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.

1 July 2018

cordon sanitaire

[French kawr-dawn sa-nee-ter]

noun, plural cordons sanitaires [French kawr-dawn sa-nee-ter]

1. a line around a quarantined area guarded to prevent the spread of a disease by restricting passage into or out of the area.
2. a group of neighboring, generally neutral states forming a geographical barrier between two states having aggressive military or ideological aims against each other.

Origin of cordon sanitaire

1840-1850 From French, dating back to 1840-50; See origin at cordon, sanitary

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for cordon sanitaire

Historical Examples

Some of the French statesmen occasionally say what is not true ( cordon sanitaire); here they conceal the truth.
The Life of Albert Gallatin
Henry Adams

The plague is raging with unwonted fatality; but no cordon sanitaire is established—no adequate remedy sought.
Thoughts on African Colonization
William Lloyd Garrison

A proposal by President Carranza to draw a cordon sanitaire round the place has not yet reached Washington.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. CLVIII, January 7, 1920
Various

Today’s quote

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it.

– Gandhi

On this day

1 July – International Reggae 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.

30 June 2018

agnate

[ag-neyt]

noun

1. a relative whose connection is traceable exclusively through males.
2. any male relation on the father’s side.
adjective
3. related or akin through males or on the father’s side.
4. allied or akin.

Origin of agnate

Latin

1525-1535; < Latin agnātus paternal kinsman, variant of ad(g)nātus born to (past participle of adgnāscī), equivalent to ad- ad- + -gnā be born + -tus past participle suffix

Related forms

agnatic [ag-nat-ik], agnatical, adjective

agnatically, adverb
agnation [ag-ney-shuh n] (Show IPA), noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for agnate

Historical Examples

The most elementary of these groups is the maegth, the association of agnatic and cognatic relations.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Part 1, Slice 1
Various

A woman by her marriage forfeited her agnatic rights, to which rule there was no exception.
Ancient Society
Lewis Henry Morgan

agnatic inheritance would be apt to assert itself in this condition of things.
Ancient Society
Lewis Henry Morgan

The gens is to be found in Greek and Roman history, where it is known as the agnatic kindred.
The Iowa
William Harvey Miner

The importance they attached to the agnatic family is largely explained by their ideas of the future life.
The Private Life of the Romans
Harold Whetstone Johnston

As they understood it, the pater familis had absolute power over his children and other agnatic descendants.
The Private Life of the Romans
Harold Whetstone Johnston

Here again it will be convenient to employ the Roman terms, agnatic and Cognatic relationship.
Ancient Law
Sir Henry James Sumner Maine

This practical limitation of the inheritance to the nearest gentile kin discloses the germ of agnatic nheritance.
Ancient Society
Lewis Henry Morgan

It shows that property was hereditary in the gens, but restricted to the agnatic kindred in the female line.
Ancient Society
Lewis Henry Morgan

Whether the wife forfeited her agnatic rights by her marriage, as among the Romans, I am unable to state.
Ancient Society
Lewis Henry Morgan

Today’s quote

Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.

– Carol Burnett

On this day

30 June 1934 – Night of the Long Knives (Operation Hummbingbird), in which Hitler purges his political enemies.

30 June 1937 – The world’s first emergency telephone number, 999, is introduced in London.

30 June 1950 – US President Truman sends troops to South Korea to assist in repelling the North Korean Army. He calls on the Soviet Union to negotiate a withdrawal from North Korea, however, the Soviets blame South Korea for an unprovoked attack.

30 June 1959 – US fighter jet, an F-100 Super Sabre, crashes into the Japanese Miyamori Elementary School at Ishikawa (now Uruma) on the US occupied island of Okinawa, Japan, killing 11 students, 6 other people from the neighbouring area and injuring 210 (including 156 students). The pilot, Captain John G. Schmitt Jr, had ejected to safety. The incident was one of many tragic events the Okinawans have suffered since the US occupation.

26 June 2018

convoke

[kuh n-vohk]

verb (used with object), convoked, convoking.

1. to call together; summon to meet or assemble.

Origin of convoke
Middle French, Latin

1590-1600; (< Middle French convoquer) < Latin convocāre, equivalent to con- con- + vocāre to call

Related forms

convocative [kuh n-vok-uh-tiv], adjective
convoker [kuh n-voh-ker], convocant [kon-vuh-kuh nt], noun

Synonyms

convene.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for convoke

Historical Examples

The Committee was assured that they intended to convoke the electors.
History of the Commune of 1871
P. Lissagary

It was high time to tell her relatives and mine and convoke a family council.
Atlantis
Gerhart Hauptmann

Malesherbes in those days, and good writers since, held that the only safe plan was to convoke the States-General.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3)
John Morley

Under other conditions it might be the right thing to convoke a conference to be held after the war is over.
Face to Face with Kaiserism
James W. Gerard

Convene, which means “to come together,” should not be confused with convoke which means “to bring or call together.”
Word Study and English Grammar
Frederick W. Hamilton

Finally she found it best to convoke the family council for the purpose of deciding what was to be done with Simple Simon.
A Family of Noblemen
Mikhal Saltykov

It was not enough to convoke a Parliament or to open a negotiation with the Prince of Orange.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.
Thomas Babington Macaulay

The chancellor was therefore content to convoke a general conference of the clergy.
History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume V
J. H. Merle d’Aubigné

The necessity of having a single person to convoke the great council when separated.
Commentaries on the Laws of England
William Blackstone

He advised the Regent to convoke the States-General, and declare a national bankruptcy.
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions
Charles Mackay

Today’s quote

The writer’s curse is that even in solitude, no matter its duration, he never grows lonely or bored.

– Criss Jami

On this day

26 June – International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

26 June 1945 – 50 nations ratify the United Nations Charter in an effort to prevent another world war. The United Nations was formally established on 24 October 1945, replacing the League of Nations.

25 June 2018

mudlark

[muhd-lahrk]

noun

1. Chiefly British. a person who gains a livelihood by searching for iron, coal, old ropes, etc., in mud or low tide.
2. Chiefly British Informal. a street urchin.
3. either of two black and white birds, Grallina cyanoleuca, of Australia, or G. bruijni, of New Guinea, that builds a large, mud nest.
verb (used without object)
4. to grub or play in mud.

Origin of mudlark

1790-1800 First recorded in 1790-1800; mud + lark1

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for mudlark

Historical Examples

This was Captain Abersouth, formerly of the mudlark —as good a seaman as ever sat on the taffrail reading a three volume novel.
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8
Ambrose Bierce

So I shipped as mate on the mudlark, bound from London to wherever the captain might think it expedient to sail.
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8
Ambrose Bierce

On the voyage of which I write he had taken no cargo at all; he said it would only make the mudlark heavy and slow.
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8
Ambrose Bierce

You wade along in this way step by step, like a mudlark at Portsmouth Hard, hoping gradually to regain the surface.
South!
Sir Ernest Shackleton

As a lad I slept with the rats, held horses, swept crossings and lived like a mudlark !
The Strollers
Frederic S. Isham

Today’s quote

Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

– George Orwell

On this day

25 June 1903 – birth of George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair), Democratic Socialist and English author of works such as ‘Nineteen-Eighty Four‘, ‘Animal Farm‘, and ‘Homage to Catalonia‘. Died 21 January 1950.

25 June 1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is first published.

25 June 1978 – the Rainbow Flag, symbol of gay pride, is flown for the first time in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.