7 July 2016

larruping

[lar-uh-ping]

adverb, Chiefly Western U.S.

1. very; exceedingly:
That was a larruping good meal.

Origin of larruping
1900-1905, Americanism; larrup + -ing2

larrup

[lar-uh p]

Spell Syllables

verb (used with object), larruped, larruping.

1. to beat or thrash.

Origin

1815-25; perhaps < Dutch larpen to thresh with flails

Related forms

larruper, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for larruping

Historical Examples

Blame my buttons, if I don’t always hate to pronounce that larruping long name Blennerhassett!
A Dream of Empire
William Henry Venable

I gave him a glass of my choicest rum, when all he deserved was a larruping.
The Maid of Sker
Richard Doddridge Blackmore

They was a-making tracks along hereaway, sartain, sure; larruping them hosses to a keen jump, lickity-split.
The Master of Appleby
Francis Lynde

Anagram

lunar grip
rural ping

Today’s quote

No-one has the right to do wrong, not even if a wrong has been done to them.

– Victor Frankl

On this day

7 July 1941 – birth of Bill Oddie, English comedian, star of ‘The Goodies’.

7 July 1953 – After graduating from medical school in June 1953, Dr Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara sets out on a train trip from Argentina to Bolivia and the Andes. His family don’t see him for six years, when he emerged in Havana, fighting for Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution. Following the successful overthrow of the government, Che was given key government positions within the Castro regime, including as Minister of Industries to implement agrarian reform.

7 July 1985 – 17 year old Boris Becker becomes the youngest player to win Wimbledon.

7 July 2005 – Four suicide bombers detonate themselves on London’s transport system, killing 56 people and injuring 700.

7 July 2007 – The New 7 Wonders Foundation officially declares a new ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ list:

The Great Wall of China
Petra, Jordan (a city carved into rock)
Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Machu Picchu, Peru
Chichén Itzá Pyramid, Mexico
Roman Colisseum, Italy
Taj Mahal, Indian
The Original Seven Wonders of the World were:

Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Statue of Zeus, Olympia, Greece
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Hallicarnassus
Colossus of Rhodes
Lighthouse of Alexandria

6 July 2016

benighted

[bih-nahy-tid]

adjective

1. intellectually or morally ignorant; unenlightened:
benighted ages of barbarism and superstition.
2. overtaken by darkness or night.

Origin of benighted

1565-1575; benight (be- + night ) + -ed2

Related forms

benightedly, adverb
benightedness, noun

Synonyms

1. backward, primitive, crude, uncultivated.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for benighted

Contemporary Examples

Colonial rhetoric was often virtuous: colonizers would bring civilization to benighted Africans.
Why Africa’s Turning Anti-Gay
Jay Michaelson
March 30, 2014

I knew immediately where to locate my benighted family and growing restlessness.
In A Very Deep Way: Remembering Rabbi David Hartman
Bernard Avishai
February 20, 2013

In our benighted moment, that modest self-definition rose to mythic proportions.
A Man More Heroic Than Sully
Lee Siegel
March 4, 2009

Anagram

debt hinge
get behind
gent be hid

Today’s quote

The love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?

– Pablo Casals

On this day

6 July 1925 – birth of Bill Haley, who arguably had the world’s first ever rock’n’roll song, ‘Rock Around the Clock’. Died 9 February 1981.

6 July 1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the ‘Secret Annexe’ above her father’s office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

6 July 1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time. Three years later they formed the Beatles.

3 July 2016

colligate

[kol-i-geyt]

verb (used with object), colligated, colligating.

1. to bind or fasten together.
2. Logic. to link (facts) together by a general description or by a hypothesis that applies to them all.
Origin of colligate

Latin

1425-1475 for obsolete adj. sense “bound together”; 1535-45 for def 1; < Latin colligātus (past participle of colligāre), equivalent to col- col-1+ ligā- (stem of ligāre to bind) + -tus past participle ending

Related forms

colligation, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for colligate

Historical Examples

Granting the validity of the evidence, the hypothesis appears to colligate the facts.
Magic and Religion
Andrew Lang

That one cause would explain, and does colligate, all the facts.
Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1
Andrew Lang

Perhaps there is something amiss in the working of our system in relation to colligate ministries.
Congregationalism in the Court Suburb
John Stoughton

Anagram

collage it
clog a tile
logic tale

Today’s quote

How foolish is man! He ruins the present while worrying about the future, but weeps in the future by recalling the past.

– Ali Ibn Abi Talib

On this day

3 July 1883 – Birth of Franz Kafka, Austrian novelist, who wrote in German. Two of his books (‘The Trial’ and ‘The Castle’) were published posthumously against his wishes. He wrote of a dehumanised world in which he explored paranoia, isolation, fear and bewilderment, from which the term ‘Kafka-esque’ has been coined. Died 3 June 1924.

3 July 1969 – death of Brian Jones. English guitarist for the Rolling Stones. He was 27. Born 28 February 1942.

3 July 1971 – death of Jim Morrison, lead singer and song writer of the Doors. He was 27. Born 8 December 1943.

3 July 1971 – birth of Julian Assange in Townsville, Queensland, former hacker and computer programmer, publisher, journalist and activist. Co-founder of WikiLeaks, a website on which he published classified military and diplomatic documents. The USA has been investigating Assange since 2010 when he published documents leaked by Chelsea Manning. Facing extradition to Sweden in 2012 on charges of sexual assault, Assange sought and obtained asylum by Ecuador. He has been accommodated in the Ecuadorean embassy in London ever since.

3 July 1988 – An Iranian passenger plane carrying 290 civilians, including 66 children, is shot down by the United States Navy. Iran Air flight 665 was over Iranian territorial waters and had not deviated from its usual flight path. The US Navy had fired surface-to-air missiles from the USS Viciennes at the Airbus A300. The US Navy claimed they had mistaken it for an attacking F-14 Tomcat even though the plane had been issuing identification ‘squawks’s on Mode III for civilian aircraft, not on Mode II which was for military aircraft. The US government ‘expressed regret’, but did not apologise. In 1996 the US government paid the Iranian government USD $131.8 million to settle a court case brought in the International Court of Justice. There was also a payout of $61 million following a claim in the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. The crew of the Viciennes were awarded medals for their tour of duty in the Persian Gulf, including the Air Warfare Coordinator receiving the Navy Commendation Medal and the Legion of Merit.

3 July 1999 – death of Mark Sandman, US musician, singer, songwriter. Founder of the alternative rock band, Morphine, which blended heavy bass sounds with blues and jazz. Sandman was described as the most under-rated and skilled bass player of his generation. Sandman collapsed and died on stage during a Morphine concert in Latium, Italy. His death was the result of a heart attack and blamed on heavy smoking, stress and extreme heat, in which the temperature on the night was in excess of 38o Celsius. Born 24 September 1952.

2 July 2016

natant

[neyt-nt]

adjective

1. swimming; floating.
2. Botany. floating on water, as the leaf of an aquatic plant.

Origin of natant

Latin

1700-1710; < Latin natant- (stem of natāns), present participle of natāre to swim; see -ant

Related forms

natantly, adverb

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for natant

Historical Examples

She stood rigid, listening with a natant, sickening consciousness that something terrible hung at her back.
The Red Debt
Everett MacDonald

Anagram

ant tan

Today’s quote

Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure, only death can stop it.

– Ernest Hemingway

On this day

2 July 1839 – Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinqué take over the slave ship, Amistad. The 49 adults and four children had been captured in Sierra Leone and sold into slavery in Cuba. After commandeering the ship, the men demanded the ship’s navigator (Don Montez) to return them home. Montez deceived them and sailed up the USA east coast to Long Island. The USA took custody of the ship and a court-case ensued over the legal status of the slaves. In 1841, in the case of the United States v The Amistad, the US Supreme Court ruled that the slaves had been illegally transported and held as slaves. The Court ordered them to be freed. 35 of them returned to Africa in 1842.

2 July 1900 – the first Zeppelin flight takes place in Germany.

2 July 1937 – Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific while attempting an equatorial round-the-world flight.

2 July 1961 – death of Ernest Hemingway, American author. He wrote books including ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls‘ and ‘Old Man and the Sea‘. Born 21 July 1899.

2 July 1976 – The Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) falls to the Communist North Vietnam, resulting in the formation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

1 July 2016

specious

[spee-shuh s]

adjective

1. apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible:
specious arguments.
2. pleasing to the eye but deceptive.
3. Obsolete. pleasing to the eye; fair.

Origin of specious

Middle English, Latin
1350-1400; Middle English < Latin speciōsus fair, good-looking, beautiful, equivalent to speci (ēs) (see species ) + -ōsus -ous

Related forms

speciously, adverb
speciousness, noun
nonspecious, adjective
nonspeciously, adverb
nonspeciousness, noun

Can be confused

specie, species, specious.

Synonyms

1. See plausible. 2. false, misleading.

Antonyms

1, 2. genuine.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for specious

Contemporary Examples

Resist the easy comforts of complacency, the specious glitter of materialism, the narcotic paralysis of self-satisfaction.
David McCullough at Wellesley Commencement: ‘You Are Not Special’ (Video)
The Daily Beast
June 8, 2012

While the public gasped at this specious statement, the defense took over for cross examination.
Portrait of the Consummate Con Man
John Lardner
May 16, 2014

I can only conclude that this reasoning is specious at best, for none can see the future of paths we do not take.
War Is the New Peace: American Vets Reflect on Syria
John Kael Weston
September 9, 2013

Anagram

ice soups
copies us
us so epic
i scope us

Today’s quote

The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.

– George Orwell

On this day

1 July 1862 – founding of the Russian State Library in Moscow. It is the fourth largest library in the world. It has 275km of shelves, 17.5 million books, 13 million journals, 350,000 music scores and sound records, 150,000 maps.

1 July 1921 – founding of the Communist Party of China.

1 July 1943 – Tokyo City is officially dissolved following its merger with the Tokyo Prefecture. Since then no Japanese city has been named Tokyo. Modern-day Tokyo is not officially a city, instead it is a prefecture consisting of 23 wards, 26 cities, five towns and eight villages.

1 July 1961 – birth of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. Died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.

1 July 1963 – ZIP codes introduced for United States mail.

1 July 1978 – Australia’s Northern Territory is granted self-government.

1 July 2002 – establishment of the International Criminal Court to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war-crimes and the crime of aggression.

23 June 2016

empurple

\em-PUR-puhl\, verb:

1. To color or become purple or purplish.
2. To darken or redden; flush.

On one side are baby grapes whose petals yet fall; on another the clusters empurple towards full growth.
— Homer, translated by T.E. Lawrence, THE ODYSSEY

Magnificent weather, one of those sun risings that empurple landscapes, left the river all its limpid serenity.
— Alexandre Dumas, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK

‘Word has it that the Sydney Harbour Bridge will be empurpled after Queensland clinched its tenth State of Origin series win in eleven years’.

Empurple originated in the late 1580s from the Greek prefix em- meaning ‘to become’ and the color ‘purple,’ a word of Tyrian descent for the shellfish from which purple dye was made.

Anagram

Peel rump
meer pulp

Today’s quote

Taking steps is easy, standing still is hard

– Regina Spektor, ‘You’ve Got Time’, Theme song for Orange is the New Black.

On this day

23 June – International Widows’ Day – a UN ratified day to address the ‘poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows and their dependents in many countries’.

23 June 1912 – birth of Alan Turing, British mathematician and computer scientist. Turing is considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence. He invented the ‘Turing machine’ which formulated the computer algorithm. It’s the forerunner for the modern computer. During World War 2, Turing was instrumental in cracking German messages encrypted by the Enigma machine. Sadly, Turing’s achievements were overshadowed by him being charged with gross indecency after admitting to being in a homosexual relationship. On 31 March 1952, following his guilty plea, he was chemically castrated. Two years later, on 7 June 1954,Turing took his own life with cyanide. On 10 September 2009, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly apologised on behalf of the British Government for the ‘appalling way he was treated’. On 23 December 2013, Queen Elizabeth II issued a posthumous royal pardon, clearing Turing of the charge of gross indecency.

23 June 2000 – 15 backpackers perish in a fire at the Palace Backpackers Hostel, in Childers, Queensland, Australia.

23 June 2011 – death of Peter Falk, U.S. actor (Colombo) … ‘therrre ya go‘… (born 16 September 1927).

22 June 2016

spandrel or spandril

[span-druh l]

noun

1. Architecture. an area between the extradoses of two adjoining arches, or between the extrados of an arch and a perpendicular through the extrados at the springing line.
2. (in a steel-framed building) a panellike area between the head of a window on one level and the sill of a window immediately above.
3. Philately. the decoration occupying the space at the corner of a stamp between the border and an oval or circular central design.

Origin of spandrel

Anglo-French

1470-1480; earlier spaundrell, probably < Anglo-French spaundre, itself perhaps cognate with Old French espandre to expand

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for spandrel

Historical Examples

The upper one is a spandrel piece from the traceried arcading of the stalls.
Wood-Carving
George Jack

For the arches and spandrel walls the gravel was passed over a 2-in.
Concrete Construction
Halbert P. Gillette

German clocks had this device of the cherub’s head, but not in the spandrel.
Chats on Old Clocks
Arthur Hayden

Anagram

land reps
nerd alps
lend raps

Today’s quote

If there is no justice for the people, may there be no peace for the government

– Emiliano Zapata

On this day

22 June 1938 – death of C.J. Dennis, Australian poet (Songs of a Sentimental Bloke). Born 7 September 1876. Note, that C.J. Dennis foretold email by about 90 years with his reference to ‘ethergrams thro’ space’ which appears in ‘The Stoush of Day‘, in ‘The Sentimental Bloke‘.

22 June 1986 – the controversial ‘hand of God’ incident in the FIFA World Cup match between Argentina and England, when Diego Maradona scored a goal that came off his hand. The referee didn’t see the hand infringement and awarded the goal. Four minutes after the ‘hand of God’ goal, Maradona scored the ‘goal of the century’, which is claimed to be the greatest individual goal of all time, which he scored after playing the ball for 60 metres within 10 seconds, through four English defenders to slot the goal. Argentina won the match 2-1 and went on to win the World Cup.

20 June 2016

polymorphous

[pol-ee-mawr-fuh s]

adjective

1. having, assuming, or passing through many or various forms, stages, or the like.
2. polymorphic.

Origin of polymorphous

Greek

1775-1785; < Greek polýmorphos multiform. See poly-, -morphous

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for polymorphous

Historical Examples

The physical conditions under which polymorphous modifications are prepared control the form which the substance assumes.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1
Various

The nucleus is not polymorphous, and only occasionally divided.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique
John William Henry Eyre

The nucleus is not polymorphous, but usually divided into two, though it may be single.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique
John William Henry Eyre

The expression “Cells with polymorphous nuclei” would be more accurate.
Histology of the Blood
Paul Ehrlich

Anagram

holy prom opus
pool spy humor
so hourly pomp

Today’s quote

Show respect even to people who don’t deserve it; not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours.

– Dave Willis

On this day

20 June – World Refugee Day – to raise awareness of the plight of refugees across the globe. Refugee Week is held Sunday to Saturday of the week that includes 20 June.

20 June 1864 – birth of Worm Pander, sculptor. Died 6 September 1919 … … no relation to this site’s Panda Man …

20 June 1909 birth of Errol Flynn, Australian-born American actor. Died 14 October 1959.

20 June 1966 – The Beatles release their ‘Yesterday and Today’ album with the controversial ‘butcher cover’. The Beatles appeared on the cover wearing white smocks and covered with decapitated baby dolls and pieces of meat. Some people took offense to this and the cover was withdrawn and replaced with something a little more savoury.

20 June 2001 – General Pervez Musharraf establishes himself as both President and Chief Executive of Pakistan. He had come to power as Chief Executive following a coup d’état in 1999.

18 June 2016

finial

[fin-ee-uh l, fahy-nee-]

noun

1. Architecture. a relatively small, ornamental, terminal feature at the top of a gable, pinnacle, etc.
2. an ornamental termination to the top of a piece of furniture, or of one part of such a piece.
3. Typography. a curve terminating the main stroke of the characters in some italic fonts.

Origin of finial

Latin

1400-1450; late Middle English, derivative of Latin fīnis end; see -al1

Related forms

finialed, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for finial

Historical Examples

We had in England in the twelfth century a large figure serving as a finial to the central tower at Canterbury.
Leadwork
W. R. Lethaby

This is especially the case with regard to the shape of the finial.
The Bronze Age and the Celtic World
Harold Peake

And not content with this exuberance in the external ornaments of the arch, the finial interferes with its traceries.
The Stones of Venice, Volume III (of 3)
John Ruskin

Anagram

nail if
in fail
ail fin

Today’s quote

Don’t hate the media, become the media.

– Jello Biafra

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 2016

crampon

[kram-pon]

noun

1. a spiked iron plate worn on boots or shoes for aid in climbing or to prevent slipping on ice, snow, etc.
2. a device for grasping and lifting heavy loads, usually consisting of a pair of hooks suspended from a chain or cable, the upward pull on which provides tension for the hooks to grip the load on opposite sides.

Also, crampoon [kram-poon]

Origin of crampon

Middle English, Old French, Old Low Franconian
1275-1325; Middle English cra (u) mpon < Old French crampon < Old Low Franconian *krampo, cognate with Old High German krampfo, Middle Dutch crampe; see cramp2

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for crampon

Historical Examples

Outside the bandages I wore six pairs of thick woollen socks, fur boots and a crampon over-shoe of soft leather.
The Home of the Blizzard
Douglas Mawson

Anagram

man crop
corn map

Today’s quote

The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain.

– 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.