11 July 2018

vermilion or vermillion

[ver-mil-yuh n]

noun

1. a brilliant scarlet red.
2. a bright-red, water-insoluble pigment consisting of mercuric sulfide, once obtained from cinnabar, now usually produced by the reaction of mercury and sulfur.
adjective
3. of the color vermilion.
verb (used with object)
4. to color with or as if with vermilion.

Origin of vermilion

Middle English, Old French

1250-1300; Middle English vermilioun, vermillon < Anglo-French, Old French verm(e)illon, equivalent to vermeil vermeil + -on noun suffix

Examples from the Web for vermilion

Historical Examples

Her mouth, the vermilion of her lips, and her ivory teeth were all perfect.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

Her lips, like bits of vermilion paper, stared as from an idol’s face.
Erik Dorn
Ben Hecht

They will work, as I have seen, with wax hardened with vermilion or softened with lard.
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin

Today’s quote

In times of trouble, the wise build bridges and the foolish build walls.

– Nigerian proverb (paraphrased in the movie ‘Black Panther’)

On this day

11 July 1833 – Yagan, indigenous Australian warrior of the Noongar people, is killed by a young settler named William Keates. From around 1831, white settlers had taken over so much of the land that the Noongar were denied access to traditional hunting grounds and rivers. In need of food, Yagan led a series of raids on crops and cattle being farmed by the settlers. In the process a number of white settlers were killed. Yagan was declared an outlaw and eventually arrested with other Noongar men. Yagan was sentenced to death but was saved by a settler, Robert Lyon, who argued that Yagan was defending his land from invasion and should therefore be treated as a prisoner of war. Yagan and other Noongar men were exiled to Carnac Island, from which they eventually escaped. More raids to obtain supplies ensued and more settlers were killed. A group of Noongar, including Yagan, were on their way to collect flour rations, when they came across two brothers, William and James Keates who convinced Yagan to stay with them to avoid arrest. William shot Yagan dead and the brothers fled. They were attacked later that day by the Noongar and William was speared to death. James escaped and claimed the reward on Yagan, however, his actions were widely criticised, with Yagan’s killing described by the Perth Gazette as ‘a wild and treacherous act’.

11 July 1977 – Nine years after his assassination, Martin Luther King is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by United States President Jimmy Carter.

11 July 1979 – US space station, Skylab, ignites on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, causing debris to rain down on Australia. The space station was unoccupied at the time.

10 July 2018

athame

/ˈɑːθæmeɪ/

noun

1. (in Wicca) a witch’s ceremonial knife, usually with a black handle, used in rituals rather than for cutting or carving

Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Today’s quote

While I breath, I hope.

– Charles I

On this day

10 July 1856 – Birth of Nikola Tesla, Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and futurist. Inventor of alternating current (A/C) electricity supply. Died 7 January 1943.

10 July 1942 – birth of Ronald James Padavona, otherwise known as Ronny James Dio, heavy metal singer. Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne as lead singer of Black Sabbath, for two years before leaving after disagreements with other band members. Dio was also associated with Rainbow, Dio, and Elf. Died 16 May 2010.

10 July 1942 – birth of Sixto Rodriguez, elusive American folk musician. Rodriguez recorded two albums, Cold Fact and Coming From Reality, in the early 1970s. Neither album sold well in the USA, however, unknown to Rodriguez, he gained cult status in Australia and South Africa. Rodriguez disappeared into obscurity as legends abounded of his fate, including that he had either shot himself or set fire to himself on stage. In the 1996, two South African fans, Stephen ‘Sugar’ Segerman and Craig Styrdrom, tracked him down in Detroit, breaking the news to him that he was bigger than Elvis and the Rolling Stones in South Africa. Rodriguez flew out to South Africa and performed six concerts. Rodriguez has since played concerts across the globe, including Australia, South Africa, USA, UK. The Oscar-winning documentary, ‘Searching for Sugarman’ is a gritty, intriguing biopic of this story.

9 July 2018

lamia

[ley-mee-uh]

noun, plural lamias, lamiae [ley-mee-ee] (Show IPA), for 1, 2.

1. Classical Mythology. one of a class of fabulous monsters, commonly represented with the head and breast of a woman and the body of a serpent, said to allure youths and children in order to suck their blood.
2. a vampire; a female demon.
3. (initial capital letter, italics) a narrative poem (1819) by John Keats.

Origin of lamia

Middle English, Latin, Greek

1350-1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek lámia a female man-eater

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for lamia

Contemporary Examples

“The uprising has been a big challenge for us…really, the situation is awful,” said lamia Assem, director of marketing.
Winston Churchill’s Egyptian Getaway: The Old Cataract Hotel
Lauren Bohn
December 15, 2013

Historical Examples

But before it falls, a lamia comes to his aid and kills his sister.
Russian Fairy Tales
W. R. S. Ralston

“We had better get the lamia in condition first,” Trask said.
Space Viking
Henry Beam Piper

Suppose Dunnan comes and finds nobody here but Spasso and the lamia ?
Space Viking
Henry Beam Piper

The lamia bore a coiled snake with the head, arms and bust of a woman.
Space Viking
Henry Beam Piper

Today’s quote

Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.

– Benjamin Franklin

On this day

9 July 1941 – British military cryptologists break the Enigma code which the German Army was using for encrypting messages used for directing ground to air operations. However, a group of Polish cryptologists claim to have assisted in the cracking of Enigma and have been campaigning for recognition of their part in the break-through.

9 July 1946 – birth of Ronald Belford ‘Bon’ Scott, Scottish-born Australian rock musician. Most famous as the lead-singer of legendary hard rock band, AC/DC. Scott died on 19 February 1980, after choking on his own vomit following a heavy drinking session.

9 July 1982 – In the early hours of the morning, 30 year old Irishman, Michael Fagan breaks into Buckhingham Palace and makes his way to Queen Elizabeth II’s bedroom. Reports at the time, claimed that he spent 10 minutes in there talking with the Queen before being arrested, however, Fagan later claimed that the Queen immediately fled the bedroom and summoned security. The incident was the biggest royal security breach of the 20th century.

9 July 2004 – A US Senate Intelligence Committee finds that the CIA misrepresented the threat posed by Iraq, which was used by President George W. Bush in order to justify the 2003 Iraq invasion by the ‘Coalition of the Willing’.

8 July 2018

rigmarole

[rig-muh-rohl]

noun

1. an elaborate or complicated procedure:
to go through the rigmarole of a formal dinner.
2. confused, incoherent, foolish, or meaningless talk.

Also, rigamarole.

Origin of rigmarole

1730-1740 First recorded in 1730-40; alteration of ragman roll

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for rigmarole

Contemporary Examples

After all the rigmarole, they found what any pediatrician already knew: the MMR causes fever.
Another Blow to Anti-Vaxxers’ Fortress of Pseudoscience
Kent Sepkowitz
July 2, 2014

Historical Examples

I was sitting with my finger in the hot water listening to this rigmarole.
The Stark Munro Letters
J. Stark Munro

What made that other child tell all that rigmarole about fairies?
A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia
Alice Turner Curtis

Today’s quote

Happiness turned to me and said, ‘It is time. It is time to forgive yourself for all the things you did not become. It is time to exonerate yourself for all the people you couldn’t save, for all the fragile hearts you fumbled with in the dark of your confusion. It is time, child, to accept that you don’t have to be who you were a year ago, that you don’t have to want the same things. Above all else, it is time to believe, with reckless abandon, that you are worthy of me, for I have been waiting for years’.

– Bianca Sparacino

On this day

8 July 1822 – death of Percy Bysshe Shelley, English romantic poet, considered to be one the finest lyric poets of all time. Born 4 August 1792.

8 July 1947 – reports are that a UFO crash-landed at Roswell, New Mexico.

8 July 1954 – Military leader, Castillo Armas seizes power of Guatamala in a CIA-backed coup, overthrowing Communist president Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. The coup was part of the CIA’s international anti-communist activities. On request of the CIA, Armas formed the National Committee of Defense Against Communism, which is recognised as Latin America’s first modern death squad, purging the government and trade unions of people with suspected left-wing tendencies. Armas introduced the ‘Preventive Penal Law Against Communism’ which increased penalties for ‘Communist’ activities, such as labor union activities. Armas was assassinated on 26 July 1957 by a palace guard, Romeo Vásquez. It is unknown what Vásquez’s motive was. He was found dead in a suspected suicide a short while later.

8 July 1980 – First State of Origin match played between New South Wales and Queensland at Lang Park (Suncorp Stadium), Brisbane. Queensland won 20-10.

6 July 2018

Mafflard

noun

A mafflard is a term for someone who is a pure klutz. The website “Words and Phrases From The Past” calls a mafflard: “a stammering or blundering fool; a term of contempt.” Sounds like that mafflard in your life might be good friends with the raggabrash you met last week.

www.dictionary.com

Today’s quote

No is a powerful word. To me, it’s the single most powerful word in the English language. Said clearly, strongly and with enough frequency and force, it can alter the course of history.

– Shonda Rhimes

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.

2 July 2018

flic

[flik; French fleek]

noun, plural flics [fliks; French fleek] (Show IPA). Slang.

1. a police officer; cop.

Origin of flic

German, French
1895-1900; < French (slang), perhaps < German; Cf. flick boy, in early modern German thieves’ argot (of obscure origin)

Dictionary.com

Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018.

Slang definitions & phrases for flic

flic

noun

A police officer : if the flic had the slightest suspicion

[fr French slang]

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.
Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.

Today’s quote

Charity is a cold, grey, loveless thing. If a rich man wants to help the poor, he should pay his taxes gladly, not dole out money at whim.

– Clement Attlee

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. They had run low on fuel while trying to locate Howland Island. While many suspected they had crashed into the ocean, there is strong evidence to indicate that they may have died as castaways after crash-landing on or near to Gardner Island, 400 nautical miles from Howland Island. This is supported by evidence that there were more than 100 radio calls made by Earhart in the four days after the crash, a female skeleton found on the island and a small piece of fuselage that matches that of Earhart’s plane. The remainder of the plane is suspected of being dragged away from the island by the tides and sinking.

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.