6 February 2013

apotheosis

[uh-poth-ee-oh-sis, ap-uh-thee-uh-sis]

noun
plural a·poth·e·o·ses [uh-poth-ee-oh-seez, ap-uh-thee-uh-seez]

1. the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god.
2. the ideal example; epitome; quintessence: This poem is the apotheosis of lyric expression.

Origin:
1570–80; < Late Latin < Greek. See apo-, theo-, -osis

Example sentence:

Gary Ablett, a.k.a. God, achieved apotheosis during his legendary AFL career with the Geelong Cats.

Today’s aphorism

‘It’s not: I jumped in, and it was cold. No. It was cold, and I jumped in. Always arrange a sentence so you appear to be fearless, when in fact you are far less than fearless — you are clueless’.

– Jarod Kintz

On this day

6 February 1938 – ‘Black Sunday’, when freak waves strike Bondi Beach, Australia, dragging swimmers hundreds of metres out to sea. Five people drowned and 250 needed rescuing.

6 February 1952 – King George VI dies, resulting in new sovereign being Queen Elizabeth II.

6 February 1971 – Alan Shephard becomes the first man to hit golf balls on the moon. He smuggled the club and balls on board lunar spacecraft, Apollo 14, by hiding them inside his suit.