5 October 2013

irascible

[ih-ras-uh-buhl]

adjective

1. easily provoked to anger; very irritable: an irascible old man.
2. characterised or produced by anger: an irascible response.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English irascibel < Late Latin īrāscibilis, equivalent to Latin īrāsc- (stem of īrāscī to grow angry; equivalent to īr ( a ) ire + -ā- theme vowel + -sc- inchoative suffix + -ī infinitive ending; see -esce) + -ibilis -ible

Related forms
i·ras·ci·bil·i·ty, i·ras·ci·ble·ness, noun
i·ras·ci·bly, adverb
un·i·ras·ci·bil·i·ty, noun
un·i·ras·ci·ble, adjective

Can be confused: erasable, irascible.

Synonyms
1, 2. testy, touchy, peppery, choleric, short-tempered. See irritable.

Antonyms
1, 2. calm, even-tempered.

Today’s aphorism

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.

– Paul McCartney

On this day

5 October 1902 – birth of Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds … and the Big Mac … Died 14 January 1984.

5 October 1945 – Hollywood Black Friday – following a 6 month strike by set decorators, a violent riot breaks out at the gates of Warner Brothers studio. 300 police are called and 40 people are injured.

5 October 1945 – birth of Brian Connolly, Scottish rocker, lead singer of Sweet (Fox on the Run, Ballroom Blitz, Teenage Rampage, Action). Died 9 February 1997.

5 October 1947 – birth of Brian Johnson, English rocker, lead singer of AC/DC, replacing Bon Scott.

5 October 1951 – birth of Bob Geldoff, Irish singer for the Boomtown Rats.

5 October 1962 – the Beatle’s first single is released, ‘Love Me Do’. While a Lennon-McCartney composition, it was primarily written by Paul in 1958-9 while he was wagging school. The song reached # 17 in the UK and was the # 1 hit in the U.S.A. in 1964.

5 October 1969 – Monty Python’s Flying Circus first broadcast on BBC-TV.

5 October 2011 – death of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. Born 24 February 1955.