13 January 2016

gossypiboma

[gos-sip-uh-boh-muh]

noun

– foreign material, such as a surgical sponge, accidentally left inside a patient’s body.

Origin

From Latin gossypium, “cotton”, and Swahili boma, “concealment”.

Example

Detection of gossypiboma is more difficult than it seems.

Anagram

a smog biopsy

Today’s quote

Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.

– Thomas Jefferson

On this day

13 January 1893 – birth of Roy Cazaly, Australian Rules football legend, known for his high marks and ruck-work. Immortalised in the song, ‘Up there Cazaly‘, by The Two Man Band (Mike Brady & Peter Sullivan). Died 10 October 1963.

13 January 1929 – death of Wyatt Earp in Los Angeles, American gunfighter, famous for the gunfight at the OK Corral. He was 80 years old.

13 January 1939 – Black Friday fires in Victoria, Australia, covering more than 4,900,000 acres, destroying 1,000 homes and killing 71 people. It was one of the world’s worst bush-fire disasters.

13 January 2001 – a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hits El Salvador, killing 1,000 people

8 January 2016

sabrage

[seh-bra-zh]

noun

– the act of opening a champagne bottle with a sabre. Usually reserved for ceremonial occasions.

Example

Instead of popping corks for their wedding, the couple celebrated their union with a spectacular sabrage.

Anagram

sag bare

Today’s quote

Many will call me an adventurer – and that I am, only one of a different sort: one of those who risks his skin to prove his platitudes.

– Che Guevara

On this day

8 January 1935 – birth of Elvis Aaron Presley, the King of Rock and Roll. Died 16 August 1977.

8 January 1947 – birthday of David Bowie, British musician and actor, born David Robert Jones.

8 January 1959 – Fidel Castro’s rebel forces take control of Cuba. Castro eventually became President and ruled the nation until 2011.

8 January 1964 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson introduces legislation that results in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, otherwise known as the War on Poverty, in an effort to reduce the increasing poverty rate, which at that time was around 19%. Through this a number of poverty-reduction strategies were implemented, including Social Security Act 1965, Food Stamp Act of 1964, Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965), Community Action Program, Job Corps, and Volunteers in Services to America. Within 10 years the poverty rate had been reduced to around 11%. In 2014, the rate had risen to around 15%.

4 January 2016

concilliabule

[kohn-sil-lee-uh-byul]

noun

– a secret meeting or secret plans of people who are hatching a plot.

Example

Cabinet’s concilliabule to overthrow the Prime Minister was enacted after the most recent opinion poll.

Anagram

lineal bucolic
albino ice cull

Today’s quote

To love our neighbor as ourselves is such a truth for regulating human society, that by that alone one might determine all the cases in social morality.

– John Locke

On this day

4 January – the eleventh day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

4 January 1903 – Thomas Edison electrocutes an elephant to prove the dangers of ‘alternating current’ electricity. He had previously electrocuted stray cats and dogs and even horses and cows. He snidely referred to it as ‘getting Westinghoused’. Topsy, the elephant, had squashed 4 trainers at the Luna Park Zoo on Coney Island, so the zoo had decided to hang her, before someone suggested she ‘ride the lightning’. More on this at http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0104

4 January 1965 – death of Thomas Stearns Eliot (T.S. Eliot), poet, playwright, publisher, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, described as ‘arguably the most important English language poet of the 20th century’. Wrote ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock‘, ‘The Waste Land‘, ‘Ash Wednesday‘, ‘The Hollow Men‘. Born 26 September 1888.

3 January 2016

cancatervate

[kan-kat-uh-veyt]

verb

– to heap into a pile

Origin

unknown

Example

His job was to cancatervate the dirt removed from the building site.

Anagram

even cataract
cave reactant
vacate nectar

Today’s quote

Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.

– Marcus Tullius Cicero

On this day

3 January – the tenth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

3 January 106BC – birth of Marcus Tullius Cicero (sometimes anglicised as Tully), Roman statesman, politician, philosopher, orator. Tully’s influence on Latin and other European languages was immense and still felt up to the 19th century. The history of prose in Latin and other languages was said to be either a reaction against, or a return to, his style. Died 7 December 43BC.

3 January 1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

3 January 1892 – birth of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of ‘The Hobbit‘ and ‘Lord of the Rings‘. Died 2 September 1973. ‘The road goes ever on … ‘

3 January 1956 – birth of Mel Gibson, Australian actor.

3 January 1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.

3 January 1969 – birth of Michael Schumacher, German Formula 1 racing car driver.

3 January 1977 – Apple Computers is incorporated.

2 January 2016

cagamosis

[kag-uh-moh-sis]

noun

– an unhappy marriage

Example

Their cagamosis became apparent through each other’s constant nitpicking.

Anagram

mosaic gas
magic as so

Today’s quote

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.

– Edith Lovejoy Pierce

On this day

2 January – the ninth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

2 January 1952 – birth of Graeme ‘Shirley’ Strachan, in a helicopter crash near Maroochydore, Queensland. Lead singer of Australian band, Skyhooks. Died 29 August 2001.

2 January 1979 – Sid Vicious, former bass player with the Sex Pistols, goes on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spugen. Vicious and Spungen had allegedly been using heroin, and Vicious claimed he woke to find her dead on the bathroom floor. He was released on bail on 1 February 1979. It was later revealed that Mick Jagger paid the bail. That night he celebrated his release with friends. Vicious had stopped using heroin, however, his mother provided some that night. Early the following morning (2 February 1979), Vicious died of an overdose.

1 January 2016

bombilate

[bom-bee-leyt]

verb

– to hum or buzz

derivatives

noun – bombilation
third-person singular simple present bombilates, present participle bombilating, simple past and past participle bombilated

Origin

Late 19th century: from medieval Latin bombilare ‘to buzz’, from Latin bombus ‘humming’ (see bomb).

Anagram

albeit mob
beat limbo

Today’s quote

The idea of freedom is inspiring. But what does it mean? If you are free in a political sense but have no food, what’s that? The freedom to starve?

― Angela Y. Davis

On this day

1 January – the eighth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

1 January – the official birthday for all thoroughbred horses in the Northern Hemisphere. (see 1 August for Southern Hemisphere).

1 January 1901 – Federation of Australia. The six self-governing colonies in Australia formed a single nation known as the Commonwealth of Australia.

1 January 1915 – Battle of Broken Hill. Two Turkish men shot dead four people and wounded seven others in the remote Australian town of Broken Hill, New South Wales. They claimed it was in relation to ongoing hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire.

1 January 1942 – the United Nations is established by representatives of 26 nations in order to enforce peace-keeping campaigns throughout the world. There are now 193 member states and 2 non-member states (the Holy See and Palestine).

1 January 1959 – Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba following a revolution led by Fidel Castro. Batista allegedly fled with around $700 million of art and cash, the result of graft and corruption.

1 January 1985 – the UK’s first mobile phone call is made by British comedian, Ernie Wise (from ‘Morecombe and Wise’), to Vodafone.