelier and the oriel.
The Ape, the Idiot & Other People
W. C. Morrow

Anagram

I lore
re oil
or lie

Today’s quote

We’ll laugh at gilded butterflies.

– William Shakespeare (King Lear)

On this day

13 January 1893 – birth of Roy Cazaly, Australian Rules football legend, known for his high marks and ruck-work. Immortalised in the song, ‘Up there Cazaly‘, by The Two Man Band (Mike Brady & Peter Sullivan). Died 10 October 1963.

13 January 1929 – death of Wyatt Earp in Los Angeles, American gunfighter, famous for the gunfight at the OK Corral. He was 80 years old.

13 January 1939 – Black Friday fires in Victoria, Australia, covering more than 4,900,000 acres, destroying 1,000 homes and killing 71 people. It was one of the world’s worst bush-fire disasters.

13 January 2001 – a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hits El Salvador, killing 1,000 people

12 January 2017

seraglio

[si-ral-yoh, -rahl-]

noun, plural seraglios.

1. the part of a Muslim house or palace in which the wives and concubines are secluded; harem.
2. a Turkish palace, especially of the sultan.

Also called serail [suh-rahy, -rahyl, -reyl] (Show IPA).

Origin of seraglio

Italian, Persian
1575-1585; < Italian serraglio < Persian sarāy palace; sense development in Italian perhaps influenced by serrare to lock up

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for seraglio

Historical Examples

Their joy is such as that of the pasha of a seraglio ; they revel with ideas, they get drunk at the founts of intellect.
Cousin Betty
Honore de Balzac

Woman was no longer the captive of the seraglio, nor the chronicler of small beer.
Hopes and Fears
Charlotte M. Yonge

If you wish to understand something of the curious indifference that hangs, like moss, about the Turk, visit seraglio Point.
The Near East
Robert Hichens

So Quasimodo had fifteen bells in his seraglio ; but big Marie was his favorite.
Notre-Dame de Paris
Victor Hugo

The ministry of the Ottoman Porte was distracted by factions, and the seraglio threatened with tumults.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II.
Tobias Smollett

He led the way until they came to a gallery that overlooked the seraglio.
Jack Harkaway’s Boy Tinker Among The Turks
Bracebridge Hemyng

The angel of sleep had spread her wings over the seraglio of Moley Pasha.
Jack Harkaway’s Boy Tinker Among The Turks
Bracebridge Hemyng

What cry was that which startles the seraglio from its siesta?
Jack Harkaway’s Boy Tinker Among The Turks
Bracebridge Hemyng

Just at this time the artillery arrived under the walls of the seraglio.
The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, December 1879
Various

But the ladies of the king’s seraglio were his principal customers.
The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan
James Morier

Anagram

goal rise
la orgies
oil rages
sage roil
gas oriel

Today’s quote

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.

– Harriet Tubman

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.