7 May 2014

riposte

[ri-pohst]

noun

1. a quick, sharp return in speech or action; counterstroke: a brilliant riposte to an insult.
2. Fencing. a quick thrust given after parrying a lunge.

verb (used without object), ri·post·ed, ri·post·ing.
3. to make a riposte.
4. to reply or retaliate.

Also, ri·post.

Origin:
1700–10; < French, variant of risposte prompt answer < Italian risposta, noun use of feminine past participle of rispondere to answer < Vulgar Latin *respondere for Latin respondēre; see respond

Anagram

pie rots
stop ire
so tripe
sir poet

Today’s aphorism

The press is our chief ideological weapon.

– Nikita Khrushchev

On this day

7 May 351 – Jews in Palestine revolt against the rule of Constantius Gallus, Caesar of the East and brother-in-law of Emperor Constantius II, after he arrived in Antioch to take up his post.

7 May 1429 – Joan of Arc leads the victorious final charge in the Siege of Orleans, marking a turning point in the One Hundred Years war.

7 May 1718 – the city of New Orleans is founded on the banks of the Mississippi River in the American state of Louisiana, by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.

7 May 1919 – birthday of Eva Perón, first lady of Argentina and second wife of Argentine President, Juan Perón. Her life was immortalised in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Evita, which included the hit song, ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’.

7 May 1952 – the concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is published by Geoffrey W.A. Drummer.