26 January 2013

recalcitrant

[ri-kal-si-truh nt]

adjective

1. resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.
2. hard to deal with, manage, or operate.
noun
3. a recalcitrant person.

Origin:

1835–45; < Latin recalcitrant- (stem of recalcitrāns, present participle of recalcitrāre to kick back), equivalent to re- re- + calcitr ( āre ) to strike with the heels, kick (derivative of calx heel) + -ant- -ant

Example sentences

‘A solution to the recalcitrant problem was addressed in her thesis’.

‘The recalcitrant soldier was charged with insubordination’.

Today’s aphorism

‘Compassion is not just feeling with someone, but seeking to change the situation. Frequently people think compassion and love are merely sentimental. No! They are very demanding. If you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action’.

– Desmond Tutu

On this day

26 January 1788 – Australia Day – the day that Captain Arthur Phillip landed at Botany Bay and took possession of Australia in the name of King George III.

26 January 1939 – During the Spanish Civil War, Nationalist forces loyal to General Francisco Franco enter Barcelona, overthrowing the Republican forces headquartered there.

26 January 1945 – Soviet troops liberate 7,000 survivors of the Auschwitz network of concentration camps in Poland.

26 January 1950 – India becomes a republic, freed from British rule. The new President, Dr Rajenda Prasad had campaigned with Mahatma Gandhi for Indian self-rule. Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the country’s first Prime Minister on 10 February 1952.

26 January 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India.

26 January 1988 – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’ opens on Broadway for its first performance. The musical becomes a world-wide smash and is the longest running show on Broadway.