12 October 2017

mystique

[mi-steek]

noun

1. a framework of doctrines, ideas, beliefs, or the like, constructed around a person or object, endowing the person or object with enhanced value or profound meaning:
the mystique of Poe.
2. an aura of mystery or mystical power surrounding a particular occupation or pursuit:
the mystique of nuclear science.

Origin of mystique

French

1890-1895; < French (adj.); see mystic

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for mystique

Contemporary Examples

“We were raised with this mystique about the accident being the chink in this important legacy,” she says.
The Price of Being a Patton: Wrestling With the Legacy of America’s Most Famous General
Tim Teeman
May 25, 2014

Did Jennifer Lawrence wear a new blue mystique suit in this film?
Simon Kinberg on ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past,’ ‘The Fantastic Four’ Reboot, and Black Superheroes
Marlow Stern
May 24, 2014

For years, Goldman had the greatest cachet and mystique among this crowd.
Bridgewater May Be the Hottest Hedge Fund for Harvard Grads, but It’s Also the Weirdest
Daniel Gross
March 6, 2013

There was no mystique surrounding nuclear waste, just respect for the physical threat it posed.
At the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a Steady Drip of Toxic Trouble
Eric Nusbaum
February 23, 2013

What once had the mystique aspired to by elite women now seemed just stuff.
Brooke Astor’s Estate Is Auctioned, and a Friend Recalls Her Fondly
Barbara Goldsmith
September 28, 2012

Penn Stater Maureen Seaberg explains the Joe Paterno mystique.
Why Penn State Fans Love Fired Coach Joe Paterno, Despite Child Abuse Scandal
Maureen Seaberg
November 9, 2011

He chalks this up to the lack of mystique in our celebrity culture—and the ownership that people have of their favorite actors.
Can an Action Star Be Gay?
Tricia Romano
October 23, 2011

But he also knows that the spotlight can only add to his mystique down the road, make him a national player, and bring in money.
The Chris Christie Tease
Lois Romano
September 28, 2011

By eluding justice after his first attacks on America in 1998, bin Laden created a mystique of invulnerability.
Who Was Hiding bin Laden?
Bruce Riedel
May 1, 2011

Historical Examples

Gebhards Italie mystique is interesting in connection with Francis.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume I of II)
Henry Osborn Taylor

Anagram

my I quest

Today’s quote

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

– Isaac Asimov

On this day

12 October 1492 – Christopher Columbus lands on an island in the Bahamas, claiming ‘East Asia’ for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

12 October 1810 – world’s first Oktoberfest when the people of Munich are invited to celebrate a Bavarian royal wedding.

12 October 1823 – Charles MacIntosh, Scottish inventor, sells his first water-proof ‘rubber raincoat’, which became known as the ‘MacIntosh’ or ‘Mac’.

12 October 1944 – ‘Columbus Day Riot’ in which 35,000 hysterical teenage girls dressed in bobby socks, descend on Times Square, New York City, in anticipation of Frank Sinatra appearing.

12 October 1979 – ‘Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams is first published. He eventually wrote a total of 5 books in the series, with a sixth one being written by Eoin Colfer.

12 October 1994 – A 1,200-seat stand at a Pink Floyd concert in Earl’s Court collapses, injuring 90 people.

12 October 2002 – Terrorist bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar in Kuta, Bali, kill 202 people and injure 209. Members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group linked with Al Qaeda, are convicted of the crime and on 9 November 2006, three of them are executed by firing squad.

11 October 2017

azimuth

[az-uh-muh th]

noun

1. Astronomy, Navigation. the arc of the horizon measured clockwise from the south point, in astronomy, or from the north point, in navigation, to the point where a vertical circle through a given heavenly body intersects the horizon.
2. Surveying, Gunnery. the angle of horizontal deviation, measured clockwise, of a bearing from a standard direction, as from north or south.

Origin of azimuth

Middle English Middle French Arabic

1350-1400; Middle English azimut < Middle French ≪ Arabic as sumūt the ways (i.e., directions)

Related forms

azimuthal [az-uh-muhth-uh l], adjective

azimuthally, adverb

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for azimuth

Contemporary Examples

Variables like weather, azimuth, elevation, crude launchers, and rocket viability quickly add up.
Dodging Rockets in Afghanistan as the Taliban’s Fighting Season Begins
Nick Willard
May 14, 2014

Historical Examples

To find an azimuth of the sun: Note the time of taking the azimuth by chronometer.
Lectures in Navigation
Ernest Gallaudet Draper

At the same time, get your true bearing of the sun from the azimuth Tables.
Lectures in Navigation
Ernest Gallaudet Draper

Anagram

A hum zit

Today’s quote

c- Albert Einstein

On this day

11 October – International Day of the Girl.

11 October 1844 – birth of Henry John Heinz, founder of Heinz Company, responsible for canned baked beans. Died 14 May 1919.

11 October 1935 – death of Steele Rudd, Australian author, (pen-name for Arthur Hoey Davis). Wrote ‘On Our Selection‘, which introduced Australia to ‘Dad and Dave’. Born 14 November 1868.

11 October 1930 – Australian Rules football club, Collingwood, win the VFL premiership for the fourth consecutive year.

11 October 1939 – German theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein explains to the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the possibility of building an atomic bomb.

11 October 1967 – premier of the childrens’ TV series, ‘Johnny Sokko and his flying robot‘.

9 October 2017

adjunct

[aj-uhngkt]

noun

1. something added to another thing but not essential to it.
2. a person associated with lesser status, rank, authority, etc., in some duty or service; assistant.
3. a person working at an institution, as a college or university, without having full or permanent status:
My lawyer works two nights a week as an adjunct, teaching business law at the college.
4. Grammar. a modifying form, word, or phrase depending on some other form, word, or phrase, especially an element of clause structure with adverbial function.
adjective
5. joined or associated, especially in an auxiliary or subordinate relationship.
6. attached or belonging without full or permanent status:
an adjunct surgeon on the hospital staff.

Origin of adjunct

Latin

1580-1590; Latin adjunctus joined to (past participle of adjungere), equivalent to ad- ad- + jung- (nasal variant of jug- yoke1) + -tus past participle suffix

Related forms

adjunctly, adverb

Synonyms

1. appendix, supplement. 2. aide, attaché.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for adjunct

Contemporary Examples

She appeared at his side, impish smile in place, dutiful, fragrantly rather than ferociously sexy, and—frustratingly—an adjunct.
How Can Katie Holmes Escape Tom Cruise—and ‘Dawson’s Creek’?
Tim Teeman
October 29, 2014

At first Wales and Sanger conceived of Wikipedia merely as an adjunct to Nupedia, sort of like a feeder product or farm team.
You Can Look It Up: The Wikipedia Story
Walter Isaacson
October 18, 2014

Bouts of landays may be a formal part of a family gathering or may emerge more spontaneously as an adjunct to collective labor.
Beauty and Subversion in the Secret Poems of Afghan Women
Daniel Bosch
April 5, 2014

“They got letters,” says Simo Muir, adjunct professor of Jewish Studies at Helsinki University.
The Jews Who Fought for Hitler: ‘We Did Not Help the Germans. We Had a Common Enemy’
The Telegraph
March 9, 2014

The students I teach as an adjunct are pointed toward midlevel careers.
We Overvalue College
Professor X
September 10, 2011

Historical Examples

What remains of the former cathedral is now an adjunct to a hotel.
The Cathedrals of Northern France
Francis Miltoun

When I get a photograph I treasure it as an adjunct to the sketch.
Boy Scouts Handbook
Boy Scouts of America

As an adjunct to class work, the travelling library is proposed.
The Arena
Various

Sails can sometimes be used with advantage on the komatik as an adjunct.
A Labrador Doctor
Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

If the adjunct is placed elsewhere, different considerations apply.
“Stops”
Paul Allardyce

Anagram

jan duct

Today’s quote

We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.

– Che Guevara

On this day

9 October 1940 – birth of John Lennon. English guitarist and singer-songwriter for the Beatles. Murdered 8 December 1980.

9 October 1967 – death of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Argentinian Marxist revolutionary, physician, author. Executed in Bolivia. Born 14 June 1928.

9 October 1969 – birth of P.J. Harvey, English musician.

9 October 1975 – Andrei Sakharov, Soviet dissident, wins Nobel Peace Prize.

8 October 2017

conflagration

[kon-fluh-grey-shuh n]

noun

1. a destructive fire, usually an extensive one.

Origin of conflagration

Latin

1545-1555; < Latin conflagrātiōn- (stem of conflagrātiō), equivalent to conflagrāt(us) past participle of conflagrāre to burn up ( con- con- + flagr- (akin to fulgur lightning, flamma flame, Greek phlóx; see phlox ) + -ātus -ate1) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

conflagrative, adjective

See flame.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for conflagration

Contemporary Examples

The fires that corporate America lit have now become a conflagration beyond its control.
The South Has Indeed Risen Again and It’s Called the Tea Party
Jack Schwartz
December 7, 2013

A century ago, miscalculation was greatly to blame for thrusting Europe into a conflagration.
Mideast War in Our Time?
Jamie Dettmer
May 30, 2013

The Boston Marathon bombings reminded the world how quickly a celebration can turn into a conflagration.
Dutch Coronation Celebrations Clouded After Boston Marathon Bombing
Nadette De Visser
April 28, 2013

The canisters, McMahon said, are to blame for the conflagration.
How Christopher Dorner Went Down
Christine Pelisek
February 13, 2013

The conflagration in Congress is spreading to singe, if not consume, critical decisions across the board.
Washington’s Endless Civil War
Robert Shrum
January 10, 2013

Historical Examples

Isabel herself had scarcely time for escape, so rapid was the conflagration.
Leila, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

You’re liable to start a conflagration you can’t stop, and that may consume yourself, is all.
Good Indian
B. M. Bower

Then a shower of sparks rose high in the air and the conflagration subsided.
The Downfall
Emile Zola

Presently, as the conflagration waned, they opened their eyes.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
Various

“A costly blaze that,” said Hoare, as he watched the conflagration.
Roland Cashel
Charles James Lever

Anagram

carnation flog
nonfatal corgi
fatal crooning
factoring loan

Today’s quote

You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!

– John Lennon

On this day

8 October 1769 – Captain James Cook lands at Poverty Bay, New Zealand.

8 October 1939 – birth of Paul Hogan, Australian actor.

8 October 1970 – Soviet dissident author, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wins Nobel Price for Literature. Author of ‘The Gulag Archipelago‘.

8 October 1971 – John Lennon releases the iconic song, ‘Imagine’.

8 October 1980 – Bob Marley collapses on stage in New York. The following day he collapses while jogging in Central Park. He is diagnosed with a brain tumour, which developed from a melanoma that had spread from his toe. He died on 11 May 1981.

6 October 2017

Boeotian

[bee-oh-shuh n]

adjective

1. of or relating to Boeotia or its inhabitants.
2. dull; obtuse; without cultural refinement.
noun
3. a native or inhabitant of Boeotia.
4. a dull, obtuse person; Philistine.

Origin of Boeotian

1590-1600 First recorded in 1590-1600; Boeoti(a) + -an
Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for Boeotian Expand

Historical Examples

Very true, said Cebes, laughing gently and speaking in his native Boeotian.
Phaedo
Plato

This was a certain Apollonides there present, who spoke in the Boeotian dialect.
Anabasis
Xenophon

This does no more prove that Hector was a Boeotian than that he was an Athenian.
The World of Homer
Andrew Lang

Anagram

atone obi
an oboe tin

Today’s quote

Love is the most transformative medicine For Love slowly transforms you Into what psychedelics only get you to glimpse.

― Ram Dass

On this day

6 October 1961 – President John F. Kennedy advises Americans to build fall-out shelters, as Cold War paranoia continues to grow.

6 October 1966 – LSD, a synthetic hallucinogenic drug, is declared illegal in the United States.

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

5 October 2017

demijohn

[dem-i-jon]

noun

1. a large bottle having a short, narrow neck, and usually being encased in wickerwork.

Origin of demijohn

French

1760-1770; by folk etymology < French dame-jeanne, apparently special use of proper name

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for demijohn

Historical Examples

Let it stand six weeks in a demijohn or glass jar, and then bottle it.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie

Put the liquid into a glass jar or a demijohn, and let it stand a fortnight.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie

Put the mixture into a stone jug, or a demijohn, and cork it tightly.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie

“I—that demijohn that you took last night,” began the Briton nervously.
The Cruise of the Dry Dock
T. S. Stribling

A simple tank can be made from a large water bottle or demijohn.
Boy Scouts Handbook
Boy Scouts of America

The demijohn was introduced, and all paid their respects to it.
The Citizen-Soldier
John Beatty

The man with the demijohn gave a curious hop, skip and jump.
Rimrock Trail
J. Allan Dunn

He lifted the demijohn of whiskey from the table and shook it.
Mrs. Skaggs’s Husbands and Other Stories
Bret Harte

When clear, pour it carefully from the sediment into a demijohn.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia
Marion Cabell Tyree

He returned to the table, carrying a demijohn, which he banged upon the table.
The Border Legion
Zane Grey

Anagram

John dime

Today’s quote

Help one another. It is the only way to survive.

– Elie Wiesel

On this day

5 October 1902 – birth of Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds … and the Big Mac … Died 14 January 1984.

5 October 1945 – Hollywood Black Friday – following a 6 month strike by set decorators, a violent riot breaks out at the gates of Warner Brothers studio. 300 police are called and 40 people are injured.

5 October 1945 – birth of Brian Connolly, Scottish rocker, lead singer of Sweet (Fox on the Run, Ballroom Blitz, Teenage Rampage, Action). Died 9 February 1997.

5 October 1947 – birth of Brian Johnson, English rocker, lead singer of AC/DC, replacing Bon Scott.

5 October 1951 – birth of Bob Geldoff, Irish singer for the Boomtown Rats.

5 October 1962 – the Beatle’s first single is released, ‘Love Me Do’. Although a Lennon-McCartney composition, it was primarily written by Paul in 1958-9 while he was wagging school. The song reached # 17 in the UK and was the # 1 hit in the U.S.A. in 1964.

5 October 1969 – Monty Python’s Flying Circus first broadcast on BBC-TV.

5 October 2011 – death of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. Born 24 February 1955.