22 April 2018

spondulicks or spondulix

[spon-doo-liks]

noun, Older Slang.

1. money; cash.

Origin of spondulicks

1855-1860 An Americanism dating back to 1855-60; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for spondulicks

Historical Examples

Suppose I can’t raise the spondulicks in time for the ten train!
Molly Brown’s Orchard Home
Nell Speed

” spondulicks,” said Dicky with a laugh, as the other hesitated for a word.
Blindfolded
Earle Ashley Walcott

“I wonder where he got the spondulicks,” broke in her son Richard.
The Fourth Watch
H. A. Cody

Also it was convincingly true that the ingoing party—its way now made a pacific one—would need the ” spondulicks.”
Cabbages and Kings
O. Henry

Word Origin and History for spondulicks

n.

1856, American English slang, “money, cash,” of unknown origin, said to be from Greek spondylikos, from spondylos, a seashell used as currency (the Greek word means literally “vertebra”). Used by Mark Twain and O. Henry and adopted into British English, where it survives despite having faded in American English.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Anagram

disco plunks
clouds pinks
unsold picks

Today’s quote

Capitalists are no more capable of self-sacrifice than a man is capable of lifting himself up by his own bootstraps.

– Vladimir Lenin

On this day

22 April – Earth Day. The United Nations created International Mother Earth Day by resolution A/RES/63/278 to be celebrated on 22 April each year. It recognises that ‘the Earth and its ecosystems are our home‘ and that ‘it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and Earth‘.

22 April 1616 – death of Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, authored Don Quixote, a classic of Western literature and which is considered to be the first modern European novel. Cervantes is considered to be the greatest writer in the Spanish language and the world’s pre-eminent novelist. Born 29 September 1547.

22 April 1870 – birth of Vladimir Lenin. Russian communist revolutionary and political leader. He served as Russian leader from 1917 to 1924 and concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Died 21 January 1924.

22 April 1889 – at high noon, thousands rush to claim land in the ‘Land Run of 1889’ resulting in the creation of Oklahoma City and Guthrie with populations greater than 10,000 within a few hours.

22 April 1917 – birth of Sidney Nolan, one of Australia’s leading artists, best known for his series of Ned Kelly paintings. During the 2000 Olympics, performers wore costumes based on Nolan’s depiction of Ned Kelly. Nolan painted a number of Australian legends and historical events, including the Eureka Stockade, and explorers Burke and Wills. Nolan was influenced by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Died 28 November 1992.

22 April 1979 – birth of Daniel Johns, Australian musician, singer-songwriter. Played in Silverchair and The Dissociatives.

22 April 1995 – death of Maggie Kuhn, activist and founder of the Gray Panthers, who campaigned for nursing home reform and opposed ageism. She also fought for human rights, social and economic justice, global peace, integration, and mental health issues.

21 April 2018

acer

/ˈeɪsə/

noun

1. any tree or shrub of the genus Acer, often cultivated for their brightly coloured foliage See also maple

Examples from the Web for acer

Historical Examples

Growing on the outer surface of the bark of acer, Fagus, etc.
The Myxomycetes of the Miami Valley, Ohio
A. P. Morgan

Growing out of fissures of the bark and wood of Hickory, acer, etc.
The Myxomycetes of the Miami Valley, Ohio
A. P. Morgan

The occasional forms in ‘er’ and ‘il’ will have similar power ( acer, basil).
Proserpina, Volume 1
John Ruskin

Anagram

race

Today’s quote

I find it hard to focus looking forward. So I look backward.

– Iggy Pop

On this day

21 April 753BC – Romulus founds Rome.

21 April 1782 – the city of Rattanaskosin is founded by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke. The city is now known as Bangkok.

21 April 1910 – death of Mark Twain, U.S. novellist, author of ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’. Born 30 November 1835.

21 April 1947 – birth of Iggy Pop, punk, garage & glam rocker, actor.

21 April 1970 – Prince Leonard (born Leonard Casley), self-appointed sovereign secedes the Hutt River Province from Australia. Now known as the Principality of Hutt River, it is located 517km north of Perth, Western Australia and is the oldest micronation in Australia. Its sovereignty is not recognised by Australia or other nations. On 2 December 1977, Prince Leonard declared war on Australia after the Australian Tax Office pursued him for non-payment of taxes. Hostilities were ceased a few days later and Prince Leonard wrote to the Governor-General declaring his sovereignty based on the Province being undefeated in war. In 2012, the ATO again unsuccessfully attempted to recover claimed taxes. Hutt River has its own stamps and currency.

21 April 1972 – The Province of Hutt River attains legal status when Australia fails to challenge its sovereignty within two years of its formation, as required by Australian law.

17 April 2018

abed

[uh-bed]

adverb

1. in bed :
to stay abed late on Sundays.
2. confined to bed.

Origin of abed

Middle English

1200-1300 Middle English word dating back to 1200-1300; See origin at a-1, bed

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for abed

Contemporary Examples

From behind the steering wheel, abed introduced me as a journalist.
The Fourth War: My Lunch with a Jihadi
Elliot Ackerman
January 21, 2014

Abu Hassar began to slowly nod and his gaze moved from abed to me.
The Fourth War: My Lunch with a Jihadi
Elliot Ackerman
January 21, 2014

abed filled his mouth with a piece of the baklava, I needed to get our conversation going.
The Fourth War: My Lunch with a Jihadi
Elliot Ackerman
January 21, 2014

Anagram

bade
bead

Today’s quote

If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books.

– Roald Dahl

On this day

17 April 1521 – Martin Luther appears before the Diet of Worms to be questioned by representatives of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, over the alleged possession of heretical books. (Worms is a town in Germany and Diet is a formal assembly).

17 April 1961 – the U.S. government sponsor 1,500 Cuban exiles to invade the Bay of Pigs, Cuba in an effort to overthrow the socialist government of Fidel Castro. The attacks fails, resulting in the deaths or capture of all of the exiles.

17 April 1967 – the final episode of the sit-com, Gilligan’s Island, airs in the United States. The first episode aired on 26 September 1964. It told the story of four men and three women on board the S.S. Minnow are ship-wrecked on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean following a storm. Stranded are the ship’s mate, Gilligan and the ship’s skipper, a millionaire and his wife (the Howells), a sultry movie star (Ginger Grant), a professor and farm girl (Mary-Anne Summers).

17 April 1969 – Sirhan Sirhan convicted of 1968 assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He was originally given a death sentence, which was later commuted to life imprisonment. Robert Kennedy was the brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

17 April 2010 – A Manhattan library reveals that first President George Washington failed to return two library books, accruing overdue fees of $300,000. The library said they weren’t pursuing payment of the fees.

16 April 2018

oppugnant

[uh-puhg-nuh nt]

adjective

1. opposing; antagonistic; contrary.

Origin of oppugnant

Latin

1505-1515; < Latin oppugnant- (stem of oppugnāns), present participle of oppugnāre to oppose. See oppugn, -ant

Related forms

oppugnancy, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for oppugnant

Historical Examples

He could have taken another, an oppugnant stand, as many a familiar confederate did.
Abraham Lincoln’s Cardinal Traits;
Clark S. Beardslee

Ant pop gun
to pun pang

Today’s quote

Heroes are not known by the loftiness of their carriage; the greatest braggarts are generally the merest cowards.

– Jean-Jacques Rousseau

On this day

16 April – Panda Appreciation Day. It was on this day in 1972, that the People’s Republic of China presented US President Richard Nixon with two pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing.

16 April 73AD – The Great Jewish Revolt ends when the fortress Masada falls to the Romans.

16 April 1850 – death of Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founder of Madam Tussaud’s wax museum. Born 1 December 1761.

16 April 1917 – Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia following exile in Switzerland.

16 April 1947 – Bernard Baruch coins the term ‘Cold War’ to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.

16 April 1990 – Dr Jack Kevorkian, (euthanasia activist, otherwise known as the Doctor of Death) participates in his first assisted suicide.

15 April 2018

appurtenant

[uh-pur-tn-uh nt]

adjective

1. appertaining or belonging; pertaining.
noun
2. an appurtenance.

Origin of appurtenant

Middle English, Late Latin

1350-1400; Middle English (see appurtenance, -ant ); replacing Middle English apertinent < Late Latin appertinent- (stem of appertinēns, present participle of appertinēre). See ap-1, pertinent

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for appurtenant

Historical Examples

It is my duty to warn you that the property does not produce much revenue; the appurtenant estates are not well kept up.
The White House (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume XII)
Charles Paul de Kock

And its appurtenant projectiles belong to the same branch as in the preceding case.
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson

Only pieces of land together with the appurtenant territorial waters are alienable parts of territory.
International Law. A Treatise. Volume I (of 2)
Lassa Francis Oppenheim

Waste land (it may be) is given in large quantities, but merely as appurtenant to the profitable core of the gift.
Domesday Book and Beyond
Frederic William Maitland

Has any of your readers met with, or heard of the second short line, appendant and appurtenant to the first?
Notes & Queries, No. 39. Saturday, July 27, 1850
Various

Have the Dalbergs no ghost such as is appurtenant to all well-regulated royal families?
The Colonel of the Red Huzzars
John Reed Scott

A right of pasture attached to land in the way we have described is said to be appendant or appurtenant to such land.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7
Various

appurtenant to the towns of Karanglan and Pantabangan are a few minor communities, among them Patakgao.
The Negrito and Allied Types in the Philippines and The Ilongot or Ibilao of Luzon
David P. Barrows

Anagram

Apparent nut
pupa entrant
tartan pen up
papa turn net

Today’s quote

To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend.

– Jacques Derrida

On this day

15 April 1452 – birth of Leonardo Da Vinci, Italian renaissance inventor, painter, sculptor, mathematician, writer. Died 2 May 1519.

15 April 1865 – Death of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln after being shot the day before. Born 12 February 1809.

15 April 1912 – RMS Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton UK to New York City, USA, costing the lives of 1,502 people out of the 2,224 crew and passengers who were on board. The White Star Line, who owned the Titanic, had declared her unsinkable.

14 April 2018

antecedent

[an-tuh-seed-nt]

adjective

1. preceding; prior:
an antecedent event.
noun
2. a preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.
3. antecedents.
ancestors.
the history, events, characteristics, etc., of one’s earlier life:
Little is known about his birth and antecedents.
4. Grammar. a word, phrase, or clause, usually a substantive, that is replaced by a pronoun or other substitute later, or occasionally earlier, in the same or in another, usually subsequent, sentence. In Jane lost a glove and she can’t find it, Jane is the antecedent of she and glove is the antecedent of it.
5. Mathematics.
the first term of a ratio; the first or third term of a proportion.
the first of two vectors in a dyad.
6. Logic. the conditional element in a proposition, as “Caesar conquered Gaul,” in “If Caesar conquered Gaul, he was a great general.”.

Origin of antecedent

Middle English, Middle French, Latin
1350-1400; Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin antecēdent- (stem of antecēdēns) going before, present participle of antecēdere to antecede; see -ent

Related forms

antecedental [an-tuh-see-den-tl] (Show IPA), adjective
antecedently, adverb

Can be confused

antecedence, antecedents.

Synonyms

1. precursory, preexistent. 2. precursor, forerunner, ancestor.

Antonyms

1. subsequent. 2. successor.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for antecedent

Contemporary Examples

Even online chat rooms have an antecedent in the exchanges of nineteenth-century American telegraph operators.
Social Media is So Old Even the Romans Had It
Nick Romeo
October 25, 2013

Historical Examples

The antecedent of this pronoun had been mentioned for the last time at eight o’clock.
Barnaby Rudge
Charles Dickens

If magnetism be an antecedent factor, magnetism may be its product.
The Machinery of the Universe
Amos Emerson Dolbear

Anagram

net enacted
a decent ten

Today’s quote

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.

– Abraham Lincoln

On this day

14 April 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater, Washington DC. Lincoln died the following day.

14 April 1912 – the RMS Titanic strikes an ice-berg just before midnight in the north Atlantic ocean as it sailed on its maiden voyage from Southampton UK to New York City USA , resulting in the deaths of 1,502 of the 3,372 people onboard.

14 April 1988 – Soviet Union begins withdrawing troops from Afghanistan after nine years of occupation.

13 April 2018

mimetic

[mi-met-ik, mahy-]

adjective

1. characterized by, exhibiting, or of the nature of imitation or mimicry:
mimetic gestures.
2. mimic or make-believe.

Anagram

mime tic

Today’s quote

The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.

– Baruch Spinoza

On this day

13 April 1570 – birth of Guy Fawkes, English soldier and one of the masterminds behind the failed ‘Gunpowder Plot’ to blow up English Parliament in an effort to assassinate King James 1 and VI of Scotland. Died 31 January 1606.

13 April 1923 – birth of Don Adams, American actor, most famous for his character Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) in the TV show ‘Get Smart’. Died 25 September 2005.

13 April 1947 – birth of Mike Chapman, Australian songwriter and record producer. Hailing from Nambour, Queensland, Chapman became one of the most influential record producers in Britain when he teamed with Nicky Chinn, with hits for Sweet, Smokie, Suzi Quatro, Mud, Racey and others, including Bow Wow Wow, Pat Benatar, Huey Lewis, Toni Basil. He also produced albums for the Knack and Blondie.

13 April 1975 – The 15 year long Lebanese Civil War starts when Christian Phalangists attack a bus, massacring 26 members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

12 Arpril 2018

isomorphic

[ahy-suh-mawr-fik]

adjective

1. Biology. different in ancestry, but having the same form or appearance.
2. Chemistry, Crystallography. isomorphous.
3. Mathematics. pertaining to two sets related by an isomorphism.

Origin of isomorphic

1860-1865 First recorded in 1860-65; iso- + -morphic

Related forms

unisomorphic, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for isomorphic

Historical Examples

To-day we should say that they had dealt with isomorphic groups.
The Foundations of Science: Science and Hypothesis, The Value of Science, Science and Method
Henri Poincar

A group may be represented as isomorphic with itself by transforming all its operations by any one of them.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6
Various

Anagram

I mops choir
chip is moor
I rip smooch

Today’s quote

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

– Niccolo Machiavelli

On this day

12 April 1961 – Uri Gagarin (Russian) becomes the first man in space.

12 April 1989 – death of Sugar Ray Robinson (Walker Smith Jr), American welterweight and middleweight professional boxing champion, declared to be the greatest boxer of all time. Sugar Ray stood at 5′ 11″ (1.80m). He fought 200 fights, winning 173 (108 by knock-out), lost 19, drew six, with two no contests. By 1946 Sugar Ray had won 40 fights straight, but was denied a shot at the world welterweight championship because he refused to cooperate with the mafia, which controlled much of boxing. In December 1946, he was finally allowed to contest the world championship and won. In 1947 Sugar Ray defended his welterweight title against Jimmy Doyle. In the eighth round, Doyle was knocked out and died later that night. Sugar Ray crossed weight classes and also won the world middleweight championship. In 1950, he broke the record for the shortest fight by knocking out Jose Basora 50 seconds into the first round. The record wasn’t broken for a further 38 years. in 1951, he fought Jake La Motta in what became known as the St Valentine’s Day massacre after the fight was stopped in the 13th round when La Motta was out on his feet, unable to even lift his arms throw a punch. That fight and some of the other matches with La Motta were adapted for the Martin Scorsese movie, Raging Bull. Born 3 May 1921.

11 April 2018

enfant terrible

[ahn-fahn te-ree-bluh]

noun, plural enfants terribles [ahn-fahn te-ree-bluh]. French.

1. an incorrigible child, as one whose behavior is embarrassing.
2. an outrageously outspoken or bold person who says and does indiscreet or irresponsible things.
3. a person whose work, thought, or lifestyle is so unconventional or avant-garde as to appear revolutionary or shocking.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for enfant terrible

Contemporary Examples

But what happens when the enfant terrible has enfants of her own?
Sarah Silverman on Getting Old and Having Kids
Rebecca Dana
April 19, 2010

At 39, he is no longer young enough to be an enfant terrible, but people still peg him as a kid too cool to grow up.
Spike Jonze’s Wild World
Caryn James
October 6, 2009

Historical Examples

On the literary side of things I am, I fear, a Philistine, or enfant terrible.
Rustic Sounds
Francis Darwin

She was an enfant terrible, whose friends no one knew, who passed for very wise, and whose lines of intrigue were inscrutable.
The Secret of the Night
Gaston Leroux

The argumentative child is scarcely less trying than the enfant terrible.
Collections and Recollections
George William Erskine Russell

The youth laughed, but for the sake of ‘making a trade’ set down his basket and took the ‘ enfant terrible.’
Prudy Keeping House
Sophie May

Of him and of his recruits in South Africa, Churchill spoke with the awful frankness of the enfant terrible.
Real Soldiers of Fortune
Richard Harding Davis

Wedekind, who to the mtier of the artist joins that of the enfant terrible, strains in this play every nerve to shock.
Modernities
Horace Barnett Samuel

The enfant terrible is making papa and mamma alike ridiculous by showing us mamma’s lover, who is lurking behind the screen.
John Leech, His Life and Work, Vol. II (of II)
William Powell Frith

He has always been rather an unknown quantity, and he is regarded by the powers as an enfant terrible.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 1157, March 5, 1898
Various

Anagram

infernal better
internal bereft
elf inn batterer
ten rift enabler

Today’s quote

A riot is the language of the unheard.

– Martin Luther King

On this day

11 April 1979 – Ugandan President Idi Amin (Dada) is ousted when Tanzanian rebels sieze power. Amin flees to Libya and eventually settles in Saudi Arabia. Amin had been responsible for ethnic cleansing, killing an estimated 80,000 to 300,000 people.

11 April 1981 – Riots in Brixton, South London commence following the arrest of a black man. On a day known as ‘Black Saturday’, up to 5,000 youths confront police and run riot through the streets, looting, throwing petrol bombs, burning hundreds of cars and buildings, and injuring hundreds of people. Police arrested 82 people.

7 April 2018

venial

[vee-nee-uh l, veen-yuh l]

adjective

1. able to be forgiven or pardoned; not seriously wrong, as a sin (opposed to mortal ).
2. excusable; trifling; minor:
a venial error; a venial offense.

Origin of venial

Middle English, Medieval Latin
1250-1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin veniālis, equivalent to Latin veni(a) grace, favor, indulgence (akin to venus; see venerate, Venus ) + -ālis -al1

Related forms

veniality, venialness, noun
venially, adverb
unvenial, adjective
unvenially, adverb
unvenialness, noun

Can be confused

venal, venial.

Synonyms

2. slight, pardonable, forgivable.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for venial

Contemporary Examples

The SEC charging Goldman with securities fraud is like the Vatican charging a priest with venial sin.
The Fallacy of ‘Fraud’
Alan M. Dershowitz
April 16, 2010

Historical Examples

Now that she was caught, she no longer thought of her offense as venial.
Hooking Watermelons
Edward Bellamy

Those who keep the fast “will be pardoned all their past venial sins.”
The Faith of Islam
Edward Sell

Anagram

an live

Today’s quote

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

– Oscar Wilde

On this day

7 April 1933 – beer available again in 19 U.S. states since it had been banned on 16 January 1920.

7 April 1947 – death of Henry Ford, American industrialist and car maker. Born 30 July 1863.