24 December 2012

jocund

[jok-uh nd, joh-kuh nd]

adjective

cheerful; merry; gay; blithe; glad: a witty and jocund group.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English jocound < Late Latin jocundus, alteration of Latin jūcundus pleasant, equivalent to ju ( vāre ) to help, benefit, please, delight + -cundus adj. suffix

Related forms
jocundly, adverb.
quasijocund, adjective.
quasijocundly, adverb.
unjocund, adjective.

Synonyms
joyous, joyful, blithesome, jolly.

Today’s aphorism

‘If you care about what other people think, you will always be their prisoner’.

– Lao Tzu

On this day

24 December 1865 – Ku Klux Klan formed by a group of confederate veterans who are opposed to civil rights for African-Americans.

24 December 1979 – The Soviet Army, comprised of 100,000 troops, invades Afghanistan. The occupation lasts for 10 years and results in the deaths of between 600,000 and 2,000,000 Afghan civilians, as well as 6,000,000 refugees who fled to Pakistan and Iran. The Soviets withdrew in 1989. The cost of the Afghan occupation is a significant factor that led to the economic collapse of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet occupation, the United States funded Afghan resistance in the form of the Mujahideen and other militant Islamic groups, out of whom emerged Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The real victims in this war were the Afghan people, who continue to suffer and to comprise a significant portion of global refugee numbers because of the involvement of the USSR and the USA during this period.