12 August 2018

rustre

[roi-ster]

noun / adjective (french)

lout, someone who is rude, lack of education, of delicacy.

Example: He is such a rustre.

Today’s quote

What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space.

– Erwin Schrödinger

On this day

12 August 30BC – Cleopatra VII, last Pharoah of Ancient Egypt, suicides after learning of the suicide of her lover, Mark Antony (after he lost the Battle of Actium to Emperor Octavian). She reportedly allowed herself to be bitten by an asp. Soon after, Egypt became a Roman province under Octavian.

12 August 1887 – birth of Erwin Schrödinger, Nobel prize-winning Austrian physicist who developed a number of fundamental results in the field of quantum theory, which formed the basis of wave mechanics. He was the author of many works in various fields of physics: statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, physics of dielectrics, colour theory, electrodynamics, general relativity, and cosmology, and he made several attempts to construct a unified field theory. He paid great attention to the philosophical aspects of science, ancient and oriental philosophical concepts, ethics, and religion.[4] He also wrote on philosophy and theoretical biology. He is also known for his “Schrödinger’s cat” thought-experiment. Died 4 January 1961.

12 August 1964 – death of Ian Fleming, British author of the ‘James Bond’ novels. Born 28 May 1908.

12 August 2009 – death of Les Paul, (born Lester William Polsfuss) American musician and inventor of the solid body electric guitar. The popular Gibson Les Paul was designed in collaboration with him. Born 9 June 1915.

9 August 2018

sine qua non

[sahy-nee kwey non, kwah, sin-ey; Latin si-ne kwah-nohn]

noun

1. an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential:
Her presence was the sine qua non of every social event.

Origin of sine qua non

Late Latin. From the Late Latin word sine quā (causā) nōn without which (thing) not
causa sine qua non. Literally, a cause without which not

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for sine qua non

Contemporary Examples

That accumulation of identities is already a sine qua non when speaking of Hispanics, like Zimmerman.
George Zimmerman, Hispanics, and the Messy Nature of American Identity
Ilan Stavans
April 6, 2012

In the land of the industrial revolution, foreign ownership and management is the sine qua non of industrial success.
Britain is in No Position to Rule the Waves
Noah Kristula-Green
March 8, 2012

This unsmoked, wet-cured ham is the sine qua non of Parisian butcher shops: a light, ephemeral meat, sweet but umami.
Easter’s Top Five Hams
Mark Scarbrough
March 30, 2010

Today’s quote

Why fit in when you were born to stand out?

– Theodor Seuss Geisel

On this day

9 August – World Indigenous Day – to promote and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous populations. It also recognises the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve world issues.

9 August 1936 – Jesse Owens, an African-American athlete, wins his 4th gold medal at the Berlin Olympics – much to Adolf Hitler’s chagrin. Hitler had hoped the games would show-case white Aryan ideals, and was disgusted that a black athlete had achieved more than the white athletes.

9 August 1945 – USA drops an atomic bomb, called ‘Fat Boy’ on Nagasaki, Japan. It is estimated that between 60,000 to 80,000 people died within four months of the bombing, with half that number dying on the day of the bombing.

8 August 2018

craw

[kraw]

noun

1. the crop of a bird or insect.
2. the stomach of an animal.
Idioms
3. stick in one’s craw, to cause considerable or abiding resentment; rankle:
She said I was pompous, and that really stuck in my craw.

Origin of craw

Middle English

1350-1400; Middle English crawe, probably akin to crag2

Can be confused

craw, crow.
craw, crawl.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for craw

Contemporary Examples

One image in the film also stuck in my craw : a shot of a little boy in the audience holding up his white stuffed unicorn.
The Stacks: Pauline Kael’s Talking Heads Obsession
Pauline Kael
November 22, 2014

The seizure of this particular spring sticks in the craw of Palestinian activists—see the “infographic.”
The Settlement Movement and The Environmental Card
Kathleen Peratis
August 21, 2012

But what really stuck in my craw was that Pope mindlessly repeated a spate of spurious claims about ethanol and Brazil.
How Wall Street Will Ruin the Environment
Robert Bryce
June 26, 2009

Historical Examples

The seed came from the craw of a wild swan that they had shot.
Old Rail Fence Corners
Various

Something stuck in his craw, and he couldn’t figure out what it was.
The Bramble Bush
Gordon Randall Garrett

“He ain’t got the sand in his craw to make a killing,” said one of the listeners.
Rimrock Trail
J. Allan Dunn

“Just the same, he’s got something in his craw,” replied the sheriff.
Rimrock Trail
J. Allan Dunn

Fill the craw of the fowl, &c.; but do not cram it so as to disfigure its shape.
The Cook’s Oracle; and Housekeeper’s Manual
William Kitchiner

It was pumping up the food from its craw, in the same way that a pigeon does.
In a Cheshire Garden
Geoffrey Egerton-Warburton

Today’s quote

When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.

– Richard Nixon

On this day

8 August 1864 – Formation of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland.

8 August 1879 – birth of Emiliano Zapata Salazar, Mexican revolutionary. Died 10 April 1919.

8 August 1945 – The Soviet Union declares war on the Empire of Japan and invades the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. In late, July 1945 Japan, naively, had been petitioning the neutral Soviets to broker a peace deal favourable to the Japanese. While the invasion violated the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, it was in accordance with the secret Yalta Agreements that the Soviet Union made with the United States and the United Kingdom at the Crimea Conference held between 4-11 February 1945, in which Stalin agreed to attack Japan within 3 months of Germany’s surrender.

8 August 1953 – conclusion of negotiations for the 1953 London Debt Agreement which had begun on 27 February 1953, when West Germany was given debt relief by creditor nations, which included Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Pakistan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, the United States, Yugoslavia and others. The debt of 32 billion marks (16 billion owed to the United States and 16 billion to other nations) had accumulated since the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The London Agreement halved the debt to 15 billion marks to be paid out over 30 years. The repayments were capped at 3% of export earnings and were only required while West Germany had a trade surplus. This significantly boosted West Germany’s export market and directly resulted in Germany becoming an economic powerhouse.

8 August 1959 – death of Albert Namatjira, Australian Aboriginal artist. Born 28 July 1902.

8 August 1974 – USA President Richard Millhouse Nixon resigns because of his impending impeachment for ‘obstruction of justice’, ‘abuse of power’, and ‘contempt of congress’, in relation to the Watergate Scandal.

8 August 1981 – birth of Roger Federer in Switzerland, champion tennis player.

8 August 1988 – The ‘8888’ Uprising in Burma, from which Aung Sun Suu Kyi gains popularity and becomes a national hero.

7 August 2018

Parousia

[puh-roo-zee-uh, -see-uh, pahr-oo-see-uh]

noun

1. advent (def 4).
2. (lowercase) Platonism. the presence in any thing of the idea after which it was formed.

Origin of Parousia

Greek

1870-1875; < Greek parousía a being present, presence, equivalent to par- par- + ous- (stem of ôn, present participle of eînai to be) + -ia -ia

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for Parousia

Historical Examples

They also betray the expectation of the early coming of the Parousia.
Sources of the Synoptic Gospels
Carl S. Patton

They betray the conviction that the time of the Parousia is near.
Sources of the Synoptic Gospels
Carl S. Patton

Luke (xvii, 34) wishes to suggest that the Parousia may occur in the night.
Sources of the Synoptic Gospels
Carl S. Patton

Furthermore, it is not only in the earlier epistles that expressions occur which seem to suggest that the Parousia is near.
The Literature and History of New Testament Times
J. Gresham (John Gresham) Machen

The thought of an incarnation or a Parousia of Wisdom is absolutely foreign to Jewish thought.
The Origin of Paul’s Religion
J. Gresham Machen

Luke, or his source, wishes to indicate that the Parousia may be in the night, and so adds the words and .
Sources of the Synoptic Gospels
Carl S. Patton

Today’s quote

You can expect what you inspect.

– William Deming

On this day

7 August 1876 – birth of Mata Hari, (born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle), Dutch dancer, courtesan and spy. She was charged with espionage and executed by firing squad in France, after being accused of spying for Germany during World War I. Died 15 October 1917.

7 August 1964 – birth of John Birmingham, Australian author.

7 August 1987 – US long distance swimmer, Lynne Cox, swims the freezing Bering Strait from Alaska to the Soviet Union in an effort to warm the relationship between the USA and the USSR. Unlike the reception that Matthius Rust received in May 1987 for illegally entering the Soviet Union, Lynne Cox was welcomed by the Eskimos of the Diomede Islands and Soviet soldiers stationed there. Her effort was praised by the both US President Ronald Reagan and USSR General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.

5 August 2018

gage

[geyj]

noun

1. something, as a glove, thrown down by a medieval knight in token of challenge to combat.
2. Archaic. a challenge.
3. Archaic. a pledge or pawn; security.
verb (used with object), gaged, gaging.
4. Archaic. to pledge, stake, or wager.

Origin of gage

Middle English, Middle French, Germanic

1350-1400; Middle English < Middle French < Germanic; see wage

Examples from the Web for gage

Contemporary Examples

That means six years, at least, of 30-hour gym days and, at gage, $600-a-month training costs.
Gabby Douglas, Ryan Lochte: Why Families of America’s Olympics Athletes Are Broke
Kevin Fallon
August 7, 2012

But Grimes estimates that there are roughly 20 girls at gage training at elite levels, and writing those accompanying checks.
Gabby Douglas, Ryan Lochte: Why Families of America’s Olympics Athletes Are Broke
Kevin Fallon
August 7, 2012

Today’s quote

“It’s about how some people carelessly squander what others would sell their souls to have: a healthy, pain-free body. And why? Because they’re too blind, too emotionally scarred, or too self-involved to see past the earth’s dark curve to the next sunrise. Which always comes, if one continues to draw breath.”

– Stephen King (from “End of Watch (The Bill Hodges Trilogy Book 3)”

On this day

5 August 910 – Battle of Tettenhall, in which King Edward and Earl Aethelred defeat the last of the Viking armies to raid England.

5 August 1305 – Scottish revolutionary, William Wallace, captured by English forces near Glasgow. He was transported to London for trial and execution.

5 August 1861 – the United States Army abolishes flogging and increases enlistment terms from 3 months to 2 years.

5 August 1884 – construction of the Statue of Liberty commences in New York City with the laying of the cornerstone.

5 August 1930 – birth of Neil Armstrong, astronaut, first man on the moon. Died 25 August 2012.

5 August 1944 – The Cowra Breakout – The largest prisoner-of-war escape in World War 2, when 1104 Japanese prisoners attempted to breakout of the Australian internment camp at Cowra, New South Wales. Four Australian soldiers and 231 Japanese prisoners were killed during the manhunt. The remaining prisoners were captured and returned to prison.

5 August 1957 – the ‘Andy Capp’ comic strip makes its debut.

5 August 1962 – Marilyn Monroe found dead. She was 36 years old. It is believed she deliberately over-dosed on drugs, but questions remain around whether she administered it voluntarily or someone murdered her. Born 1 July 1926.

5 August 1966 – Datebook magazine quotes John Lennon controversially declaring that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus. Lennon had made the comment on 4 March 1966 in England, where no-one paid attention to it. When Datebook published it in August in the United States it caused an uproar. The full quote was ‘Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me‘.

4 August 2018

modish

[moh-dish]

adjective

1. in the current fashion; stylish.

Origin of modish

1650-1660, First recorded in 1650-60; mode2+ -ish1

Related forms

modishly, adverb
modishness, noun
unmodish, adjective
unmodishly, adverb

Synonyms

smart, chic, fashionable, trendy.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for modish

Contemporary Examples

It feels bizarrely out of place, and the horde of modish Angelenos decide to capture it on their iPhones and Androids.
Paris Hilton’s Trippy Los Angeles Release Party For Her Single With Lil Wayne
Jean Trinh
October 9, 2013

A group of modish young Angelenos has congregated at Eveleigh, a bistro off Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.
Andrew Bachelor, a.k.a. King Bach, Is the King of Vine—And Comedy’s Next Big Thing
Marlow Stern
August 29, 2013

Top-40 music is blaring and the crowd, most of whom are standing, is young, modish, and easy on the eyes.
Inside Beacher’s Madhouse, L.A.’s Craziest Nightclub
Marlow Stern
June 22, 2013

United received heaps of critical acclaim stateside and Phoenix became a favorite among the modish indie crowd.
Phoenix on New Album ‘Bankrupt!’ and Journey to Rock Superstardom
Marlow Stern
April 22, 2013

Historical Examples

There was evidence of great care and taste in every fold of her modish dress.
Wayside Courtships
Hamlin Garland

Tis modish to say women are tender, Phoebe; more modish than true.
The Maidens’ Lodge
Emily Sarah Holt

She wore a modish hat that was immensely becoming, and looked charming.
Langford of the Three Bars
Kate Boyles

Judge then, if to me a lady of the modish taste could have been tolerable.
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
Samuel Richardson

Orson Vane’s bias toward the theatre did not displease the modish.
The Imitator
Percival Pollard

And Anne, neither classic nor modish, still vaguely resembled her!
The Gorgeous Isle
Gertrude Atherton

Today’s quote

Change is certain. Peace is followed by disturbances; departure of evil men by their return. Such recurrences should not constitute occasions for sadness but realities for awareness, so that one may be happy in the interim.

– Percy Bysshe Shelley

On this day

4 August 1181 – Supernova (not the rock band), SN1181, observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was visible for 185 days. A supernova is the explosive death of a star, resulting in a nebula of illuminated gas.

4 August 1792 – birth of Percy Bysshe Shelley, English romantic poet, considered to be one the finest lyric poets of all time. Died 8 July 1822.

4 August 1914 – World War I officially starts as Great Britain declares war on Germany in response to the German invasion of Belgium the day before.

4 August 1914 – United States declares its neutrality in World War I.

4 August 1929 – birth of Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader. Died 11 November 2004.

4 August 1944 – German police and Gestapo officers arrest Jewish diarist, Anne Frank and her family, in Amsterdam. The family was eventually transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. In March 1945 a typhus epidemic spread through the camp, claiming the Anne’s life. The camp was liberated only weeks later, in April 1945, by British troops. Anne Frank kept a diary which later was published and became a best seller.

4 August 1964 – the second Gulf of Tonkin Incident in which it was believed North Vietnamese troops fired on two US destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy. It is now believed the second incident may have involved false radar images and not the North Vietnamese.

3 August 2018

Shamal

noun

A shamal (Arabic: شمال‎, ‘north’) is a northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), often strong during the day, but decreasing at night. This weather effect occurs anywhere from once to several times a year, mostly in summer but sometimes in winter. The resulting wind typically creates large sandstorms that impact Iraq, most sand having been picked up from Jordan and Syria.

Today’s quote

Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.

– Franz Kafka

On this day

3 August 1811 – birth of Elisha Graves Otis, American industrialist and founder of the Otis Elevator Company. In 1854, he put the finishing touches to his signature invention: a safety device to prevent elevators falling if the cable fails. Died 8 April 1861.

3 August 1905 – birth of Maggie Kuhn, activist and founder of the Gray Panthers, who campaigned for nursing home reform and opposed ageism. She also fought for human rights, social and economic justice, global peace, integration, and mental health issues. Died 22 April 1995.

3 August 1914 – World War I heats up: Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, while Turkey signs a pact with Germany.

3 August 1914 – Formation of the World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches. It’s purpose was to help churches promote peace, disarmament,rights of racial and religious minorities, conscientious objection, arms control, and the League of Nations.

3 August 1963 – birth of James Hetfield, US rock star, member of Metallica.

3 August 1973 – birth of Patrick Wilson, American actor, from movies such as ‘the Alamo‘, ‘Watchmen‘, ‘The A-Team‘, ‘Phantom of the Opera‘ – with Gerard Butler and Emma Rossum.

3 August 1973 – Fire kills 51 people at an amusement park on the Isle of Man.