27 May 2018

sortie

[sawr-tee]

noun

1. a rapid movement of troops from a besieged place to attack the besiegers.
2. a body of troops involved in such a movement.
3. the flying of an airplane on a combat mission.
verb (used without object), sortied, sortieing.
4. to go on a sortie; sally forth.

Origin of sortie

1680-1690; < French, noun use of feminine past participle of sortir to go out

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for sortie

Contemporary Examples

My grandfather, his father, was a WW1 ace and was on the sortie which downed the Red Baron.
The Story Behind This Photo of an RAF Pilot
David Frum
March 17, 2013

Historical Examples

But the British have retreated, you say, and there was a sortie from the fort?
In the Valley
Harold Frederic

It was difficult to reply to this, for a sortie was out of the question.
The Field of Ice
Jules Verne

Anagram

rise to
sir toe

Today’s quote

True peace is not merely the absence of war, it is the presence of justice.

– Jane Addams

On this day

27 May – 3 June – National Reconciliation Week, which is celebrated in Australia every year on these dates. The dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey — the anniversaries of the successful 1967 referendum (27 May) and the High Court Mabo decision (3 June 1992). The 1967 referendum saw over 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census. On 3 June, 1992, the High Court of Australia delivered its landmark Mabo decision which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land—that existed prior to colonisation and still exists today. This recognition paved the way for land rights called Native Title. 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of the Mabo decision. http://www.reconciliation.org.au/nrw

27 May 1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the Russian city of St Petersburg.

27 May 1907 – bubonic plague breaks out in San Francisco.

27 May 1911 – birth of Vincent Price, American actor, starred in a number of horror films, including House of Wax, House of Usher and The Raven. He also acted in the 1960s television series Batman, in which he played the evil mastermind, Egghead; a master criminal with a fixation on eggs. Price provided a voice-over on Alice Cooper’s 1975 album Welcome to My Nightmare. In 1976, Price recorded a cover version of Bobby Pickett song, Monster Mash. Died 25 October 1993.

27 May 1922 – birth of Christopher Lee, CBE, English actor and singer. Lee starred in hammer horror movies, including Dracula (in which he played the title character), Dracula has risen from the grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, and Scars of Dracula. Fearing that he would become type-cast in horror roles as had happened to Vincent Price and Peter Cushing, he went in search of other roles. Lee starred in the 1974 James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun. He played Saruman in Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies, and Count Dooku in two of the Star Wars prequel films, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Died 7 June 2015.

26 May 2018

untenable

[uhn-ten-uh-buh l]

adjective

1. incapable of being defended, as an argument, thesis, etc.; indefensible.
2. not fit to be occupied, as an apartment, house, etc.

Origin of untenable

1640-1650 First recorded in 1640-50; un-1+ tenable

Related forms

untenability, untenableness, noun

Synonyms

1. baseless, groundless, unsound, weak, questionable.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for untenable

Contemporary Examples

What exists now is unworkable, untenable, and damn near unendurable.
Memo to the South: Go Ahead, Secede Already!
Lee Siegel
April 30, 2013

Some calculating pol, realizing that his position had become unpopular or untenable, would execute a backflip off the high board.
The New Era of Evolution Helps Pols Switch Stance on Issues from Gay Marriage to Immigration
Howard Kurtz
April 3, 2013

The idea of suffering this nausea another day, let alone another 34 weeks, was untenable.
Prue Clarke on Her Battles With Kate Middleton’s Illness, Hyperemesis Gravidarum
Prue Clarke
December 5, 2012

The war between Israel and Hamas shows that the situation on the ground is fundamentally unstable and untenable.
The Death of Israel’s “Quality Minority”
Hussein Ibish
November 30, 2012

Historical Examples

Calendar surrendered an untenable position as gracefully as could be wished.
The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance

Without it, Pete’s claim would be so vague as to be untenable.
The Best Made Plans
Everett B. Cole

Have the distressed defenders of this untenable Citadel any such?
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 104, March 18, 1893
Various

The thought that He suffered through fear of death is untenable.
Jesus the Christ
James Edward Talmage

But he dismissed the notion as untenable and absurd on second thoughts.
The Wild Man of the West
R.M. Ballantyne

Anagram

nebula ten
enable nut
unbent ale

Today’s quote

Never ruin an apology with an excuse.

– Unknown

On this day

26 May – National Sorry Day. Since 1998, National Sorry Day occurs on 26 May every year to commemorate the maltreatment of Australia’s indigenous population.

26 May 1890 – Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, is released in England.

26 May 1913 – birth of Peter Cushing OBE, English actor who mostly appeared in Hammer Horror films, including The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula (in which he played vampire hunter, Van Helsing). Died 11 August 1994.

26 May 2012 – death of Festus, our beloved and most awesome budgie.

25 May 2018

portcullis

[pawrt-kuhl-is, pohrt-]

noun

1. (especially in medieval castles) a strong grating, as of iron, made to slide along vertical grooves at the sides of a gateway of a fortified place and let down to prevent passage.

Origin of portcullis

Middle English, Middle French

1300-1350; Middle English portecolys < Middle French porte coleice, equivalent to porte port4+ coleice, feminine of coleis flowing, sliding < Vulgar Latin *cōlātīcius; see coulee, -itious

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for portcullis

Historical Examples

When Corkran got to his portcullis, he thought he’d reached the reward of his labours.
It Happened in Egypt
C. N. Williamson

Bid the varlets lower the draw-bridge and raise the portcullis.
The Nebuly Coat
John Meade Falkner

Turning, they wished to flee into the castle and pull down the portcullis.
King Arthur’s Knights
Henry Gilbert

Anagram

citrus poll
pilot curls

Today’s quote

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

– Douglas Adams

On this day

25 May – Towel Day. A tribute to Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which states that a towel is ‘about the most massively useful thing that an interstellar hitchhiker can have‘. First held in 2001, two weeks after the death of Adams. Fans carry a towel with them on this day in appreciation of Adams and his work.

25 May 1999 – Bill Morgan, who had been resuscitated after spending 14 minutes clinically dead following a heart-attack, wins a $27,000 car from a Tatts Scratch lotto ticket. During a reenactment of the event for a Melbourne TV station, Bill won $250,000 from a Scratch-It ticket. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBYuxQBSc0o

24 May 2018

flagrante delicto

[fluh-gran-tee di-lik-toh]

adverb

1. Law. in the very act of committing the offense.
2. while having illicit relations with someone.

Also, in flagrante delicto, in flagrante.

Origin of flagrante delicto

Latin; Latin : literally, while the offense is (still) burning

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for flagrante delicto

Contemporary Examples

He has a BA in home invasion from Columbia University and an MA in flagrante delicto from the Institute of Fine Arts.
Obama’s Building Boom: Will His Architecture Legacy Be as Lasting as FDR’s?
Ian Volner
January 4, 2011

Historical Examples

“It must be in flagrante delicto, Master Simeon,” said Ford, uneasy again.
Robin Hood
Paul Creswick

Prince Eugne with his army, coming suddenly upon them, caught the Turkish army in flagrante delicto, divided by the river.
The Turkish Empire, its Growth and Decay
Lord Eversley

He was therefore most desirous to effect the capture of Coppinger at once and flagrante delicto.
In the Roar of the Sea
Sabine Baring-Gould

As a consequence Mr. Austen Leigh was despatched to watch, and, if possible, to catch the offenders in flagrante delicto.
Lord Randolph Churchill
Winston Spencer Churchill

Offending students caught in flagrante delicto he conducted to the University prison, and others he reported to the Rector.
Life in the Medieval University
Robert S. Rait, M.A.

“The lady in flagrante delicto, meseems,” rejoined the Cardinal quietly.
The Tangled Skein
Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy

So hot were we about it that we noted not our master coming upon us and finding us in flagrante delicto.
With the King at Oxford
Alfred J. Church

If found out, in flagrante delicto, there is a fiscal fine in cows.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 6
Various

Only one vessel had been captured in flagrante delicto after a sharp fight, and had been condemned as a lawful prize.
Sketches From My Life
Hobart Pasha

Anagram

tenfold cartilage
Deft Reallocating
A lifelong detract
let golfer antacid

Today’s quote

The hardest spiritual work in the world is to love the neighbor as the self – to encounter another human being not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince or control, but simply as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you will allow it.

– Barbara Brown Taylor

On this day

24 May 1930 – Amy Johnson, flying a Gypsy Moth, lands in Darwin. She is the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.

24 May 1941 – Birth of Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman), American singer-songwriter, author and painter. One of the most influential figures in music since the 1960s, when he became a reluctant ‘voice of a generation’. Songs included ‘Blowin’ In the Wind’ and ‘The Times They Are a-Changing’, which became anthems for the civil rights movement and anti-war movement. Initially, Dylan only used an acoustic guitar. However, on 25 July 1965, Dylan performed live at the Newport Folk Festival, playing an electric guitar. Some members of the audience booed Dylan and accused him of selling out and abandoning his acoustic roots. Dylan has continued performing for five decades.

24 May 2012 – Tens of thousands of Norwegian public servants go on strike demanding pay rises and improvements in working conditions. It is the first such strike in Norway since 1984.

23 May 2018

happenstance

[hap-uh n-stans]

noun

1. a chance happening or event.

Origin of happenstance

1895-1900 First recorded in 1895-1900; happen + (circum)stance

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for happenstance

Contemporary Examples

All of these differences add up to make each planet unique, a product of happenstance and history.
The Best Map of Mars Yet
Matthew R. Francis
July 20, 2014

The success that followed 16 years later was a matter of happenstance, not of strategy.
Fool’s Gold
David Frum
February 13, 2013

Historical Examples

The German was just a happenstance, a castaway in the war for Arzachel.
First on the Moon
Jeff Sutton

But the happenstance habits of nature were steadily being integrated into the control program of man.
The Thirst Quenchers
Rick Raphael

Out of the chaos of happenstance they were finding rules of order, certain formulas of behavior, equations of force.
Empire
Clifford Donald Simak

This is contrasted to happenstance decision making based on impulsiveness and wishful thinking.
Sequential Problem Solving
Fredric Lozo

As for deceased, his ontimely evaporation that a-way is but the frootes of happenstance.
Faro Nell and Her Friends
Alfred Henry Lewis

Anagram

cheapen pants
panache spent
penchant peas
snap ten peach

Today’s quote

We are born of love; Love is our mother.

– Rumi

On this day

23 May 1568 – the Netherlands declares independence from Spain.

23 May 1934 – notorious bank robbers, Bonny Parker and Clyde Barrow, are killed in a shoot-out with police in Black Lake, Louisiana. Bonny and Clyde have been immortalised in songs and movies.

23 May 1944 – birth of John Newcombe, Australian tennis player.

22 May 2018

temporal(1)

[tem-per-uh l, tem-pruh l]

adjective

1. of or relating to time.
2. pertaining to or concerned with the present life or this world; worldly:
temporal joys.
3. enduring for a time only; temporary; transitory (opposed to eternal )
4. Grammar.
of, relating to, or expressing time:
a temporal adjective, such asrecent, or a temporal adverb, such asrecently.
of or relating to the tenses of a verb.
5. secular, lay, or civil, as opposed to ecclesiastical.
noun, Usually, temporals
6. a temporal possession, estate, or the like; temporality.
7. something that is temporal; a temporal matter or affair.

Origin of temporal(1)

Middle English, Latin

1300-1350; Middle English (adj. and noun) < Latin temporālis, equivalent to tempor- (stem of tempus) time + -ālis -al1

Related forms

temporally, adverb
temporalness, noun

temporal(2)

[tem-per-uh l, tem-pruh l] Anatomy, Zoology

adjective

1. of, relating to, or situated near the temple or a temporal bone.
noun
2. any of several parts in the temporal region, especially the temporal bone.

Origin

1535-45; Late Latin temporālis, equivalent to tempor- (stem of tempus) temple2+ -ālis -al1

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for temporal

Contemporary Examples

Naturalism tells us that mystics had temporal lobe epilepsy.
Eben Alexander Has a GPS for Heaven
Patricia Pearson
October 8, 2014

Re-reading your own work, especially at some temporal distance, is a dangerous business.
Kerouac Biographer Gets Back on the Road
Dennis McNally
October 2, 2014

Compulsive writing, or hypergraphia, is a well-known, if uncommon, symptom of temporal lobe epilepsy.
The Seizure Medication That Turns You Into a Poet
Cat Ferguson
September 12, 2014

But a drug like lamotrigine is not selective, and so it also affects the behavior of the rest of the temporal lobe.
The Seizure Medication That Turns You Into a Poet
Cat Ferguson
September 12, 2014

The temporal judgment regarding the bothers was guilty, and both were sentenced to death.
How the North Carolina GOP Made a Wrongfully Convicted Man a Death Row Scapegoat
Michael Daly
September 4, 2014

Historical Examples

The Pharisees had need to keep alliance with the temporal powers.
Understanding the Scriptures
Francis McConnell

The love of temporal dominion was ruining the Church of Rome.
Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II
Charlotte Mary Yonge

Their temporal sorrows have awakened their spiritual energies.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. II
Francis Augustus Cox

It seemed a long time to Amelia before she awoke again to temporal things.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown

And observe how this bears on the question of the temporal power.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola

Anagram

male port
rot maple
metal pro
late romp
opal term

Today’s quote

In the silence and the solitude, we hear no more than the essential.

– Unknown (quote on the Chemin Trail, France)

On this day

22 May – International Day of Biodiversity

22 May 1927 – A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits the city of Xining in the Chinese province of Quinghai, killing up to 200,000 people. It is the 5th deadliest earthquake recorded.

22 May 1972 – Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka to break away from its colonial past. Ceylon had been the colonial name given by Great Britain to the island. The name itself was derived from Portuguese when part of the island was a colony of Portugal.

22 May 2010 – Jordan Romero, a 13 year old U.S. boy, becomes the youngest person to conquer Mt Everest.

20 May 2018

duenna

[doo-en-uh, dyoo-]

noun

1. (in Spain and Portugal) an older woman serving as escort or chaperon of a young lady.
2. a governess.

Origin of duenna

Spanish Latin

1660-1670; < Spanish duenna (now dueña) < Latin domina, feminine of dominus master

Related forms

duennaship, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for duenna

Historical Examples

She felt that she had been rather remiss in her duties as duenna, and was angry with herself.
Henry Dunbar
M. E. Braddon

It is to be observed the duenna was of a most obliging disposition.
Gomez Arias
Joaqun Telesforo de Trueba y Coso

Then the duenna resumed, and now came the worst of her story.
The Story of Don Quixote
Arvid Paulson, Clayton Edwards, and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

He told me that O’Brien had the duenna called to his room that morning.
Romance
Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer

They must be torn away at once, or my character as duenna is lost for ever.’
Shawl-Straps
Louisa M. Alcott

The duenna entered, and remained standing before her master.
The Pearl of Lima
Jules Verne

She kept me in sight like a duenna, and strangely ill-treated me.
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 13
Elbert Hubbard

Mary’s duenna ;—the artist who is supposed to be moulding the wife.
Orley Farm
Anthony Trollope

That’s her instituted governess, duenna, dragon, what you will.
The Adventures of Harry Richmond, Complete
George Meredith

The Sisters are the only duenna for you; and back to the convent you shall go to-morrow.
Remember the Alamo
Amelia E. Barr

Anagram

an dune

Today’s quote

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal … Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.

– C.S. Lewis

On this day

20 May 325 – commencement of the First Council of Nicea, a cabal of 1800 bishops convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I (Constantine the Great) to gain consensus within the church for various doctrinal issues, such as the divinity of Christ, the Holy Trinity and the date for Easter which were articulated in the ‘Creed of Nicea’. The Council concluded on 25 August 325.

20 May 1896 – a 6 ton chandlier falls from the ceiling of the Palais Garnier, Paris, onto the crowd below. One person is killed and many injured. The theatre was used as the setting for Gaston Leroux’s novel, Phantom of the Opera.

20 May 1944 – birth of Joe Cocker. English rock and blues singer. His first big hit was in 1968 with his cover of the Beatles song, ‘With a Little Help from my Friends’, which he performed at Woodstock the year later. In 1972, while touring Australia, he and six band members were arrested in Adelaide for possession of cannabis. The following day he was charged with assault following a brawl in Melbourne. Australian Federal Police gave him 48 hours to leave the country and banned him from re-entry. From this he earned the nickname ‘Mad-dog’. The incident raised the profile of cannabis legalisation in Australia. He toured Australia again in 1975, after the new Labor government allowed him back into the country. He won a Grammy Award in 1983 and was awarded an OBE in 2007. Died 22 December 2014.

20 May 1998 – The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was formally announced. It was formed by major technology companies, Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Toshiba and Nokia to develop a standard low-range radio standard that could connect disparate items, such as phones to headsets, regardless of the manufacturers. After considering a number of names for the technology, including Flirt (with the catchphrase ‘getting close, but not touching’), the SIG settled on the name Bluetooth, which was named after a 10th century Viking king, Harald Blatand, which translates as Bluetooth. He was so named because he had a dead tooth that turned blue from all the blueberries he ate. The name was proposed by Jim Kardach of Intel, who was reading a historical novel about vikings, by Frans G. Bengtsson called The Long Ships. Harald Bluetooth had united disparate Dane tribes to form a united Denmark. The Bluetooth logo is a bind rune which combines the two runic letters H and B, for Harald Bluetooth.

19 May 2018

iconoclast

[ahy-kon-uh-klast]

noun

1. a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.
2. a breaker or destroyer of images, especially those set up for religious veneration.

Origin of iconoclast

Medieval Latin, Medieval Greek

1590-1600; < Medieval Latin īconoclastēs < Medieval Greek eikonoklástēs, equivalent to Greek eikono- icono- + -klastēs breaker, equivalent to klas- (variant stem of klân to break) + -tēs agent noun suffix

Related forms

iconoclastic, adjective

Synonyms

1. nonconformist, rebel, dissenter, radical.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for iconoclast

Contemporary Examples

Concerned and kind, he was also the ultimate risk taker, an iconoclast with an edgy, hard charging quality about him.
They Murdered My Friend
Sandra McElwaine
November 17, 2008

Historical Examples

I am an iconoclast and have broken my god and cannot put together the pieces.
Outdoor Sketching
Francis Hopkinson Smith

I would like to say that I have no fear of the odium of the designation of iconoclast.
Mother Earth, Vol. 1 No. 2, April 1906
Various

There is no iconoclast in the world like an extreme Mohammedan.
A Desert Drama
A. Conan Doyle

There was nothing of the revolutionary or the iconoclast about him.
The Expositor’s Bible: The Epistle to the Galatians
G. G. Findlay

Oliver Cromwell wasn’t as moral as Anabel is—nor such an iconoclast.
Touch and Go
D. H. Lawrence

I was ordered to answer it; and opposed the iconoclast to his Icon.
An Introduction to the Prose and Poetical Works of John Milton
Hiram Corson

The iconoclast that is in the heart of this poet is rampant.
Egoists
James Huneker

This gentle remonstrance only made the iconoclast more furious.
Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum
John Healy

Her husband had been iconoclast, and he scourged those who would not receive his edict.
Constantinople
William Holden Hutton

Anagram

laconic sot
lost cocain
coca tonsil
cool antics

Today’s quote

Money is numbers and numbers never end. It it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end.

– Bob Marley

On this day

19 May 1536 – Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, incest and treason.

19 May 1568 – Queen Elizabeth I orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.

19 May 1895 – Death of José Julián Martí Pérez, (José Martí), Cuban national hero, nicknamed The Maestro. He was a poet, essayist, revolutionary philosopher. Fought for Cuba’s independence from Spain. Martí’s poetry is respected across the globe. One of his poems was adapted into the song, Guantanamera. Born 28 January 1853.

19 May 1897 – Oscar Wilde released from Reading Gaol.

19 May 1909 – birth of Sir Nicholas Winton, MBE, British humanitarian who rescued 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1938, shortly after Kristallnacht. Most of the children were Jewish. He arranged their safe passage to Britain and found homes for them. As war loomed, Winton registered as a conscientious objector and registered for work with the Red Cross. He rescinded his objection in 1940 and served with the Royal Air Force. Winton kept quiet about the rescue of the 669 children, not even telling his wife, Grete. It wasn’t until 1988, when Grete found a scrapbook in their attic that detailed the children, their parents’ names, and the names and addresses of the people they moved in with in Britain. She was able to locate 80 of the children. Later that year, she took Nicholas along to the filming of the BBC-TV show That’s Life. Unexpectedly for Winton, his scrapbook was shown on camera and his exploits detailed. When the host asked if anyone in the audience owed their life to Winton, more than two dozen people stood up, surrounding and applauding him.

19 May 1925 – birth of Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little), also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. He campaigned for the rights of African-Americans. At the age of 20, while in prison, he joined the ‘Nation of Islam’, a group that preached black supremacy. He eventually became disillusioned with it and its leader, Elijah Muhammad. On 8 March 1964, he publicly announced he had left the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X founded Muslim Mosque Inc and the Organisation of Afro-American Unity. He converted to Sunni Islam, revoked black supremacy and preached equal rights. He was assassinated on 21 February 1965 by three members of the Nation of Islam; Talmadge Hayer (also known as Thomas Hagan), Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson. All three were convicted, although Butler and Johnson maintained their innocence.

19 May 1962 – Marilyn Monroe sings a seductive version of ‘Happy Birthday‘ to President John F. Kennedy for his 45th birthday. She was introduced to the stage as the ‘late’ Marilyn Monroe. Less than three months later, Monroe was found dead. The dress Monroe wore was designed by Jean Louis and sold at auction in 1999 for more than $1,200,000. It was a sheer, flesh coloured dress with 2,500 rhinestones.

19 May 2014 – Death of Sir John Arthur ‘Jack’ Brabham AO OBE, Australian racing legend, 3 times Formula One world champion (1959, 1960, 1966). Born 2 April 1926.