25 August 2013

bemuse

[bih-myooz]

verb (used with object), be·mused, be·mus·ing.

– to bewilder or confuse (someone).
Origin:
1695–1705; be- + muse

Related forms
be·muse·ment, noun

Can be confused: amuse, bemuse (see synonym study at amuse).

Example:

We are bemused and crazed creatures, strangers to our true selves, to one another, and to the spiritual and material world—mad, even, from an ideal standpoint we can glimpse but not adopt.

– R.D. Laing

Today’s aphorism

Walk amongst the natives by day, but in your heart be Superman.

– Gene Simmons

On this day

25 August 325 – conclusion of the First Council of Nicea, a cabal of 1800 bishops convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I (Constantine the Great) to gain consensus within the church for various doctrinal issues, such as the divinity of Christ, the Holy Trinity and the date for Easter which were articulated in the ‘Creed of Nicea’. The Council was officially opened on 20 May 325.

25 August 1227 – death of Genghis Khan, founder and emperor of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest, contiguous empire in history. At its peak, it covered stretched from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan, and included Southeast Asia, the Indian sub-continent, the Iranian Plateau and the Middle East. It covered 24 million km2 (16% of the Earth’s total land area) and had a population of over 100 million.

25 August 1330 – Antipope Nicolaas V overthrows himself by presenting a confession of sins to Pope John XXII, who absolved him. Nicolaas V had previously been excommunicated by Pope John XXII. After his absolution, Nicolaas V was held in ‘honourable imprisonment’ in the papal palace at Avignon until his death in 1333.

25 August 1949 – birth of Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz) in Haifa, Israel. American rock guitarist and song-writer. Co-founder of Kiss.

25 August 1991 – founding of computer operating system, Linux, by Linus Torvalds.

25 August 2012 – death of Neil Armstrong. First man to walk on the moon. Born 5 August 1930.