17 June 2019

notarize

[ noh-tuh-rahyz ]

verb (used with object), no·ta·rized, no·ta·riz·ing.

to certify (a document, contract, etc.) or cause to become certified through a notary public.

Also especially British, no·ta·rise.

ORIGIN OF NOTARIZE

First recorded in 1925–30; notar(y) + -ize

RELATED FORMS

no·ta·ri·za·tion, noun
re·no·ta·rize, verb (used with object), re·no·ta·rized, re·no·ta·riz·ing.

Today’s quote

I’ve never been a big fan of subtle art. I like art that gets deep into my head and starts my brain spinning with new ideas and inspiration and my whole body is full of energy.

– Jello Biafra

On this day

17 June 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal dies in childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I undertakes to build a mausoleum, the Taj Mahal, in her honour. He takes 17 years to do it.

17 June 1958 – birth of Jello Biafra (born Eric Reed Boucher), American musician and spoken word artist, was lead singer of the San Francisco punk rock band, Dead Kennedys.

17 June 1971 – US President Richard Nixon declares a War on Drugs.

16 June 2019

milo

[ mahy-loh ]

noun, plural mi·los.

a grain sorghum having white, yellow, or pinkish seeds, grown chiefly in Africa, Asia, and the U.S.

ORIGIN OF MILO

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; of uncertain origin
Also called milo maize.

Today’s quote

Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.

― Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

On this day

16 June – International Day of the African Child, which remembers those who participated in the Soweto protests in 1976, as well as raises awareness of the need for improved education provided to African children.

16 June 1816 – Lord Byron reads his poem Fantasmagoriana to his four house guests, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire Clermont and John Polidori, challenging them to write a ghost story. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Polidori wrote the short story, The Vampyre, which in turn influenced numerous vampire stories, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Byron himself went on to write the poem, Darkness.

16 June 1951 – birth of Roberto Duran, Panamanian boxer nicknamed ‘Manos de Piedra’ (Hands of Stone). He held world titles at four different levels; lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight. He was the second boxer to fight over five decades. He retired from professional boxing in 2002 at the age of 50. He is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time.

16 June 1961 – Soviet ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev defects to the West. Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev allegedly issued an order for Nureyev to be killed, which did not eventuate.

16 June 1967 – The Monterey Pop Festival is held over three days at Monterey, California. Over 200,000 people attended to experience performers such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, The Byrds, The Animals and The Grateful Dead.

16 June 1976 – Soweto Uprising in South Africa, when up to 20,000 students marched in a non-violent protest against poor quality education and demanding to be taught in their own language after Afrikaans was introduced as the medium of instruction. The protest turned violent when police opened fire on the crowd, killing 23 people. Violence continued for two weeks, with 176 people being killed. The day is now a public holiday in South Africa and commemorated as Youth Day. Internationally it is recognised as Day of the African Child.

15 June 2019

mopery

[ moh-puh-ree ]

noun

mopish behavior.
Slang. a violation of a minor or imaginary law or rule.

ORIGIN OF MOPERY

mope + -ery

Example

The officer defending him was Lieutenant Scheisskopf. It was all very confusing to Clevinger, who began vibrating in terror as the colonel surged to his feet like a gigantic belch and threatened to rip his stinking, cowardly body apart limb from limb. One day he had stumbled while marching to class; the next day he was formally charged with ‘breaking ranks while in formation, felonious assault, indiscriminate behavior, mopery, high treason, provoking, being a smart guy, listening to classical music and so on’.
Catch-22
Joseph Heller

Today’s quote

Culture survives in smaller spaces – not in the history books that erect monuments to the nation’s grand history but in cafes and cinema houses, village squares, and half-forgotten libraries.

– Amitava Kumar

On this day

15 June 1215 – King John of England seals the Magna Carta (Latin for ‘Great Charter’) which established the ‘rule of law’ that was to become fundamental to the modern legal system. It ensured that no man, no monarch, was above the law. Monarchs could no longer arbitrarily deal with or dispossess their subjects. It didn’t mean equality or liberty for all, however, as it applied only to ‘all the free men’, and not all men were free in 13th century England.

15 June 1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity by launching a kite during a storm. The kite was tied to a key and a Leyden Jar, which was used to store electrical charge. The negative ions in the thunder storm charged the kite, flowing down the wet silk string and into the jar. Franklin was holding the silk at the time and was unaffected, however when he moved his hand near the key he received an electric shock, proving that lightning was static electricity. (Traditional date, the exact date is unknown).

15 June 1920 – a 5000-strong mob in Minnesota lynches three African-Americans who were convicted of the rape of a 17 year old white woman.

15 June 1946 – birth of Noddy Holder, British musician and singer. Holder was the lead singer with 1970’s glam rock band, Slade, which was famous for songs such as ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’, ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’, ‘Gudbuy T’ Jane’, and ‘Skweeze Me Pleeze Me’. Their second studio album, ‘Slayed’, spent 34 weeks at Number 1 in the UK. Slade had 17 consecutive Top 20 hits, six of which reached number one. In 2000 Holder was awarded an MBE for his services to spelling.

14 June 2019

portolano

[pawr-tl-ah-noh, pohr-]

noun, plural por·to·la·nos, por·to·la·ni [pawr-tl-ah-nee, pohr-] /ˌpɔr tl

ˈɑ ni, ˌpoʊr-/.

a descriptive atlas of the Middle Ages, giving sailing directions and providing charts showing rhumb lines and the location of ports and various coastal features.

Origin of portolano

1855–60; Italian: shipmaster’s guidebook; earlier, harbor master < Medieval Latin portulānus. See port1, -ule, -an
Also called rutter.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for portolano

Historical Examples of portolano

A sea-chart—probably a portolano —is mentioned as early as the account of the Crusade of St. Louis, in 1270.
The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea
Gomes Eannes de Azurara

Today’s quote

Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel.

– Gilbert K. Chesterton

On this day

14 June 1158 – Munich founded by Henry the Lion on the banks of the River Isar.

14 June 1789 – The Reverend Elijah Craig becomes the first person to distill whisky from maize. The new whisky is named bourbon, because that is the county in Kentucky that Reverend Craig lived in.

14 June 1928 – birth of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Argentinian Marxist revolutionary, physician, author. Executed 9 October 1967 on the order of Bolivian President Rene Barrientos.

14 June 1936 – death of Gilbert Keith Chesterton (otherwise known as G.K. Chesterton – born 29 May 1874), English writer, lay theologian, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, literary and art critic, biographer and owner of one of the world’s worst pompadours:

G.K. Chesterton

14 June 1937 – The USA passes the Marihuana Tax Act, which taxed the sale of cannabis.

14 June 1982 – Argentina surrenders to Great Britain after the six week Falkland’s War.

14 June 2007 – Former Ku Klux Klan member, 71 year old James Seale is found guilty of a number of charges related to the 1964 murder of two civil rights activists in Mississippi. He was sentenced to three life terms of imprisonment. His conviction was overturned the following year, before being reinstated. He died in prison in 2011.

13 June 2019

malaphor

noun

– Mixing of idioms or metaphors.

Examples:

It isn’t rocket surgery.

Don’t judge a book before it’s hatched.

We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.

What is a malaphor? It’s not rocket surgery!

Today’s quote

People must have righteous principals in the first, and then they will not fail to perform virtuous actions.

– Martin Luther

On this day

13 June 1381 – The Peasants Revolt (a brief rebellion against poll tax), led by Wat Tyler, culminates in the burning down of the Savoy Palace in London.

13 June 1525 – Martin Luther, a German monk and Catholic priest, marries a nun, Katharina von Bora, which violated the rule of celibacy decreed by the Roman Catholic church for priests and nuns. The couple went on to have six children together.

13 June 1865 – birth 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‘. Died 28 January 1939.

13 June 1927 – birth of Slim Dusty AO, MBE, Australian country music singer, song-writer and producer. He was born as David Gordon Kirkpatrick and adopted the name of Slim Dusty at 11 years of age. He released his first record when he was 18. In 1957, he released ‘The Pub With No Beer‘, which became the biggest selling Australian song to that time, and the first Australian single to go gold. He won 36 Golden Guitar Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. In 2000, he recorded his 100th album, ‘Looking Forward, Looking Back‘. He is the only artist in the world to have recorded 100 albums with the same record label (EMI). Died 19 September 2003.

13 June 1944 – Germany launches 10 of its new rockets, known as the V1 (also called a doodlebug or buzz bomb). The V1s were pilot-less, pulse-jet-propelled rockets with a one ton payload with a 500km range. The Germans rained V1s over London. The V1 was an early version of the Cruise Missile.

11 June 2019

Stygian

[stij-ee-uh n]

adjective

of or relating to the river Styx or to Hades.
dark or gloomy.
infernal; hellish.

ORIGIN OF STYGIAN

1560–70; < Latin Stygi(us) < Greek Stýgios (Styg-, stem of Stýx Styx + -ios adj. suffix) + -an

RELATED FORMS

trans-Styg·i·an, adjective

DICTIONARY.COM UNABRIDGED BASED ON THE RANDOM HOUSE UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY, © RANDOM HOUSE, INC. 2019

EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR STYGIAN

The moon was just rising above the horizon, but under the trees the darkness was Stygian. THE HILL|HORACE ANNESLEY VACHELL Justus

Miles was the first to come to, and he found himself in Stygian blackness. THE HEADS OF APEX|FRANCIS FLAGG

At the far end of this courtyard a shadowy pavilion arose, culled from the Stygian gloom by the sheen of the lightnings. UNDER THE WITCHES’ MOON|NATHAN GALLIZIER

Not a star could blink a wan ray of light into that Stygian pit. THE MAN OF THE FOREST|ZANE GREY

Today’s quote

Self-righteousness has killed more people than smoking.

– John McCarthy

On this day
11 June 1955 – during the 24 hour Le Mans race, a Mercedes 300 crashes at high speed. Debris, including the engine block, axles and bonnet, slams through the crowd killing 83 spectators. The bonnet decapitated a number of spectators who had been tightly packed into the stand. The driver was also killed.

11 June 1962 – Three prisoners escape from the federal prison on Alcatraz Island. The three men, Frank Morris, and brothers, Clarence and John Anglin were never found. Authorities believe it is most likely that the three men did not survive the swim across San Francisco Bay, although their bodies were never recovered.

11 June 2001 – Timothy McVeigh executed for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, which killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children or babies.

10 June 2019

deduce

[dih-doos, -dyoos]

verb (used with object), deduced, deducing.

1. to derive as a conclusion from something known or assumed; infer:
From the evidence the detective deduced that the gardener had done it.
2. to trace the derivation of; trace the course of:
to deduce one’s lineage.

Origin of deduce

Latin

1520-1530; Latin dēdūcere to lead down, derive, equivalent to dē- de- + dūcere to lead, bring

Related forms

deducible, adjective
deducibility, deducibleness, noun
deducibly, adverb
nondeducible, adjective
subdeducible, adjective

Can be confused

adduce, deduce, induce.
deduce, deduct.
deducible, deductible.

Synonyms

1. conclude, reason, gather, determine.

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

Examples from the Web for deduce

Contemporary Examples

A shriek of glee briefly broke out across the Web as inquiring minds tried to deduce who was the lucky lady.
My Bizarre Night With James Deen, Libertarian Porn Star
Emily Shire
November 12, 2014

From this it was possible to deduce that the airplane hit the ocean whole, and at what speed.
MH17 Is the World’s First Open-Source Air Crash Investigation
Clive Irving
July 22, 2014

In fact, we are left to deduce the content of her letters to him from his responses to her.
The Struggles of Benjamin Franklin’s Sister Jane
Annette Gordon-Reed
November 21, 2013

They want the jury to deduce that it was a sort of habitual foreplay employed by the popular coach.
Jerry Sandusky Trial, Day Three: The Defense Gets Steamrolled
Diane Dimond
June 14, 2012

The greatest gift is our own eyes, sense of smell, and abilities to deduce.
Patricia Cornwell Talks New Book, ‘Red Mist,’ Forensics, and Angelina Jolie
Janice Kaplan
December 13, 2011

Historical Examples

If you deduce a good Providence from the good things in nature, what do you make of the evil?
The Stark Munro Letters
J. Stark Munro

I deduce that a lot of my sweetness has been wasted on the desert air.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930
Various

It was not given to him to deduce from his splendid work the results to which they were destined to lead.
Great Astronomers
R. S. Ball

Now, from this fact, the philosopher will at once deduce the climate of this region.
Old Mackinaw
W. P. Strickland.

Or could you deduce from the existence of frontal horns that the animal ruminates?
Form and Function
E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell

Today’s quote

The men who learn endurance, are they who call the whole world, brother.

– Charles Dickens

On this day

10 June 323 BC – death of Alexander the Great, Macedonian King. He conquered the Persia Empire, which ruled Asia Minor, The Levant and Syria, Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia. He then invaded India before returning to Persia. He died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon, most likely by poisoning. Born 20 July 356 BC.

10 June 1838 – Myall Creek Massacre in Australia. 28 aborigines are murdered by 11 stockmen (10 Europeans and an African). After two trials, seven of the 11 colonialists involved in the killings were found guilty of murder and hanged on 18 December 1838. The leader of the colonialists, John Fleming, was never found. He was suspected of further massacres in the Liverpool Plains and New England regions. His brother, Joseph, was linked to massacres in the Maranoa area of Queensland.

10 June 1916 – British Army officer, Lawrence of Arabia leads an Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

10 June 1935 – Alcoholics Anonymous founded by two recovering alcoholics, using a 12-step program to help alcoholics overcome their addiction.

10 June 1967 – end of the Six Day War, when Israel and the Arab coalition consisting of Egypt, Jordan & Syria, agree to a UN mediated cease-fire.

6 July 2019

jeremiad

[ jer-uh-mahy-uh d, -ad ]

noun

a prolonged lamentation or mournful complaint.

ORIGIN OF JEREMIAD

1770–80; Jeremi(ah) + -ad1 in reference to Jeremiah’s Lamentations

DICTIONARY.COM UNABRIDGED
BASED ON THE RANDOM HOUSE UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY, © RANDOM HOUSE, INC. 2019

EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR JEREMIAD

The Task Force report is a blend of modern bureaucratese and the old Judeo-Christian tradition of the jeremiad.
DID THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST ‘CONSERVATIVE RESURGENCE’ FAIL?|MOLLY WORTHEN|JUNE 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Huckabee should deliver a jeremiad lambasting Washington for its role in fostering the housing collapse and the Great Recession.
MIKE HUCKABEE’S BULLY PULPIT: ECONOMIC POPULISM|LLOYD GREEN|DECEMBER 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST

But neither is it a rigorous sociological study or a polemic or a jeremiad.
TOO SOON TO WRITE: CHOIRE SICHA’S ‘VERY RECENT HISTORY’|STEFAN BECK|AUGUST 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST

To-night, however, there were variety and spice with his Jeremiad.
THE GOOSE GIRL|HAROLD MACGRATH

Today’s quote

Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now. Then accept the consequences.

– Eckhart Tolle

On this day

6 June – Queensland Day, which celebrates the establishment of the colony of Queensland. On 6 June 1859, Queen Victoria gave her approval for the new colony by signing the Letters Patent. On the same day, an Order-in-Council gave Queensland its own Constitution.

6 June – Russian Language Day (UN) – coincides with the birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin, Russian poet who is considered the father of modern Russian literature.

6 June 1799 – birth of Aleksandr Pushkin, Russian poet and author of the romantic era. Considered the father of modern Russian literature. He was born into Russian nobility. His matrilineal great grandfather, Abram Gannibal, was brought over as a slave from Africa and had risen to the aristocracy. Died during a duel on 10 February 1837.

6 June 1808 – Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, is crowned King of Spain.

6 June 1844 – The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.

6 June 1939 – Judge Joseph Force Crater, known as the ‘Missingest man in New York’ is declared legally dead after going missing nine years earlier. His body has never been found, but his disappearance fueled allegations of corruption in the City government and lead to the downfall of political organisation, Tammany Hall.

6 June 1944 – D-day (Operation Overlord), when the Allies launch a massive invasion of Europe to combat the German war machine. Over a million Allied troops storm the beaches of Normandy.

6 June 1961 – death of Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. He developed the concepts of extraversion and introversion; archetypes and collective unconscious. Born 26 July 1875.

6 June 1982 – the Lebanon War begins when Israeli forces under the command of the Defence Minister, Ariel Sharon, invade southern Lebanon, eventually pushing into Beirut. It lasted until June 1985. Israel suffered 657 dead and 3,887 wounded. Syrian and Palestinian casualties were 19,085 civilian and combatant deaths.

6 June 1984 – Tetris, one of the world’s biggest selling games, is released.

5 June 2019

prosody

[ pros-uh-dee ]

noun

the science or study of poetic meters and versification.
a particular or distinctive system of metrics and versification:
Milton’s prosody.

Linguistics. the stress and intonation patterns of an utterance.

RELATED WORDS

poem, poetry, metrics

ORIGIN OF PROSODY

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin prosōdia < Greek prosōidía tone or accent, modulation of voice, song sung to music, equivalent to prós toward + ōid(ḗ) ode + -ia -y3

RELATED FORMS

pro·sod·ic [pruh-sod-ik] /prəˈsɒd ɪk/, pro·sod·i·cal, adjective

EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR PROSODY

As there is in Arithmetic a long division and a short division, so in Prosody is Quantity considered as long or short.
THE COMIC ENGLISH GRAMMAR|UNKNOWN

The appendix includes some fairly specialized content, notably under Numerals and Prosody.
A LATIN GRAMMAR FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES|GEORGE M. LANE

However—the Prosody and Serpent lectures are just finishing off and then I shall come to see you in the morning!
HORTUS INCLUSUS|JOHN RUSKIN

Prosody, the song of angels, and no earthly or inglorious theme.
RETROSPECTION AND INTROSPECTION|MARY BAKER EDDY

Today’s quote

If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business, because we’d be cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.

– Ray Bradbury

On this day

5 June 1967 – start of the Six Day War, when Israel attacked Egypt and Syria. During the six days of the War, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, West Bank and East Jerusalem, effectively doubling its size. Although Israel eventually withdrew from the Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula, it continues to controversially occupy Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem.

5 June 1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, Presidential candidate and brother of JFK, shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian-born, Jordanian citizen. Kennedy died the following day. In an interview with David Frost in 1989, Sirhan stated that he opposed Kennedy’s support of Israel and plan to send 50 bombers to Israel to ‘obviously do harm to the Palestinians’. Sirhan was initially sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life in prison.

5 June 1989 – the ‘Tank Man’ halts a column of Chinese tanks in Beijing for more than half an hour, following protests in Tiananmen Square.

5 June 2000 – start of the Six Day War in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo, between Ugandan and Rwandan forces, destroying a large part of the city.

5 June 2012 – death of Ray Bradbury, American fantasy, science-fiction, horror and mystery fiction writer. Author of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes. The movie Butterfly Effect uses a similar theory to that described in Bradbury’s short-story A Sound of Thunder. In one scene, a Sound of Thunder pennant is hanging on the dormitory door of the main character, Evan. Michael Moore’s movie Fahrenheit 9/11 was named after Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury was not happy with this and pressured Moore to change the title, which Moore refused to do. Born 22 August 1920.

4 June 2019

psithurism

noun

The sound of wind in the trees and rustling of leaves.

Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

Origin

An adaptation of the Ancient Greek ψιθύρισµα (psithurisma) or ψιθυρισµός (psithurismos), from ψιθυρίζω (psithurizō, “I whisper”), from ψίθυρος (psithuros, “whispering”, “slanderous”).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license

Today’s quote

Anyone who doesn’t need company is either greater than a man, and is a God, or lesser than a man, and is a beast.

— Aristotle, as quoted by Saint Thomas Aquinas

On this day

4 June 1988 – death of Sir Douglas Nichols KCVO, OBE. Aboriginal activist, raising awareness of aboriginal issues, including treating aborigines with dignity and as people. He played for Carlton football club in the A-grade Victorian Football League (VFL), leaving after racist treatment and joining the Northcote football club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA). Nicholls became a minister and social worker. In 1957, he was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 1972 he was the first aborigine to be knighted. In 1976, he became the 28th governor of South Australia, the first aborigine to be appointed to a vice-regal position. He was born on 9 December 1906.

4 June 1989 – Tiananmen Square massacre, Beijing, China. Around a million people had flooded into Tiananmen Square over the past few days, protesting for democracy. On 4 June, the Chinese Army stormed the Square with tanks and armoured cars, killing hundreds of protestors, while arresting thousands of others.