17 May 2017

hypozeuxis

[hahy-puh-zook-sis]

noun, Rhetoric.

1. the use of a series of parallel clauses, each of which has a subject and predicate, as in “I came, I saw, I conquered.”.

Origin of hypozeuxis
Late Latin

1580-1590Late Latin < Late Greek, equivalent to Greek hypozeug(nýnai) to put under the yoke ( hypo- hypo- + zeugnýnai to yoke, derivative of zeûgos yoke1) + -sis -sis

Dictionary.com

Example

Nothing quite states a point as a well structured hypozeuxis.

Anagram

hex zips you

Today’s quote

We need at least one friend who understands what we do not say.

– Dr Sunwolf

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.

15 May 2017

farnarkling

noun / verb

1. The group activity whereby everyone sits around discussing the need to “do something” but nothing actually happens

Example

Farnarkling lost a champion yesterday, with the passing of Mr John Clarke.
John Clarke: Gone to the great farnarkling grommet in the sky
John Birmingham
10 April 2017

Anagram

flaring rank
far gnarl ink

Today’s quote

Land is the secure ground of home, the sea is like life, the outside, the unknown.

– Stephen Gardiner

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.

14 May 2017

fenagle

[fi-ney-guh l]

verb (used with or without object), fenagled, fenagling.

1. finagle.

finagle or fenagle

[fi-ney-guh l]

verb (used with object), finagled, finagling.

1. to trick, swindle, or cheat (a person) (often followed by out of):
He finagled the backers out of a fortune.
2. to get or achieve (something) by guile, trickery, or manipulation:
to finagle an assignment to the Membership Committee.
verb (used without object), finagled, finagling.
3. to practice deception or fraud; scheme.

Origin of finagle

1925-1930, Americanism; finaig- (variant of fainaigue ) + -le
Related forms

finagler, noun

Dictionary.com

Anagram

leaf gin
fig lane
elf gain

Today’s quote

I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return

– W.H. Auden

On this day

14 May 1796 – Edward Jenner gives the first smallpox vaccination.

14 May 1879 – the first group of indentured Indians labourers arrive in Fiji aboard the Leonidas.

14 May 1919 – death of Henry John Heinz, founder of Heinz Company, responsible for canned baked beans. Born 11 October 1844.

14 May 1929 – Wilfred Rhodes takes his 4,000th first-class wicket at Leyton, after bowling 9/39. He played 58 test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. He was the first Englishman to complete both 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test cricket. He went on to achieve the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in individual first-class seasons a record 16 times. He retired with first-class totals of 4,204 wickets and 39,969 runs. In Tests he retired with 127 wickets and 2,325 runs.

14 May 1939 – Lina Medina (born 27 September 1933 in Peru) becomes the world’s youngest confirmed mother at the age of five. She gave birth by a caesarean section, to a boy, weighing 2.7kg (6.0lb). He was named Gerardo after the doctor who delivered him. He was raised believing Lina was his sister and was told the truth at the age of 10. Gerardo died in 1979, aged 40, of a bone marrow disease. Following Gerardo’s birth, Lina was diagnosed with extreme ‘precocious puberty’, in which puberty occurs at an unusually early age. It was initially reported that she hit puberty by the age of three, however, a further medical report indicated she had commenced puberty by eight months old. Lina never revealed who the father was or the circumstances of her impregnation. Lina later married and had a second child in 1972, when she was 39. She presently lives in Lima, Peru.

14 May 1948 – the modern nation of Israel is established by proclamation of the Jewish Agency headed by David Ben-Gurion, following the United Nations adoption of Resolution 181 on 29 November 1947.

13 May 2017

brae

[brey, bree; Scot. brey, bree]

noun, Scot. and North England.

1. a slope; declivity; hillside.

Origin of brae

Middle English Old Norse

1300-1350; Middle English bra; Old Norse brā brow, cognate with Old English brēaw eyebrow, eyelid, Old High German brāwa (German Braue); for semantic development, cf. brow

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for brae

Historical Examples

The contents of this MS. can be so well ascertained from Mr. brae ‘s edition that it is unnecessary to say more about it here.
Chaucer’s Works, Volume 3 (of 7)
Geoffrey Chaucer

Once landed on Raasay, I made up the brae to the great house.
A Daughter of Raasay
William MacLeod Raine

In three or four minutes we had topped the brae and began to go down upon Sandag.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI
Robert Louis Stevenson

Anagram

bear
bare

Today’s quote

If I’m being rejected from one thing, it’s really just the path redirecting me elsewhere to where I’m supposed to be.

– Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

On this day

13 May 1941 – birth of Richard Steven Valenzuela, otherwise known as Richie Valens. 1950s rock and roll star, famous for songs such as, ‘Come On, Let’s Go’, and ‘La Bamba. Died in a plane crash on 3 February 1959 with other musicians, Buddy Holly, J.P. ‘Big Bopper’ Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson. Their deaths were immortalised in the Don McLean song, ‘American Pie’, when he sang about the day the music died.

13 May 1981 – Pope John Paul II is injured in front of 2,000 people in St Peter’s Square after being shot by Turkish man, Mehmet Ali Agca.

12 May 2017

surplice

[sur-plis]

noun

1. a loose-fitting, broad-sleeved white vestment, worn over the cassock by clergy and choristers.
2. a garment in which the two halves of the front cross diagonally.

Origin of surplice

Middle English Anglo-French Old French Medieval Latin
1250-1300; Middle English surplis; Anglo-French surpliz, syncopated variant of Old French surpeliz; Medieval Latin superpellīcium (vestīmentum) over-pelt (garment), neuter of superpellīcius (adj.), equivalent to Latin super- super- + pellīt(us) clothed with skins + -ius adj. suffix

Related forms

surpliced, adjective
unsurpliced, adjective

Can be confused

surplice, surplus.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for surplice

Historical Examples

It goes into the pulpit, and decides the gown, and the surplice, and the style of rhetoric.
The Abominations of Modern Society
Rev. T. De Witt Talmage

In 1565 he, with the Fellows and scholars, appeared in Chapel without the surplice.
St. John’s College, Cambridge
Robert Forsyth Scott

The surplice, which Mr. Poodle was still holding, parted with a rip, and Gissing was free.
Where the Blue Begins
Christopher Morley

The sight of a surplice, the sound of bells, scares them away.
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine – Volume 55, No. 344, June, 1844
Various

In 1617 he went with the king to Scotland, and aroused hostility by wearing the surplice.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 3
Various

He returned the bottle to his pocket, and went to the vestry for his surplice.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood

I myself have known parishes in the mountains where the surplice fees were worth more than that of many town livings.
The Red and the Black
Stendhal

The old reprobate with the surplice burst into a volley of bad language.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle

It’s a good thing clergymen wear a surplice, for I am sure he never could tell whether he was decent or not.
A Little Girl in Old Washington
Amanda M. Douglas

An acolyte appeared, followed by the aged priest in his surplice.
Original Short Stories, Volume 12 (of 13)
Guy de Maupassant

Anagram

slurp ice
slicer up
I scruple
cure lisp

Today’s quote

Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.

– Henry Rollins

On this day

12 May 1932 – the body of the Lindbergh baby is found near to the Lindbergh residence. The baby was the son of famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, and had been kidnapped days earlier. The kidnapper had accidentally killed the baby during the kidnapping and abandoned the body in a nearby forest.

12 May 1937 – King George VI is crowned King of Britain (and it’s colonies) at Westminster Abbey, following the abdication of his brother.

12 May 1980 – death of Bette Nesmith Graham. Bette is the inventor of Liquid Paper. Her son, Mike Nesmith, was a member of 1960s UK/American pop/rock band, The Monkees. Born 23 March 1924 in Dallas, Texas.

12 May 1994 – in response to thousands acts of violence in the USA against abortion clinics and their patients, a bill is submitted to President Clinton making it a federal crime to prevent access to an abortion clinic or to threaten or use force against people attending the clinics. The bill resulted in the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act 1994. Between 1978 and 1993 anti-abortion (or pro-life) activists had been responsible for at least 9 murders, 17 attempted murders, 406 death threats, 179 acts of assault, 5 kidnappings of abortion providers, 41 bombings, 96 attempted bombings or arsons, 692 bomb threats, 1993 incidents of trespassing, 1400 incidents of vandalism and 100 attacks with butyric acid (stink bombs).

11 May 2017

Gordian

[gawr-dee-uh n]

adjective

1. pertaining to Gordius, ancient king of Phrygia, who tied a knot (the Gordian knot) that, according to prophecy, was to be undone only by the person who was to rule Asia, and that was cut, rather than untied, by Alexander the Great.
2. resembling the Gordian knot in intricacy.
Idioms
3. cut the Gordian knot, to act quickly and decisively in a difficult situation; solve a problem boldly.

Origin of Gordian

Latin Greek
1555-1565; Latin Gordi(us) (Greek Górdios Gordius) + -an

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for Gordian

Contemporary Examples

Berlusconi, it is true, did not cut this Gordian knot, but neither did he tie it in the first place.
Berlusconi Exits, and an Era of Sexist Buffoonery Is Over
Lawrence Osborne
November 16, 2011

Of course, if we can mix our classical references, Russia has its Sword of Damocles to cut this Gordian Knot.
Ravenous Russia? Thirsty Crimea.
Oleg Shynkarenko, Will Cathcart
May 3, 2014

Entwined within this Gordian knot is a truth so terrible as to be rarely spoken.
Obama’s Historic Mideast Gamble
Leslie H. Gelb
May 20, 2011

Historical Examples

It was she who invented the short cut, who severed the Gordian knot.
The Aspern Papers
Henry James

“I have something to tell you,” he says, cutting the Gordian knot at a clean stroke.
Floyd Grandon’s Honor
Amanda Minnie Douglas

The Bishop cut the Gordian knot for her by ordering all seculars to be turned out of the dorter.
Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535
Eileen Edna Power

“Well, I have cut the Gordian knot,” 262 continued Marmaduke.
Ladies-In-Waiting
Kate Douglas Wiggin

But Washington did not hesitate a moment to cut this Gordian knot.
Who was the Commander at Bunker Hill?
Samuel Swett

One or several must act as did Alexander the Great when he cut the Gordian knot.
Peking Dust
Ellen N. La Motte

What a deliverer was therefore the stern Crete-bound veteran, who cut the Gordian knot of enchantment with, “Pack and begone.”
From the Oak to the Olive
Julia Ward Howe

Anagram

I Dragon
Rain God
iron dag
ion drag

Today’s quote

Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.

– Salvador Dali

On this day

11 May – World Keffiyeh Day, in solidarity with Palestine.

11 May 1904 – birth of Salvador Dali, Spanish surrealist painter. Died 23 January 1989.

11 May 1981 – death of Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer and musician. Born 6 February 1945.

11 May 1985 – death of Chester Gould, American creator of the cartoon strip, ‘Dick Tracy’. He drew the comic strip from 1931 to 1977. Born 20 November 1900.

10 May 2017

feculent

[fek-yuh-luh nt]

adjective

1. full of dregs or fecal matter; foul, turbid, or muddy.

Origin of feculent

late Middle English Latin

1425-1475; late Middle English; Latin faeculentus full of dregs. See feces, -ulent

Related forms

feculence, noun
Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for feculent

Historical Examples

In due time he was dragged across, half strangled, and dreadfully beslubbered by the feculent waters.
Fantastic Fables
Ambrose Bierce

Our light showed no tokens of a feculent or corrupted atmosphere.
A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland
Samuel Johnson

Flowers of a fœtid or feculent odor, hermaphrodite, in compound racemes.
The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines
T. H. Pardo de Tavera

Anagram

clef tune
flue cent

Today’s quote

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

– Nelson Mandela

On this day

10 May 1837 – the Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail and unemployment reaches record levels.

10 May 1893 – the Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.

10 May 1908 – Mother’s Day first celebrated. Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia in the United States becomes the first place in the world to hold the first official Mother’s Day celebration. 407 women were in attendance that day. In 1872 Julie Ward Howe suggested a national holiday to celebrate peace and motherhood. At that time, many local groups held their own celebration of motherhood, but most were religious gatherings. Another influential figure was Anna Jarvis who campaigned for a national holiday following the death of her mother in 1905. Her mother, social activist Ann Jarvis used to hold an annual celebration, Mother’s Friendship Day, to help ease the pain of the US Civil War. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day a national holiday on the second Sunday of May. Anna Jarvis was arrested at a Mother’s Day celebration when she tried to stop the selling of flowers. She stated, ‘I wanted it to be a day of sentiment not of profit‘.

10 May 1924 – Edgard J. Hoover appointed Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A position he holds until his death in 1972.

10 May 1933 – in Germany, Nazis stage massive public book burnings.

10 May 1941 – Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess, parachutes into Scotland to negotiate a peace settlement between the UK and Germany. Hess was arrested and convicted of crimes against peace and spent the remainder of his life in jail. He died in 1987.

10 May 1954 – Bill Haley and His Comets release Rock Around the Clock, the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.

10 May 1960 – birth of Bono (Paul David Hewson), activist and Irish singer-songwriter with U2.

10 May 1994 – Nelson Mandela inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president.

10 May 2003 – The Golden Gumboot opens in Tully, North Queensland. It stands 7.9m tall and represents the record annual rainfall of 7900mm that Tully received in1950. Tully is officially Australia’s wettest town.

9 May 2017

clinker(1)

[kling-ker]

noun

1. a mass of incombustible matter fused together, as in the burning of coal.
2. a hard Dutch brick, used especially for paving.
3. a partially vitrified mass of brick.
4. the scale of oxide formed on iron during forging.
5. Geology. a mass of vitrified material ejected from a volcano.
verb (used without object)
6. to form clinkers in burning.

Origin of clinker(1)

Dutch

1635-1645 First recorded in 1635-45, clinker is from the Dutch word klinker kind of brick, slag

clinker(2)

[kling-ker]

noun

1. a person or thing that clinks.

Origin

First recorded in 1680-90; clink1+ -er1

clinker(3)

[kling-ker]

noun, Slang.

1. a wrong note in a musical performance.
2. any mistake or error.
3. something that is a failure; a product of inferior quality.
4. British. someone or something wonderful or exceedingly well-liked.

Origin

First recorded in 1830-40; special use of clinker(2)

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for clinker Expand

Historical Examples

They, the clinker canoes, are easily tightened when they spring a leak through being rattled over stones in rapids.
Woodcraft and Camping
George Washington Sears (Nessmuk)

“I thought it looked too easy,” I sighed, waiting for the clinker.
Double or Nothing
Jack Sharkey

The ‘King’s Fisher,’ (p. 153) as the sketch shows, was clinker built.
Yachting Vol. 2
Various.

Then pull forward a second portion of the fire, and spread it on the bars, removing the clinker as before.
Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II
Joshua Rose

He examined this ” clinker ” after it cooled, and it interested him.
Earth and Sky Every Child Should Know
Julia Ellen Rogers

Anagram

crinkle
in clerk

Today’s quote

I am just old-fashioned enough to prefer long hair.

– Erich von Stroheim

On this day

9 May – Russian Victory Day which marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

9 May 1960 – the ‘pill’, a contraceptive, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is now used by 100 million women worldwide.

9 May 1970 – 100,000 protestors gather near the White House to protest US involvement in the war in Cambodia.

9 May 1994 – Nelson Mandela is chosen by the newly-elected South African parliament to be the country’s new President.

8 May 2017

Eurocrat

[yoo r-uh-krat, yur-]

noun

1. a member of the executive and technical staff at the headquarters of the European Common Market.

Origin of Eurocrat

1960-1965; Euro- + -crat

Related forms

Eurocratic, adjective

Dictionary.com

race tour
car route

Today’s quote

Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.

– Pele

On this day

8 May 1911 – birthday of Robert Johnson. American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. Legend has it that Johnson met the devil at a crossroads and sold his soul in return for fame and fortune. One of the first musicians of the 20th century to join the 27 club. Died 16 August 1938.

8 May 1945 – VE day. Victory in Europe – the day that Nazi Germany formally surrendered in World War II.