18 May 2019

whataboutism

[hwuht-uh-bou-tiz-uhm, wuht‐, hwot‐, wot‐]

noun

a conversational tactic in which a person responds to an argument or attack by changing the subject to focus on someone else’s misconduct, implying that all criticism is invalid because no one is completely blameless:

Excusing your mistakes with whataboutism is not the same as defending your record.

RELATED CONTENT

Why Is Everyone’s Favorite Comeback A Whataboutism?
Attention world: Your favorite comeback sucks.

NEARBY WORDS

what’ve, what-if, what-you-may-call-it, whata, whataboutery, whatchamacallit, whate’er, whatever, whatevs, whatnot

ORIGIN OF WHATABOUTISM

First recorded in 2000–05; from the phrase what about? + -ism

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Today’s quote

To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.

– Frederick Douglass

On this day

18 May – World Whiskey Day (3rd Saturday in March)

18 May 1910 – The Earth passes through the tail of Halley’s Comet.

18 May 1980 – Volcanic eruption from Mt St Helens in Washington State, USA, killing 57 people.

18 May 1989 – Over 1,000,000 people march in Beijing, demanding democracy. The Chinese government violently suppressed the protests, bringing them to an end on 4 June 1989 following the massacre of more than 10,000 protestors in Tiananmen Square.

17 May 2019

conservator

[kon-ser-vey-ter, kuh n-sur-vuh-]

noun

a person who conserves or preserves; preserver; protector.
a person who repairs, restores, or maintains the condition of objects, as paintings or sculptures in an art museum, or books in a library.
Law . a guardian; a custodian.

British . a person employed by the conservancy commission; a conservation worker.

Origin of conservator

1400–50; late Middle English; Latin, equivalent to conservā(re ) (see conserve) + -tor -tor

Related forms

con·serv·a·to·ri·al [kuh  n-sur-v uh- tawr -ee- uh l, – tohr -] /kənˌsɜr vəˈtɔr i əl, -ˈtoʊr-/ ,

adjective

con·ser·va·tor·ship , noun
sub·con·ser·va·tor , noun

Dictionary.com

Related Words for conservator

custodian, curator, keeper, guardian, protector

Examples from the Web for conservator

Contemporary Examples of conservator

Later, a Riverside judge ruled that Mills would remain as the conservator of her estate.
The Daily Beast logo
Etta James’s Son Donto Says Addiction Was Part of Famed Singer’s Life
Christine Pelisek
November 15, 2012

A judge ruled that Mills would remain as the conservator of her estate.
The Daily Beast logo
Etta James, Who Blazed Trail for Women in R&B, Dead at 73
Christine Pelisek
January 21, 2012

Historical Examples of conservator

Is God not only the Creator but the Conservator of all things?
The Theistic Conception of the World
B. F. (Benjamin Franklin) Cocker

There may be a question as to my being a conservative, but there is no doubt that I am a conservator.
Discourses of Keidansky
Bernard G. Richards

But even in the matter of elided consonants American is not always the conservator .
The American Language
Henry L. Mencken

I do not believe that the church is a conservator of civilization.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 6 (of 12)
Robert G. Ingersoll

The Conservator of orthodoxy is the Holy Ghost in a purified heart.
The Palm Tree Blessing
W. E. Shepard

Today’s quote

Problems are not the problem; coping is the problem.

– Virginia Satir

On this day

17 May – International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT Day).

17 May 2000 – Thomas Blanton Jr and Bobby Frank Cherry, former Ku Klux Klan members, are arrested and charged with murder for the 1963 bombing of a church in Alabama which killed four girls. The two men were sentenced to life in prison.

17 May 2012 – Disco singer, Donna Summer dies from lung cancer. She was born on 31 December 1948.

16 May 2019

presage

[noun pres-ij; verb pres-ij, pri-seyj]

noun

– a presentiment or foreboding.
– something that portends or foreshadows a future event; an omen, prognostic, or warning indication.
– prophetic significance; augury

foresight; prescience.

Archaic . a forecast or prediction.

verb (used with object), pres·aged, pres·ag·ing.

to have a presentiment of.
to portend, foreshow, or foreshadow:
The incidents may presage war.
to forecast; predict.

verb (used without object), pres·aged, pres·ag·ing.

to make a prediction.

Archaic . to have a presentiment.

Origin of presage

1350–1400; Middle English (noun); Middle French presage < Latin praesāgium presentiment, forewarning, equivalent to praesāg(us ) having a foreboding ( prae- pre- + sāgus prophetic; cf. sagacious) + -ium -ium

Related forms

pres·age·ful , adjective
pres·age·ful·ly , adverb
pres·ag·er , noun
un·pres·aged , adjective
un·pres·ag·ing , adjective

Synonyms for presage

1. foreshadowing, indication, premonition. 2. portent, sign, token.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for presage

signify, foresee, portend, foreshadow, forebode, foretell, augur, auspice, omen, prognostic, apprehension, augury, misgiving, forecast, harbinger, prognostication, intimation, premonition, prophecy, sign

Examples from the Web for presage

Contemporary Examples of presage

From quotes Clinton a lot, and he credits Clinton with saying that an intellectual resurgence has to presage political power.
The Daily Beast logo
The Republican Party Needs an RLC
Eleanor Clift
January 10, 2014

But I recall nothing in Possession, Angels & Insects, Babel Tower, or her other books that seems to presage this one.
The Daily Beast logo
Must Reads: Wild Abandon, Ramona Ausubel, A.S. Byatt
Nicholas Mancusi, Jennifer Miller, Allen Barra
March 6, 2012

Historical Examples of presage

For a moment there was a pause, as if at a presage of disaster.
Graham’s Magazine, Vol. XXXII No. 4, April 1848
Various

Fatal words they were,—the presage of the mishap they threatened!
Tom Burke Of “Ours”, Volume II (of II)
Charles James Lever

In the early spring of 1784 Diderot had an attack which he knew to be the presage of the end.
Diderot and the Encyclopdists
John Morley

But the softness in the Christmas air did not presage a thaw.
A Son of the City
Herman Gastrell Seely

Thus she left him without so much as a backward glance to presage future favour.
Simon Dale
Anthony Hope

Today’s quote

We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us.

– A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

On this day

16 May 1920 – Joan of Arc is canonised (declared a saint) by the Catholic Church. In 1431, the Catholic Church accused her of heresy. She was subsequently ex-communicated and burnt at the stake. The church later nullified her ex-communication, declaring her a matyr who was unjustly executed because of a vendetta by the English (who controlled the Inquisitorial Court in occupied France). She was beatified (given the title of Blessed and the ability to intercede on behalf of those who pray to her) in 1909 prior to her canonisation in 1920.

16 May 1990 – death of Jim Henson, American muppeteer (Sesame Street, the Muppet Show). Born 24 September 1936.

16 May 1944 – birth of Danny Trejo, American actor (Desperado, Machete, Con-Air).

16 May 1945 – birth of Nicky Chinn, British songwriter and record producer. In conjunction with Queensland-born Mike Chapman, he wrote hit singles for Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Mud, Racey, Smokie and Tina Turner.

16 May 2010 – death of Ronald James Padavona, otherwise known as Ronny James Dio, heavy metal singer. Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne as lead singer of Black Sabbath, for two years before leaving after disagreements with other band members. Dio was also associated with Rainbow, Dio, and Elf. Born 12 July 1942.

14 May 2019

colloquium

[kuh-loh-kwee-uh m]

noun

plural col·lo·qui·ums, col·lo·qui·a [kuh-loh-kwee-uh] /kəˈloʊ kwi ə/.

a conference at which scholars or other experts present papers on, analyze, and discuss a specific topic.

Origin of colloquium

1600–10, equivalent to colloqu(ī ) ( col- col-1 + loquī to speak) + -ium -ium

Dictionary.com Unabridged

Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for colloquium

symposium, discussion, meeting, seminar

Examples from the Web for colloquium

Historical Examples of colloquium

Nor are these Names by any Means more illustrious, than those we meet with in the Colloquium .
An Essay on Criticism
John Oldmixon

Today’s quote

Treat others the way you want to be treated, but never expect them to treat you back the same way.

– Ogounga Emmanuel

On this day

14 May 1796 – Edward Jenner gives the first smallpox vaccination.

14 May 1879 – the first group of indentured Indians labourers arrive in Fiji aboard the Leonidas.

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

14 May 1929 – Wilfred Rhodes takes his 4,000th first-class wicket at Leyton, after bowling 9/39. He played 58 test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. He was the first Englishman to complete both 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test cricket. He went on to achieve the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in individual first-class seasons a record 16 times. He retired with first-class totals of 4,204 wickets and 39,969 runs. In Tests he retired with 127 wickets and 2,325 runs.

14 May 1939 – Lina Medina (born 27 September 1933 in Peru) becomes the world’s youngest confirmed mother at the age of five. She gave birth by a caesarean section, to a boy, weighing 2.7kg (6.0lb). He was named Gerardo after the doctor who delivered him. He was raised believing Lina was his sister and was told the truth at the age of 10. Gerardo died in 1979, aged 40, of a bone marrow disease. Following Gerardo’s birth, Lina was diagnosed with extreme ‘precocious puberty’, in which puberty occurs at an unusually early age. It was initially reported that she hit puberty by the age of three, however, a further medical report indicated she had commenced puberty by eight months old. Lina never revealed who the father was or the circumstances of her impregnation. Lina later married and had a second child in 1972, when she was 39. She presently lives in Lima, Peru.

14 May 1948 – the modern nation of Israel is established by proclamation of the Jewish Agency headed by David Ben-Gurion, following the United Nations adoption of Resolution 181 on 29 November 1947.

13 May 2019

mal de ojo

Spanish (literally, ‘evil from the eye’).

evil eye

n.

1. A look or stare believed to cause injury or misfortune to others. Example: they feared the mal de ojo.

2. The presumed power to cause injury or misfortune to others by magic or supernatural means.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Today’s quote

I hope everyone that is reading this is having a really good day. And if you are not, just know that in every new minute that passes you have an opportunity to change that.

– Gillian Anderson

On this day

13 May 1941 – birth of Richard Steven Valenzuela, otherwise known as Richie Valens. 1950s rock and roll star, famous for songs such as, ‘Come On, Let’s Go’, and ‘La Bamba. Died in a plane crash on 3 February 1959 with other musicians, Buddy Holly, J.P. ‘Big Bopper’ Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson. Their deaths were immortalised in the Don McLean song, ‘American Pie’, when he sang about the day the music died.

13 May 1981 – Pope John Paul II is injured in front of 2,000 people in St Peter’s Square after being shot by Turkish man, Mehmet Ali Agca.

13 May 1985 – Philadelphia Police drop two bombs on a house inhabited by black rights organisation, MOVE. The bombing results in a fire that destroys 65 neighbouring houses, killing 11 people (six adults including MOVE leader John Africa, and five children) and leaving more than 200 homeless. MOVE had previously been declared a terrorist organisation. Prior to the bombing, police had obtained arrest warrants for four members of MOVE, but when they attempted to execute the warrants, they claim a gunfight broke out which they used to justify using a helicopter to drop the bombs.

12 May 2019

parturition

[pahr-too-rish-uh n, -tyoo-, -choo-]

noun, Biology.

1. the process of bringing forth young.

Origin of parturition

Late Latin

1640-1650; Late Latin parturītiōn- (stem of parturītiō) travail, equivalent to Latin parturīt(us) (past participle of parturīre; see parturient ) + -iōn- -ion

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018.

Cite This Source

Examples from the Web for parturition

Historical Examples

The process of bringing a child into the world is called ” parturition.”
Private Sex Advice to Women
R. B. Armitage

Chloroform is employed by some to relieve the pain of parturition.
The Action of Medicines in the System
Frederick William Headland

All appear to be viviparous, and the act of parturition is performed in the water.
Reptiles and Birds
Louis Figuier

Today’s quote

A mother’s happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories.

– Honore de Balzac

On this day

12 May 1932 – the body of the Lindbergh baby is found near to the Lindbergh residence. The baby was the son of famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, and had been kidnapped days earlier. The kidnapper had accidentally killed the baby during the kidnapping and abandoned the body in a nearby forest.

12 May 1937 – King George VI is crowned King of Britain (and it’s colonies) at Westminster Abbey, following the abdication of his brother.

12 May 1980 – death of Bette Nesmith Graham. Bette is the inventor of Liquid Paper. Her son, Mike Nesmith, was a member of 1960s UK/American pop/rock band, The Monkees. Born 23 March 1924 in Dallas, Texas.

12 May 1994 – in response to thousands acts of violence in the USA against abortion clinics and their patients, a bill is submitted to President Clinton making it a federal crime to prevent access to an abortion clinic or to threaten or use force against people attending the clinics. The bill resulted in the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act 1994. Between 1978 and 1993 anti-abortion (or pro-life) activists had been responsible for at least 9 murders, 17 attempted murders, 406 death threats, 179 acts of assault, 5 kidnappings of abortion providers, 41 bombings, 96 attempted bombings or arsons, 692 bomb threats, 1993 incidents of trespassing, 1400 incidents of vandalism and 100 attacks with butyric acid (stink bombs).

11 May 2019

amour fou

French noun phrase

\ ä-ˈmu̇r-ˈfü \

: mad love : obsessive passion

Example

He expressed his amour fou for her through hundreds of love letters.

Today’s quote

To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men.

― Ella Wheeler Wilcox

On this day

11 May – World Keffiyeh Day, in solidarity with Palestine.

11 May 1904 – birth of Salvador Dali, Spanish surrealist painter. Died 23 January 1989.

11 May 1981 – death of Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer and musician. Born 6 February 1945.

11 May 1985 – death of Chester Gould, American creator of the cartoon strip, ‘Dick Tracy’. He drew the comic strip from 1931 to 1977. Born 20 November 1900.

10 May 2019

sawbuck(1)

[saw-buhk]

noun

a sawhorse.

Origin of sawbuck(1)

1860–65, Americanism; compare Dutch zaagbok

sawbuck(2)

[saw-buhk]

noun Slang.

a ten-dollar bill.

Origin of sawbuck(2)

1840–50, Americanism; so called from the resemblance of the Roman numeral X to the crossbars of a sawbuck(1)

Dictionary.com Unabridged

Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sawbuck

Historical Examples of sawbuck

“Here’s your ten and costs,” says Pinckney, tossing him a sawbuck.
Shorty McCabe
Sewell Ford

They drove a pack-horse, their supplies loaded on a sawbuck saddle with kyacks.
Oh, You Tex!
William Macleod Raine

Rob threw the sawbuck pack-saddle on top of the padded blanket.
The Young Alaskans in the Rockies
Emerson Hough

“It pleases me to say that I pulled a sawbuck out of Emery,” he said.
Frank Merriwell’s Races
Burt L. Standish

The sawbuck followed it, the cinch flying high so that it should go clear.
The Eagle’s Heart
Hamlin Garland

Today’s quote

People like to say that the conflict is between good and evil. The real conflict is between truth and lies.

– Don Miguel Ruiz

On this day

10 May 1837 – the Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail and unemployment reaches record levels.

10 May 1893 – the Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.

10 May 1908 – Mother’s Day first celebrated. Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia in the United States becomes the first place in the world to hold the first official Mother’s Day celebration. 407 women were in attendance that day. In 1872 Julie Ward Howe suggested a national holiday to celebrate peace and motherhood. At that time, many local groups held their own celebration of motherhood, but most were religious gatherings. Another influential figure was Anna Jarvis who campaigned for a national holiday following the death of her mother in 1905. Her mother, social activist Ann Jarvis used to hold an annual celebration, Mother’s Friendship Day, to help ease the pain of the US Civil War. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day a national holiday on the second Sunday of May. Anna Jarvis was arrested at a Mother’s Day celebration when she tried to stop the selling of flowers. She stated, ‘I wanted it to be a day of sentiment not of profit‘.

10 May 1924 – Edgard J. Hoover appointed Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A position he holds until his death in 1972.

10 May 1933 – in Germany, Nazis stage massive public book burnings.

10 May 1941 – Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess, parachutes into Scotland to negotiate a peace settlement between the UK and Germany. Hess was arrested and convicted of crimes against peace and spent the remainder of his life in jail. He died in 1987.

10 May 1954 – Bill Haley and His Comets release Rock Around the Clock, the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.

10 May 1960 – birth of Bono (Paul David Hewson), activist and Irish singer-songwriter with U2.

10 May 1994 – Nelson Mandela inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president.

10 May 2003 – The Golden Gumboot opens in Tully, North Queensland. It stands 7.9m tall and represents the record annual rainfall of 7900mm that Tully received in1950. Tully is officially Australia’s wettest town.

9 May 2019

echidna

[ih-kid-nuh]

1. In Greek mythology, Echidna (/ɪˈkɪdnə/; Greek: Ἔχιδνα, “She-Viper”) was a monster, half-woman and half-snake, who lived alone in a cave. She was the mate of the fearsome monster, Typhon and was the mother of monsters, including many of the most famous monsters of Greek myth. (Wikipedia)

2. Also called spiny anteater. any of several insectivorous monotremes of the genera Tachyglossus, of Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea, and Zaglossus, of New Guinea, that have claws and a slender snout and are covered with coarse hair and long spines.

Origin of echidna

New Latin (1798), originally a genus name; Latin: serpent, Echidna a mythical creature which gave birth to the Hydra and other monsters; Greek échidna, akin to échis viper

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for

Historical Examples of echidna

Echidna was a bloodthirsty monster, half maiden, half serpent.
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome
E.M. Berens

The Ornithorhyncus has fur, the Echidna has spines, with hairs between them.
Stories of the Universe: Animal Life
B. Lindsay

Man-serpent, therefore, in Dante, as Echidna is woman-serpent.
Modern Painters, Volume V (of 5)
John Ruskin

In Ornithorhynchus the zygomatic arch is much stouter than in Echidna .
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds

In Echidna the carpus is broad, the scaphoid and lunar are united and there is no centrale.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds

Today’s quote

Not voting is not a protest. It is a surrender.

– Keith Ellison

On this day

9 May – Russian Victory Day which marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

9 May 1960 – the ‘pill’, a contraceptive, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is now used by 100 million women worldwide.

9 May 1970 – 100,000 protestors gather near the White House to protest US involvement in the war in Cambodia.

9 May 1994 – Nelson Mandela is chosen by the newly-elected South African parliament to be the country’s new President.

8 May 2019

cloister

[kloi-ster]

noun

a covered walk, especially in a religious institution, having an open arcade or colonnade usually opening onto a courtyard.

a courtyard, especially in a religious institution, bordered with such walks.

a place of religious seclusion, as a monastery or convent.

any quiet, secluded place.

life in a monastery or convent.

verb (used with object)

to confine in a monastery or convent.
to confine in retirement; seclude.
to furnish with a cloister or covered walk.
to convert into a monastery or convent.

Origin of cloister

1250–1300; Middle English cloistre; Anglo-French, Old French, blend of cloison partition (see cloisonné) and clostre (< Latin claustrum barrier (Late Latin: enclosed place); see claustrum)

Related forms

clois·ter·less, adjective
clois·ter·like, adjective

Synonyms for cloister

3. abbey, priory.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for cloister

nunnery, convent, hermitage, monastery, abbey, cell, sanctuary, house, order, retreat, priory, friary, lamasery, priorate

Examples from the Web for

Historical Examples of cloister

For five years Angelique lived and grew there, as if in a cloister, far away from the world.
The Dream
Emile Zola

But, to say he turned his eyes upon the cloister keys, is a mere figure of speech.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood

The convent-bell struck midnight, and there was a foot-fall in the cloister.
Graham’s Magazine Vol. XXXII No. 2. February 1848
Various

This enclosed, quiet residence vaguely recalled the cloister.
Therese Raquin
Emile Zola

Here they may have supported the wooden roof of a cloister or porch.
Byzantine Churches in Constantinople
Alexander Van Millingen

Today’s quote

Happiness is an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outward circumstances.

– J. Donald Walters

On this day

8 May 1911 – birthday of Robert Johnson. American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. Legend has it that Johnson met the devil at a crossroads and sold his soul in return for fame and fortune. One of the first musicians of the 20th century to join the 27 club. Died 16 August 1938.

8 May 1945 – VE day. Victory in Europe – the day that Nazi Germany formally surrendered in World War II.