28 January 2019

stolid

[stol-id]

adjective

1. not easily stirred or moved mentally; unemotional; impassive.

Origin of stolid

Latin

1590-1600 First recorded in 1590-1600, stolid is from the Latin word stolidus inert, dull, stupid

Related forms

stolidity [stuh-lid-i-tee], stolidness, noun
stolidly, adverb

Can be confused

solid, stolid.

Synonyms

apathetic, lethargic, phlegmatic.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for stolid

Contemporary Examples

The New York Times began its review with the words “ stolid and humorless.”
‘From Up on Poppy Hill’: Goro Miyazaki, the Next Generation of Studio Ghibli
Melissa Leon
March 15, 2013

And when he did, he was not positioned in front of a stolid stage set.
Election Night 2012: Fashion of Jubilation And Mourning
Robin Givhan
November 7, 2012

Taylor was perfectly formed for the intuitive, opportunistic life of a rebel, but not for the stolid bureaucracy of government.
Liberian Nostalgia for War Criminal Charles Taylor
Finlay Young
April 28, 2012

Today’s quote

There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain.

– R.D. Laing

On this day

28 January 1853 – birth of José Julián Martí Pérez, (José Martí), Cuban national hero, nicknamed The Maestro. He was a poet, essayist, revolutionary philosopher. Fought for Cuba’s independence from Spain. Martí’s poetry is respected across the globe. One of his poems was adapted into the song, Guantanamera. Died 19 May 1895.

28 January 1968 – 4 hydrogen bombs are lost when the B-52 bomber that was carrying them, crashes near Thule, Greenland. The bombs are eventually located, but it took nine months to clear the area of radiation.

28 January 1939 – death of William Butler Yeats (W.B. Yeats), Irish poet, Nobel Prize laureate. One of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century. He served as an Irish senator for two terms. He led the Irish Literary Revival. In 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for ‘inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation‘. Born 13 June 1865.

28 January 1986 – the space shuttle, Challenger, explodes moments after lift-off, killing all seven astronauts on board, including Christa MacAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire, who was scheduled to deliver a lesson from outer-space as part of the ‘Teacher in Space’ project.

27 January 2019

maenad

[mee-nad]

noun

1. bacchante.
2. a frenzied or raging woman.

Origin of maenad

Latin, Greek

1570-1580; < Latin Maenad- (stem of Maenas) < Greek Mainás a bacchante, special use of mainás madwoman

Related forms

maenadic, adjective
maenadism, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for maenad

Historical Examples

These were the eyes of a girl who had raved like a maenad the night through.
A Thorny Path [Per Aspera], Complete
Georg Ebers

maenad : a frenzied Nymph, attendant on Dionysus in the Greek mythology.
The Golden Treasury
Various

Her eye gleamed: she ran to the cupboard and took out the maenad ‘s dress.
The History of David Grieve
Mrs. Humphry Ward

I was in a mind to wring the maenad ‘s neck three minutes ago.
The History of David Grieve
Mrs. Humphry Ward

But that statue will put it all right,’ and she pointed behind her to the maenad.
The History of David Grieve
Mrs. Humphry Ward

The tigress-mother swelled in her heart, and she looked like a maenad indeed.
Thomas Wingfold, Curate
George MacDonald

He followed: but the intense passion of the old hag hurled her onward with the strength and speed of a young maenad.
Hypatia
Charles Kingsley

She ceased to be a woman, complex, kind and petulant, considerate and thoughtless; she was a maenad.
The Moon and Sixpence
W. Somerset Maugham

She felt the gravity of his tone but, like a fierce maenad, she snatched at the torch, not caring how it revealed her.
Adrienne Toner
Anne Douglas Sedgwick

She flings her arms and tresses of Fire to the stars, a maenad in the planetary dance.
The Masque of the Elements
Herman Scheffauer

Today’s quote

The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.

― Tom Waits

On this day

27 January – International Holocaust Memorial Day in remembrance of the 11 million victims of the Nazi holocaust before and during the Second World War. Victims included 6 million Jews (3 million of whom were Polish), 3 million Polish Christians, 2 million gypsies, and millions of others, including Africans, Asians, people with mental or physical disabilities, Communists, Socialist, Unionists, intellectuals, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Slavs, Freemasons, political activists and anyone else either opposed to Nazi ideology, or living in land Hitler wanted (particularly Poland) or who didn’t fit his idea of a perfect master race. The date was chosen because 27 January 1945 was the date that Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz-Birchenau, the largest of the Nazi death camps.

27 January 1756 – birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer. Died 5 December 1791.

27 January 1926 – In London, John Logie Baird publicly demonstrates a revolutionary new invention, the television system.

27 January 1945 – The Soviet Army liberates survivors of the largest Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in Poland, where it is estimated more than 1,000,000 Jews and tens of thousands of others were executed.

27 January 1967 – Outer Space Treaty was signed by 60 countries, including the USA and USSR, prohibiting the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space.

27 January 1973 – the Vietnam War formally ends with a treaty signed between the USA, North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

27 January 1984 – Michael Jackson’s hair catches on fire while he is singing ‘Billy Jean’ during filming of a Pepsi commercial.

27 January 2014 – death of Peter Seeger, American singer-songwriter, musician, activist. Born 3 May 1919.

26 January 2019

connive

[kuh-nahyv]

verb (used without object), connived, conniving.

1. to cooperate secretly; conspire (often followed by with):
They connived to take over the business.
2. to avoid noticing something that one is expected to oppose or condemn; give aid to wrongdoing by forbearing to act or speak (usually followed by at):
The policeman connived at traffic violations.
3. to be indulgent toward something others oppose or criticize (usually followed by at):
to connive at childlike exaggerations.

Origin of connive

French, Latin

1595-1605; (< French conniver) < Latin co(n)nīvēre to close the eyes in sleep, turn a blind eye, equivalent to con- con- + -nīvēre, akin to nictāre to blink (cf. nictitate )

Related forms

conniver, noun
connivingly, adverb
unconnived, adjective
unconniving, adjective

Can be confused

connive, conspire.

Synonyms

1. plan, plot, collude.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for connive

Contemporary Examples

He defeated what was left of the Tatars, mostly by conniving with leaders of what was left of the Tatars.
Russian History Is on Our Side: Putin Will Surely Screw Himself
P. J. O’Rourke
May 11, 2014

Why, then, are we led to believe that her conniving ways are so ineffectual and misdirected?
The Abused Wives of Westeros: A Song of Feminism in ‘Game of Thrones’
Amy Zimmerman
April 30, 2014

Fondly nicknamed “the Worst Boy In Town,” Penrod is conniving but not clever, wicked but rarely cruel.
American Dreams, 1914: Penrod by Booth Tarkington
Nathaniel Rich
February 27, 2014

A sexy, sexual, conniving, social-media mentioning, sexy baby spider!
Frank Underwood Will Not Tolerate Insubordination in This Olive Garden
Kelly Williams Brown
February 24, 2014

Predictably, Harding was cast as a conniving, violent woman.
ESPN’s ‘The Price of Gold’ Revisits the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan Scandal
Amy Zimmerman
January 15, 2014

Historical Examples

We shall never cast out the devil while conniving at his crimes.
Broken Bread
Thomas Champness

He was accused of conniving at the attempt of the king and queen to escape.
Lafayette
Martha Foote Crow

It never struck him that he was conniving at fraud; if it had, he would not have been deterred.
The Mystery of Lincoln’s Inn
Robert Machray

She felt that she had been conniving in one of the spy-plots that all the Empire was talking about.
The Cup of Fury
Rupert Hughes

This seems strikingly true in our conniving at the faults of our children.
Coelebs In Search of a Wife
Hannah More

Today’s quote

Language is a virus from outer space.

– William S. Burroughs

On this day

26 January 1788 – Australia Day – Having landed in Sydney Cove a few days earlier, Captain Arthur Phillip plants the British flag and declares possession of the land in the name of King George III of Britain.

26 January 1808 – The Rum Rebellion: Twenty years after establishing the colony of New South Wales, the only successful military coup in Australia’s history results in the New South Wales Corps deposing the Governor of NSW, William Bligh. For the following two years, the colony was under military rule, until the arrival of new Governor, Major-General Lachlan Macquarie. At the time, it was referred to as the Great Rebellion. The rebellion was over a disagreement between the government and private entrepreneurs regarding the future of the colony. The government wanted to keep it as an open prison with a primitive economy. Years later, an English Quaker named William Howitt, a tee-totaller, looking to blame the ills of the world on alcohol, claimed the rebellion was about Bligh threatening the profits made from the Army’s trading of spirits. He coined the term ‘Rum Rebellion’.

26 January 1939 – During the Spanish Civil War, Nationalist forces loyal to General Francisco Franco enter Barcelona, overthrowing the Republican forces headquartered there.

26 January 1945 – Soviet troops liberate 7,000 survivors of the Auschwitz network of concentration camps in Poland.

26 January 1950 – India becomes a republic, freed from British rule. The new President, Dr Rajenda Prasad had campaigned with Mahatma Gandhi for Indian self-rule. Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the country’s first Prime Minister on 10 February 1952.

26 January 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India.

26 January 1988 – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’ opens on Broadway for its first performance. The musical becomes a world-wide smash and is the longest running show on Broadway.

20 January 2019

hinky

or hin·key, hink·ty, hinc·ty
[hing-kee]

adjective, hin·ki·er, hin·ki·est. Slang.

acting in a nervous or very cautious way.
suspicious:
Whenever he agrees with me, you know something hinky is going on!
snobbish; haughty.

Origin of hinky

First recorded in 1920–25; origin unknown

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for hinky

Historical Examples of hinky

My companion and I felt that while we were “getting” Hinky Dink, he was not failing to “get” us.
Abroad at Home
Julian Street

I only mean that I had always thought of Hinky Dink as a fictitious personage.
Abroad at Home
Julian Street

I experienced a somewhat similar emotion in Chicago on being introduced to Hinky Dink.
Abroad at Home
Julian Street

I’ll tell you what happens: some city editor sends a kid reporter to get a story about Hinky Dink.
Abroad at Home
Julian Street

“Hinky Dink” saw him, paid for a week’s lodging at the Mills Hotel, and gave him money for meals each day.
The Nation Behind Prison Bars
George L. Herr

Today’s quote

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.

– Edgar Allan Poe

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.

19 January 2019

auto-da-fé

[aw-toh-duh-fey]

noun, plural au·tos-da-fé.

the public declaration of the judgment passed on persons tried in the courts of the Spanish Inquisition, followed by the execution by the civil authorities of the sentences imposed, especially the burning of condemned heretics at the stake.

Origin of auto-da-fé

1715–25; < Portuguese: act of the faith

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for auto-da-fe

Historical Examples of auto-da-fe

He saw the horizon of the future lurid with the flames of the auto da fe.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 3 (of 12)
Robert G. Ingersoll

It is doubtful if anything short of an auto da fe would have met their approval.
The Behavior of Crowds
Everett Dean Martin

Tezel, after his auto da fe at Frankfort on the Oder, had hastened to send his theses into Saxony.
History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century (Volume 1)
J. H. Merle D’Aubign

Men were living who had seen the horrors of the auto da fe and the splendors of viceregal authority.
Remember the Alamo
Amelia E. Barr

The roasting of a human victim at the auto da fe was a purely democratic institution.
Mexico and its Religion
Robert A. Wilson

Today’s quote

Capitalism has outlived its usefulness. It has brought about a system that takes necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes.

– Martin Luther King

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:

14 January 2019

imprecation

[im-pri-key-shuh n]

noun

1. the act of imprecating; cursing.
2. a curse; malediction.

Origin of imprecation

Latin

1575-1585; < Latin imprecātiōn- (stem of imprecātiō), equivalent to imprecāt(us) (see imprecate ) + -iōn- -ion

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for imprecation

Historical Examples

He laughed again in one low burst that was as spiteful as an imprecation.
Tales of Unrest
Joseph Conrad

An imprecation of a sufficiently emphatic character was the only reply.
David Elginbrod
George MacDonald

Then, with an imprecation upon his lips, he turned and retired.
The Minister of Evil
William Le Queux

He vainly strives to rally under the fire of imprecation, but it is too late.
Marion’s Faith.
Charles King

With an imprecation of wrath he called his companion’s attention to the spot.
A Prisoner of Morro
Upton Sinclair

A torrent of imprecation rose to his lips, but he left it unuttered.
The Royal Pawn of Venice
Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull

An imprecation on a person who has surpassed another in an undertaking.
The Proverbs of Scotland
Alexander Hislop

In what do anathema, curse, execration, and imprecation agree?
English Synonyms and Antonyms
James Champlin Fernald

“That imprecation had better have been spared, madam,” said the duke.
Windsor Castle
William Harrison Ainsworth

Now, the Queen muttered an imprecation, and called the name ‘Abarak!’
The Shaving of Shagpat, Complete
George Meredith

Today’s quote

Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.

– Anais Nin

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 2019

estimable

[es-tuh-muh-buh l]

adjective

1. worthy of esteem; deserving respect or admiration.
2. capable of being estimated.

Origin of estimable

late Middle English Middle French Latin

1425-1475; late Middle English < Middle French < Latin aestimābilis, equivalent to aestim(āre) to esteem + -ābilis -able

Related forms

estimableness, noun
estimably, adverb
nonestimable, adjective
nonestimableness, noun
nonestimably, adverb

Synonyms

1. reputable, respectable, admirable, laudable, meritorious, excellent, good.

Antonyms

1. contemptible.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for estimable

Contemporary Examples

Now the estimable Cook Report has moved the race from Lean Republican to a Toss-Up.
Mark Sanford Ditched by NRCC, but Counting Him Out Would Be Unwise
John Avlon
April 18, 2013

To save himself, Nixon nominated the estimable Elliot Richardson to be his new attorney general.
How Kennedy Brought Down Nixon
Chris Matthews
September 13, 2009

Historical Examples

The very best sort; a most estimable fellow,—one of a thousand.
Ester Ried Yet Speaking
Isabella Alden

Besides, the majority of the clergy were most estimable men.
The Fat and the Thin
Emile Zola

He was a man of my own class; a gentleman of pleasant ways, amiable, estimable, and able.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini

Have you not, father, said in the past that he was an estimable young man?
Daughters of the Revolution and Their Times
Charles Carleton Coffin

She was a most kind, estimable woman, and he admired her for her noble character.
Jolly Sally Pendleton
Laura Jean Libbey

How dared she feel the touch of so estimable a man to be so hateful?
Bulldog And Butterfly
David Christie Murray

Their culture is different from anything else, and yet it is most estimable and refined.
From Pole to Pole
Sven Anders Hedin

Someone else must attend to Miss Verona’s estimable aunt—positively!
Torchy, Private Sec.
Sewell Ford

Today’s quote

Don’t let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. Believe in yourself. Do what you love. And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you don’t like them.

– Stacy London

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 2019

Centruroides

noun

– a genus of scorpions belonging to the family Buthidae. Several North American species are known by the common vernacular name bark scorpion. Numerous species are extensively found throughout the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, the Antilles and northern South America. Some are known for their interesting patterning or large size (among Buthidae); most if not all fluoresce strongly under ultraviolet illumination, except after moulting. They contain several highly venomous species, and fatalities are known to occur.

Today’s quote

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

– Maya Angelou

On this day

12 January 1948 – The United States Supreme Court rules 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.

11 January 2019

campesino

[kahm-pe-see-naw; English kam-puh-see-noh]

noun, plural campesinos [kahm-pe-see-naws; English kam-puh-see-nohz] (Show IPA). Spanish.

1. (in Latin America) a peasant or farmer.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for campesino

Historical Examples

There was a long blank on the screen, then campesino ‘s cold face appeared.
Dead World
Jack Douglas

Today’s quote

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

— Emma Lazarus

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.

10 January 2019

arriba

Spanish

– translates as ‘go’ or ‘hooray’.

Usage

‘Arriba, Arriba, Andale, Andale’

– Speedy Gonzalez

Today’s quote

We build too many walls and not enough bridges.

– Isaac Newton

On this day

10 January 1946 – the inaugural meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, with 51 nations, convenes in London.

10 January 1949 – RCA introduces the world’s first vinyl record which played at 45rpm while Columbia released the world’s first vinyl record which played at 33rpm.

10 January 1998 – Night of Noah, Townsville. The city was drenched with rains from ex-Tropical Cyclone Sid. In a 24-hour period, 549mm fell on the city as recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology, however of this, more than 500mm during a 12 hour period. There were unofficial recordings that exceeded 700mm during this period.

10 January 2011 – Flash flooding strikes Toowoomba, Queensland, after 160mm of rain falls in 36 hours, killing four people. The flood water flowed down the Toowoomba range, inundating properties in the Lockyer Valley, including Grantham, Withcott, Helidon, killing nine people.