19 June 2018

navvy

[nav-ee]

noun, plural navvies. British Informal.

1. an unskilled manual laborer.

Origin of navvy

1825-1835 First recorded in 1825-35; short for navigator

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for navvy

Historical Examples

A duke may become a navvy for a joke, but a clerk cannot become a navvy for a joke.
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens
G. K. Chesterton

And I was a navvy before the war, and joined up for a change.
Pushed and the Return Push
George Herbert Fosdike Nichols, (AKA Quex)

They came from the navvy shelter, and Tom could hear plainly every word.
Chatterbox, 1905.

Today’s quote

Eloquence is a painting of the thoughts.

– Blaise Pascall

On this day

19 June 1623 – birth of Blaise Pascal, controversial French mathematician, physicist, inventor and writer. Formulated ‘Pascal’s Triangle’, a tabular presentation for binomial coefficients, challenged Aristotle’s followers who claimed that ‘nature abhors a vacuum’. The computer programming language, ‘Pascal’, is named in his honour. Died 19 August 1662.

19 June 1945 – birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese politician, activist and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient.

19 June 1978 – The original Grumpy Cat, Garfield, first appears in newspaper comic strips in the USA.

18 June 2018

harry

[har-ee]

verb (used with object), harried, harrying.

1. to harass, annoy, or prove a nuisance to by or as if by repeated attacks; worry:
He was harried by constant doubts.
2. to ravage, as in war; devastate:
The troops harried the countryside.
verb (used without object), harried, harrying.
3. to make harassing incursions.

Origin of harry

Middle English, Old English
900 before 900; Middle English herien, Old English her(g)ian (derivative of here army); cognate with German verheeren, Old Norse herja to harry, lay waste

Related forms Expand

unharried, adjective

Synonyms

1. molest, plague, trouble. 2. plunder, strip, rob, pillage.

Today’s quote

I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird.

– Paul McCartney

On this day

18 June 1942 – birth of Paul McCartney, member of The Beatles and his writing partnership with John Lennon made them one of the world’s most successful song-writing duos. After the break-up of the Beatles, McCartney went on to have a successful solo career. He was knighted in 1997.

16 June 2018

fetor

or foe·tor

[fee-ter]

noun

a strong, offensive smell; stench.

Origin of fetor

1475–1500; < Latin, equivalent to fēt- (stem of fētēre to stink) + -or -or1; replacing earlier fetour < Middle French < Latin fētōr-, stem of fētor

Dictionary.com

Historical Examples

The fetor of the skin, so characteristic of the negro, is not found in the Bushman.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4
Various

Fetor of the breath, the perspiration and the skin are likewise noticeable.
Gilbertus Anglicus
Henry Ebenezer Handerson

Do they, as many saints have done, smell the fetor of sin, the foul reek of evil in the souls that pass by them?
The Cathedral
Joris-Karl Huysmans

Fetor exhaled from its gaping jaws, smoke from its nostrils; its eyes were flame.
The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky

When fetor exists, as during the detachment of patches of exudation, antiseptic and detergent sprays may be employed.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II
Various

Today’s quote

I love not man the less, but Nature more

– Lord Byron

On this day

16 June – International Day of the African Child, which remembers those who participated in the Soweto protests in 1976, as well as raises awareness of the need for improved education provided to African children.

16 June 1816 – Lord Byron reads his poem Fantasmagoriana to his four house guests, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire Clermont and John Polidori, challenging them to write a ghost story. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Polidori wrote the short story, The Vampyre, which in turn influenced numerous vampire stories, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Byron himself went on to write the poem, Darkness.

16 June 1951 – birth of Roberto Duran, Panamanian boxer nicknamed ‘Manos de Piedra’ (Hands of Stone). He held world titles at four different levels; lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight. He was the second boxer to fight over five decades. He retired from professional boxing in 2002 at the age of 50. He is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time.

16 June 1961 – Soviet ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev defects to the West. Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev allegedly issued an order for Nureyev to be killed, which did not eventuate.

16 June 1967 – The Monterey Pop Festival is held over three days at Monterey, California. Over 200,000 people attended to experience performers such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, The Byrds, The Animals and The Grateful Dead.

16 June 1976 – Soweto Uprising in South Africa, when up to 20,000 students marched in a non-violent protest against poor quality education and demanding to be taught in their own language after Afrikaans was introduced as the medium of instruction. The protest turned violent when police opened fire on the crowd, killing 23 people. Violence continued for two weeks, with 176 people being killed. The day is now a public holiday in South Africa and commemorated as Youth Day. Internationally it is recognised as Day of the African Child.

15 June 2018

execrate

[ek-si-kreyt]

verb (used with object), ex·e·crat·ed, ex·e·crat·ing.

to detest utterly; abhor; abominate.
to curse; imprecate evil upon; damn; denounce:

He execrated all who opposed him.

verb (used without object), ex·e·crat·ed, ex·e·crat·ing.

to utter curses.

Origin of execrate

1555–65; < Latin ex(s)ecrātus (past participle of ex(s)ecrārī to curse), equivalent to ex- ex-1 + secr- (combining form of sacrāre to consecrate; see sacrament) + -ātus -ate1

Related forms

ex·e·cra·tor, noun
un·ex·e·crat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for execrate

Historical Examples

We but smile at the one, we would learn to execrate the other.
Leading Articles on Various Subjects
Hugh Miller

I execrate the enslavement of the mind of our young children by the ecclesiastics.
The Necessity of Atheism
Dr. D.M. Brooks

And yet, have I a right to execrate the thrall of the beaker?
Cleopatra, Complete
Georg Ebers

You are not the only one who will execrate the destiny that brought us here.
Arachne, Complete
Georg Ebers

He longed to execrate aloud, to bring his fist down on something violently.
Dubliners
James Joyce

To howls of execration from the world’s media, his insistence has torpedoed efforts to update the treaty.
Donald Trump was right. The rest of the G7 were wrong
George Monbiot
13 June 2018, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/13/trump-nafta-g7-sunset-clause-trade-agreement

Today’s quote

Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself, in all cases, as the ages and generations which preceded it. The vanity and presumption of governing beyond the grave is the most ridiculous and insolent of all tyrannies.

– Thomas Paine

On this day

15 June 1215 – King John of England seals the Magna Carta (Latin for ‘Great Charter’) which established the ‘rule of law’ that was to become fundamental to the modern legal system. It ensured that no man, no monarch, was above the law. Monarchs could no longer arbitrarily deal with or dispossess their subjects. It didn’t mean equality or liberty for all, however, as it applied only to ‘all the free men’, and not all men were free in 13th century England.

15 June 1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity by launching a kite during a storm. The kite was tied to a key and a Leyden Jar, which was used to store electrical charge. The negative ions in the thunder storm charged the kite, flowing down the wet silk string and into the jar. Franklin was holding the silk at the time and was unaffected, however when he moved his hand near the key he received an electric shock, proving that lightning was static electricity. (Traditional date, the exact date is unknown).

15 June 1920 – a 5000-strong mob in Minnesota lynches three African-American who were convicted of the rape of a 17 year old white woman.

15 June 1946 – birth of Noddy Holder, British musician and singer. Holder was the lead singer with 1970’s glam rock band, Slade, which was famous for songs such as ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’, ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’, ‘Gudbuy T’ Jane’, and ‘Skweeze Me Pleeze Me’. Their second studio album, ‘Slayed’, spent 34 weeks at Number 1 in the UK. Slade had 17 consecutive Top 20 hits, six of which reached number one. In 2000 Holder was awarded an MBE for his services to spelling.

13 June 2018

shivaree or charivari

[shiv-uh-ree]

noun

1. a mock serenade with kettles, pans, horns, and other noisemakers given for a newly married couple; charivari.
2. Informal. an elaborate, noisy celebration.
verb (used with object), shivareed, shivareeing.
3. to serenade with a shivaree.

Origin of shivaree

French

1835-1845, Americanism; alteration of Mississippi Valley French, French charivari charivari

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for shivaree

Historical Examples

Scales had fixed up for a crowd of hoodlums to shivaree them as they went.
Yellowstone Nights
Herbert Quick

I came to tell you that there’s a scheme to raise—to ‘ shivaree ‘ you two, tonight.
Lonesome Land
B. M. Bower

It isn’t so long, though, since you were just as determined to stay and have the shivaree, you remember.
Lonesome Land
B. M. Bower

Today’s quote

Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing.

– William Butler Yeats

On this day

13 June 1381 – The Peasants Revolt (a brief rebellion against poll tax), led by Wat Tyler, culminates in the burning down of the Savoy Palace in London.

13 June 1525 – Martin Luther, a German monk and Catholic priest, marries a nun, Katharina von Bora, which violated the rule of celibacy decreed by the Roman Catholic church for priests and nuns. The couple went on to have six children together.

13 June 1865 – birth of William Butler Yeats (W.B. Yeats), Irish poet, Nobel Prize laureate. One of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century. He served as an Irish senator for two terms. He led the Irish Literary Revival. In 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for ‘inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation‘. Died 28 January 1939.

13 June 1927 – birth of Slim Dusty AO, MBE, Australian country music singer, song-writer and producer. He was born as David Gordon Kirkpatrick and adopted the name of Slim Dusty at 11 years of age. He released his first record when he was 18. In 1957, he released ‘The Pub With No Beer‘, which became the biggest selling Australian song to that time, and the first Australian single to go gold. He won 36 Golden Guitar Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. In 2000, he recorded his 100th album, ‘Looking Forward, Looking Back‘. He is the only artist in the world to have recorded 100 albums with the same record label (EMI). Died 19 September 2003.

13 June 1944 – Germany launches 10 of its new rockets, known as the V1 (also called a doodlebug or buzz bomb). The V1s were pilot-less, pulse-jet-propelled rockets with a one ton payload with a 500km range. The Germans rained V1s over London. The V1 was an early version of the Cruise Missile.

12 June 2018

venerer

[ven-er-er]

noun, Archaic.

1. a huntsman.

Origin of venerer

1835-1845 First recorded in 1835-45; vener(y)2+ -er1

Dictionary.com

Today’s quote

The ultimate aim of the ego is not to see something, but to be something.

– Muhammad Iqbal

On this day

12 June – Russia Day, held every year in Russia since 1992 to celebrate the establishment of the Russian Federation, when the First Congress of the People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on 12 June 1990.

12 June 1929 – birth of Anne Frank, author of the ‘Diary of Anne Frank’. On her 13th birthday (1942) she was given a diary which she kept while the family was in hiding from the German Army. The family hid for two years in a secret annex behind her father’s office. In 1944, the family was discovered and sent to concentration camps. She died on 12 March 1945 in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The diary was published in 1947.

12 June 1967 – the US Supreme Court declares that inter-racial marriages are Constitutional and cannot be banned by the states.

12 June 1991 – Boris Yeltsin becomes Russia’s first democratically elected President following the end of the Soviet Union.

9 June 2018

Baktun

noun

A baktun (properly b’ak’tun /ˈbɑːkˌtuːn/; Mayan pronunciation: [ɓakʼ ˈtun]) is 20 katun cycles (see below) of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar. It contains 144,000 days, equal to 394.26 tropical years. The Classic period of Maya civilization occurred during the 8th and 9th baktuns of the current calendrical cycle.

Katun:

A k’atun (Mayan pronunciation: [kʼaˈtun]) is a unit of time in the Maya calendar equal to 20 tuns or 7,200 days, equivalent to 19.713 tropical years. It is the 2nd digit on the normal Maya long count date. For example, in the Maya Long Count date 12.19.13.15.12 (December 5, 2006), the number 19 is the k’atun. The end of the k’atun was marked by numerous ceremonies and at Tikal the construction of large twin pyramid complexes to host them. The k’atun was also used to reckon the age of rulers. Those who lived to see four (or five) k’atuns would take the title 4-(or 5-)k’atun lord. In the Postclassic period when the full Long Count gave way to the Short Count, the Maya continued to keep a reckoning of k’atuns, differentiating them by the Calendar Round date on which they began. Each k’atun had its own set of prophecies and associations.

wikipedia.org

Anagram

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Today’s quote

Roots are not in landscape or a country, or a people, they are inside you.

– Isabel Allende

On this day

9 June 1870 – death of Charles Dickens, English writer and social critic. Author of numerous works, including The Pickwick Papers, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist. Born 7 February 1812.

9 June 1915 – birthday of Les Paul, (born Lester William Polsfuss) American musician and inventor of the solid body electric guitar. The popular Gibson Les Paul was designed in collaboration with him. Died 12 August 2009.

9 June 1934 – Donald Duck makes his film debut in the Disney short film, the Wise Little Hen.

9 June 1961 – birth of Michael J. Fox, Canadian-American actor, producer and author.

9 June 1963 – birth of Johnny Depp, American actor, singer, producer and director.

9 June 1967 – During the Six Day War, Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria.

9 Jun 1979 – The ‘Ghost Train Fire’ at Luna Park, Sydney (Australia) kills seven.

9 June 2014 – death of Rik Mayall, British comedian and actor. Starred in The Young Ones, Bottom, Black Adder and Drop Dead Fred. Born 7 March 1958.