27 October 2017
riff(1)
[rif] Jazz.
noun
1. a melodic phrase, often constantly repeated, forming an accompaniment or part of an accompaniment for a soloist.
verb (used without object)
2. to perform riffs.
Origin of riff(1)
1930-1935 First recorded in 1930-35; perhaps alteration and shortening of refrain2
Can be confused
riff, rift.
rif or riff(2)
[rif]
verb (used with object), riffed, riffing. Informal.
1. to discharge (a person) from military or civil service, especially as part of an economy program.
Origin
First recorded in 1945-50; special use of RIF
Examples from the Web for riff
Contemporary Examples
Not that the Shakespearean riff on/rip off is limited to novels.
Book Bag: 5 Novels Shakespeare Sort of Wrote
Lois Leveen
October 10, 2014
The crowd was there to listen to Chappelle riff on everything from the Wu-Tang Clan to Barack Obama to gay rights.
Dave Chappelle’s Triumphant Return to New York City
Alex Suskind
June 19, 2014
Remember the Woody Allen riff about “what terrible food, and such small portions” at a Catskill Resort?
Comedy Is His Calling: The Brilliance of Billy Crystal
Tom Shales
April 18, 2014
He repeated the same trick later on in his speech, starting a riff with “Take Obamacare—not literally, but figuratively.”
Paul Ryan: Democrats Offer Americans a ‘Full Stomach and an Empty Soul’
Olivia Nuzzi
March 6, 2014
Then Harrison keeps the riff going while Lennon plays the solo, one of only a handful he played as a Beatle.
Was The Beatles’ Music Really That Unique? Yeah, It Totally Was.
Michael Tomasky
February 2, 2014
Historical Examples
In the riff he might be potted at, he might not: he would risk that.
In the Tail of the Peacock
Isabel Savory
Today’s quote
Indecision and reveries are the anesthetics of constructive action.
– Sylvia Plath
On this day
27 October 1728 – birth of Captain James Cook, British explorer. Made three major voyages in which he discovered many of the islands of the south pacific, including the east coast of Australia. Cooktown, Queensland, is named after him. The house he grew up in was relocated from Yorkshire, England, to Melbourne, Australia and is open to visits (now known as Captain Cook’s Cottage and is situated in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne). Died 14 February 1779 after being stabbed by Hawaiians who credited their Chief Kalanimanokahoowaha (Kanaina) with the kill. Captain Cook’s body was then subjected to a funeral ritual that was normally reserved for a Chief.
27 October 1923 – birth of Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist. Died 29 September 1997.
27 October 1927 – death of Joseph Theodore Leslie (Squizzy) Taylor, Australian gangster, earned money from sly-grog, two-up, illegal bookmaking, extortion, prostitution, cocaine dealing. Died from a gunshot wound inflicted by ‘Snowy’ Cutmore. Born 29 June 1888.
27 October 1932 – birth of Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Boston, she travelled to the UK and studied at Cambridge University. It was here that she met British poet, Ted Hughes. In 1957 they married. For a while they lived in Boston, before returning to England and living in London and later Devon. Plath often wrote about her experiences, particularly with depression. She advanced the genre of ‘confessional poetry’. Plath struggled with the loneliness of Devon and returned to London, renting a unit in house in which the poet, William Butler Yeats once lived. The unit was owned by Assia and David Wevill. Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes, was captivated by Assia’s beauty. In September 1962, Plath left Hughes after discovering he’d been having an affair with Assia. Plath suffered bipolar disorder and had made numerous suicide attempts throughout her life. In February 1963, she suicided by turning the gas on in her oven and placing her head in it. She had sealed her children’s rooms with wet towels to avoid poisoning them. Plath had published a number of poetry collections and some were published post-humously. In 1982, she was awarded a post-humous Pulitzer Prize for her poetry. She is considered one of the great poets of the 20th century. Died 11 February 1963.
27 October 2013 – death of Lou Reed (Lewis Allan Reed), American glam rock musician, singer and song-writer. Was lead singer of 60s alternative band, Velvet Underground, before going solo and having hits such as ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, ‘Vicious’, ‘Satellite of Love’ and ‘Perfect Day’. His albums Transformer and Berlin are considered among the most influential albums of the 20th century. Reed coined the term ‘Ostrich tuning’ in relation to a type of trivial tuning of strings. The six strings of a guitar are normally tuned to EADGbe. However in his 1964 song, The Ostrich (performed by the Primitives, which later became Velvet Underground) Reed tuned all six strings of his guitar to a single D note: DDDDdd. Born 2 March 1942.