24 January 2014

farrago

[fuh-rah-goh, -rey-]

noun, plural far·ra·goes.

– a confused mixture; hodgepodge; medley: ‘a farrago of doubts, fears, hopes, and wishes’, ‘There was not one reasonable balanced statement in the whole farrago’, ‘Farrago of lies in one of the unpublished letters.

Origin:
1625–35; < Latin: literally, mixed crop of feed grains, equivalent to farr- (stem of far ) emmer + -āgō suffix noting kind or nature

Anagram

for a rag
fag roar

Today’s aphorism

People inspire you, or they drain you – pick them wisely.

– Hans F. Hansen

On this day

24 January 41AD – death of Caligula, also known as Gaius Caesar, 3rd Roman Emperor from 37 – 41AD. Died 24 January 41AD. First Roman Emperor to be assassinated following a conspiracy to restore the Roman Republic. While the plot to kill Caligula succeeds, the restoration of the Republic fails when the Praetorian Guard appoint Caligula’s uncle, Claudius, as Emperor.

24 January 1965 – death of U.K. Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. Born 30 November 1874.

24 January 1974 – Cyclone Wanda makes land-fall at Maryborough, bringing the worst flooding to Queensland in decades, including the infamous Brisbane floods.