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.

17 May 2018

termagant

[tur-muh-guh nt]

noun

1. a violent, turbulent, or brawling woman.
2. (initial capital letter) a mythical deity popularly believed in the Middle Ages to be worshiped by the Muslims and introduced into the morality play as a violent, overbearing personage in long robes.
adjective
3. violent; turbulent; brawling; shrewish.

Origin of termagant

Middle English, Old French

1175-1225; Middle English Termagaunt, earlier Tervagaunt, alteration of Old French Tervagan name of the imaginary deity

Related forms

termagantly, adverb

Synonyms

1. shrew, virago, harridan, scold.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for termagant

Historical Examples

His wife is a shrew, a termagant, who embitters every hour of his existence.
The Lion’s Skin
Rafael Sabatini

The child must not be suffered to grow up into a termagant —you will admit that, I hope?
Brother Copas
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

This bride was a canting hypocrite of sixty-three, covetous, and a termagant.
The Life and Adventures of Baron Trenck
Baron Trenck

She seemed to be a sort of termagant, and she said nobody said that about her unless you told them.
The Journal of Negro History, Volume 4, 1919
Various

There are two claimants on the Milanese, then; the Spanish termagant, and he?
History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XII. (of XXI.)
Thomas Carlyle

Not to a woman; but I’m sometimes forced to do so to a termagant.
The Evil Eye; Or, The Black Spector
William Carleton

And I was the termagant who must have put it there, though I have no memory of doing so.
The Prairie Child
Arthur Stringer

It was as if Elizabeth had put herself into the situation of a termagant wife.
The Town
Leigh Hunt

She may be a fool—she may be a termagant —she may be what you please—but—but she has money.
The Cock and Anchor
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Why, what a bloody-minded, inveterate, termagant strumpet have I been plagued with!
Thomas Otway
Thomas Otway

Anagram

get mantra
rat magnet
anger Matt
a tram gent

Today’s quote

Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.

– William Faulkner

On this day

17 May – International Day Against Homophobia.

17 May 2000 – Thomas Blanton Jr and Bobby Frank Cherry, former Ku Klux Klan members, are arrested and charged with murder for the 1963 bombing of a church in Alabama which killed four girls. The two men were sentenced to life in prison.

17 May 2012 – Disco singer, Donna Summer dies from lung cancer. She was born on 31 December 1948.

16 May 2018

censer

[sen-ser]

noun

1. a container, usually covered, in which incense is burned, especially during religious services; thurible.

Origin of censer

Middle English, Medieval Latin

1200-1250; Middle English < Anglo-French, aphetic variant of ensenser < Medieval Latin incensārium. See incense1, -er2

Can be confused

censer, censor, censure, sensor.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for censer

Historical Examples

The censer was made of iron, and was so large one could not clasp it with both arms.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various

Stole on the winds through the woodland aisles like the breath of a censer.
Poems
William D. Howells

He had a big can of water, which he swung like a censer as he danced.
Despair’s Last Journey
David Christie Murray

He stood in the middle of the room, staring from Venus to altar-cloth, from altar-cloth to censer.
Peak and Prairie
Anna Fuller

This Absolon, that jolif was and gay, Gooth with a sencer ( censer) on the haliday.
The Romance of Names
Ernest Weekley

Or sometimes the incense is lighted and put in the censer by one of the priests employed.
Moon Lore
Timothy Harley

The gods must have their incense from the right kind of censer.
Visions and Revisions
John Cowper Powys

The most elaborate is the censer, which has been already given.
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 5. (of 7): Persia
George Rawlinson

Their religion stops with the altar and the censer —the material things.
In League with Israel
Annie F. Johnston

Among the uses suggested are those of a censer and a lantern.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume IV
Hubert Howe Bancroft

Anagram

screen

Today’s quote

The wound is the place where the light enters you.

– Rumi

On this day

16 May 1920 – Joan of Arc is canonised (declared a saint) by the Catholic Church. In 1431, the Catholic Church accused her of heresy. She was subsequently ex-communicated and burnt at the stake. The church later nullified her ex-communication, declaring her a matyr who was unjustly executed because of a vendetta by the English (who controlled the Inquisitorial Court in occupied France). She was beatified (given the title of Blessed and the ability to intercede on behalf of those who pray to her) in 1909 prior to her canonisation in 1920.

16 May 1990 – death of Jim Henson, American muppeteer (Sesame Street, the Muppet Show). Born 24 September 1936.

16 May 1944 – birth of Danny Trejo, American actor (Desperado, Machete, Con-Air).

16 May 1945 – birth of Nicky Chinn, British songwriter and record producer. In conjunction with Queensland-born Mike Chapman, he wrote hit singles for Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Mud, Racey, Smokie and Tina Turner.

16 May 2010 – death 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. Born 12 July 1942.

15 May 2018

spinet

[spin-it]

noun

1. a small upright piano.
2. a small, square piano.
3. any of various small harpsichords.
4. Also called spinet organ. a small electric organ.

Origin of spinet

French, Italian

1655-1665; aphetic variant of obsolete espinette < French < Italian spinetta, probably equivalent to spin(a) thorn (see spine ) + -etta diminutive suffix; the existence of an instrument-maker named Spinetti is unverified

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for spinet

Contemporary Examples

I went into the smoking-room and sat down before the spinet.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show
Robert W. Chambers

February 20, 2014

Historical Examples

There are two theories as to the origin of the name ” spinet.”
How the Piano Came to Be
Ellye Howell Glover

There are interesting old books on the virginals, harpsichord, and spinet.
The Book-Hunter at Home
P. B. M. Allan

She had been taking lessons on the spinet, but the painting was a great rival.
A Little Girl in Old Salem
Amanda Minnie Douglas

Her laugh was sweet and tinkly, like the upper notes of a spinet.
IT and Other Stories
Gouverneur Morris

Do you think that you could learn to play the spinet, Jenny?
True to His Home
Hezekiah Butterworth

Now I know it is a spinet I heard humming—I told you about it, mother.
True to His Home
Hezekiah Butterworth

Breathing hard, Groverzb rose and gingerly lifted the spinet ‘s lid.
Quiet, Please
Kevin Scott

Then the order was given, ” spinet, be silent,” and all was quiet.
Harper’s Young People, May 11, 1880
Various

This spinet remained one of Verdi’s most treasured possessions.
Verdi: Man and Musician
Frederick James Crowest

Anagram

I spent
its pen

Today’s quote

Great anger and violence can never build a nation.

– Nelson Mandela

On this day

15 May – The Nakba (Day of the Catastrophe), Palestine – commemoration of the displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians and the depopulation and destruction of at least 400 villages during the establishment of Israel in 1948.

15 May 1970 – At Jackson State University in Mississippi, police open fire on students who were protesting against the Vietnam and Cambodian Wars, killing two and injuring twelve.