19 August 2018

droit du seigneur

[French drwa dy se-nyœr]

noun

1. the supposed right claimable by a feudal lord to have sexual relations with the bride of a vassal on her first night of marriage.

Origin of droit du seigneur

1815-1825; < French: literally, right of the lord

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for droit du seigneur Expand

Historical Examples

More than this, they enjoy a sort of ” droit du seigneur,” and no man’s wife or daughter is safe from them.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill

Today’s quote

Truly it is an evil to be full of faults; but it is a still greater evil to be full of them and to be unwilling to recognize them, since that is to add the further fault of a voluntary illusion.

– Blaise Pascal

On this day

19 August 14AD – death of Augustus Caesar, founder of the Roman Empire and first Roman Emperor. Born 23 September 63BC.

19 August 1662 – death of Blaise Pascal, controversial French mathematician, physicist, inventor and writer. Formulated ‘Pascal’s Triangle’, a tabular presentation for binomial coefficients, challenged Aristotle’s followers who claimed that ‘nature abhors a vacuum’. The computer programming language, ‘Pascal’, is named in his honour. Born 19 June 1623.

19 August 1900 – start of the first Olympic cricket match, played in Paris. It is the only Olympics in which cricket was played.

19 August 1919 – Afghanistan Independence Day, in which Afghanistan declared its independence from Britain.

19 August – World Humanitarian Day – a day to recognise those who face danger and adversity in order to help others. 19 August was chosen because it is the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Special Representative for Secretary-General to Iraq and 21 of his colleagues. The day seeks to draw attention to humanitarian needs worldwide and the importance of international cooperation in meeting these needs.

17 August 2018

cacique

[kuh-seek]

noun

1. a chief of an Indian clan or tribe in Mexico and the West Indies.
2. (in Spain and Latin America) a political boss on a local level.
3. (in the Philippines) a prominent landowner.
4. any of several black and red or black and yellow orioles of the American tropics that construct long, pendent nests.

Origin of cacique

Spanish, Taino
1545-1555; < Spanish < Taino (Hispaniola)

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for cacique

Contemporary Examples

It is from the perspective of a Mexican cacique on his deathbed.
My Father Sergio Muñoz Bata’s Friendship With Novelist Carlos Fuentes
Lorenza Muñoz
May 16, 2012

Historical Examples

He sat in the midst of a circle of lamplighters, and was the cacique, or chief of the tribe.
The Lamplighter
Charles Dickens

He was the cacique of the Sun and he was vexed because he had not been called earlier.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin

Today’s quote

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

– Baruch Spinoza

On this day

17 August 1786 – birth of Davy Crockett, American frontiersman, King of the Wild Frontier. Died 6 March 1836.

17 August 1896 – Bridget Driscoll becomes the first car accident fatality after being run over by a Benz car in the grounds of the Crystal Palace, London, England.

17 August 1908 – the world’s first animated cartoon, Fantasmagorie by Émile Cohl, is shown in Paris.

17 August 1930 – birth of Ted Hughes, English poet, children’s writer. Has been described as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes married American poet, Sylvia Plath in 1957. They separated in 1962 after she discovered he was having an affair with Assia Wevill, a German-born Jewish woman who escaped the Nazis during World War II. Plath suicided six months after the separation, at the age of 30. Plath had a history of suicide attempts and there is conjecture that her death could have been accidental as she had left a note to call her doctor. However, others believe the effort put into this attempt indicate that she intended to kill herself. Plath died from carbon monoxide poisoning after placing her head in a gas oven with the gas turned on. She had sealed the rooms between her and her sleeping children, with wet towels to ensure the gas didn’t harm the children. Hughes was devastated by her suicide and stopped writing poetry for three years. He had been having an affair with Assia Wevill and eventually had a child to her. Their daughter was named Alexandra Tatiana Elise (nicknamed ‘Shura’). In 1969, Wevill also suicided in the same manner as Sylvia Plath, by sealing the kitchen door and window, and turning on the gas stove. Whereas Plath had protected her children from the gas, Wevill gave 4 year old Shura a sleeping tablet mixed in a glass of water. Their bodies were found laying on a mattress in the kitchen. Some blamed Hughes for both suicides, alleging that he was abusive to both women. Hughes was unable to finish his poetry series, ‘The Crow’ after the death of Wevill. In 1970, he married Carol Orchard, who remained his wife until his death. From 1984, Hughes served as Poet Laureate. Died 28 October 1998.

17 August 1970 – Russia launches the Venera 7 spacecraft, which becomes the first man-made object to land on Venus (15 December 1970)

17 August 1980 – Azaria Chamberlain is reported missing at Ayers Rock, Northern Territory. Initially it was claimed that a dingo took her. In 1982, her mother, Lindy Chamberlain was tried for murder. Her husband, Michael, was charged for being an accessory after the fact. After three years in prison, Lindy was released after a piece of the baby’s clothing was found near a dingo’s lair. In 2012, a coroner confirmed the Chamberlain’s version of events that a dingo had taken Azaria.

17 August 1987 – death of Rudolf Hess, prominent Nazi politician who served as Deputy Fuhrer under Adolf Hitler. In 1941, Hess flew solo to Scotland in an effort to negotiate peace after being ignored by Hitler in various plans associated with the war. The flight was not sanctioned by Hitler. Hess was taken prisoner and charged with crimes against peace. He served a life sentence and remained in prison until his death. Born 26 April 1894.

16 August 2018

Dazzle Ships

Dazzle camouflage was a style of military camouflage used during World War I and World War II. It was the innovation of Devon artist, Norman Wilkinson. Unlike most camouflage, Dazzle was not meant to conceal the ship, but to provide an illusion that made it difficult to identify the type of ship and its speed and direction of travel. It is alleged that Picasso tried to take credit for the Dazzle paint scheme as it closely resembled cubism, which had inspired Wilkinson’s idea for the paint schemes.

Examples of Dazzle Ships

HMS Mauretania (1918)

SS Olympic with returned soldiers at Halifax, Canada (1917)

– painted by Arthur Lismer

USS Leviathan (1918)

USS Nebraska (1918)

USS Charles S. Sperry (1944)

Today’s quote

The ignorant mind, with its infinite afflictions, passions, and evils, is rooted in the three poisons. Greed, anger, and delusion.

– Bodhidharma

On this day

16 August 1938 – death 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. Born 8 May 1911.

16 August 1958 – birth of Madonna, American pop star, (born Madonna Louise Ciccone). The Guinness Book of World Records lists her as the biggest selling female recording artist of all time, with over 300 million records sold world-wide.

16 August 1962 – Ringo Starr becomes the new drummer for the Beatles, taking over from Peter Best who was sacked by the band. Ringo went on to fame and fortune, Best became a career public servant for 20 years, before forming the Peter Best Band.

16 August 1975 – Land is returned to Australia’s indigenous people for the first time by an Australian government. Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (Australian Labor Party) returned land to Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji people, who are based southwest of Katherine, in the Northern Territory. The land was returned as freehold following years of campaigning that included a strike in 1966 at Wave Hill cattle station.

16 August 1977 – death of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll. Born 8 January 1935.

15 August 2018

sentimental

[sen-tuh-men-tl]

adjective

1. expressive of or appealing to sentiment, especially the tender emotions and feelings, as love, pity, or nostalgia:
a sentimental song.
2. pertaining to or dependent on sentiment :
We kept the old photograph for purely sentimental reasons.
3. weakly emotional; mawkishly susceptible or tender:
the sentimental Victorians.
4. characterized by or showing sentiment or refined feeling.

Origin of sentimental

1740-1750 First recorded in 1740-50; sentiment + -al1

Related forms

sentimentally, adverb
antisentimental, adjective
antisentimentally, adverb
hypersentimental, adjective
hypersentimentally, adverb

Synonyms

1. romantic, tender, nostalgic; maudlin, bathetic.

Antonyms

1, 4. dispassionate.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for sentimental

Contemporary Examples

A good commercial Christmas song must avoid being too sentimental or too cutesy.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.
Michael Tomasky
December 24, 2014

Northanger Abbey, after all, parodies the tropes and excesses of sentimental Gothic novels.
The Birth of the Novel
Nick Romeo
November 27, 2014

While Kalman tends to mine the past for material, she is as irreverent as she is sentimental.
The Singular Artist of New Yorkistan
Lizzie Crocker
November 14, 2014

The simultaneously upbeat and sentimental ode to friendship is equal parts funk, trance, pop, and R&B.
The Swedish Queen of Soulful Pop: Mapei Won’t Wait for You to Listen
Caitlin Dickson
October 16, 2014

In another series, drafting a fantasy football team by the side of a fallen comrade could be sentimental, even borderline maudlin.
The MVPs of Sleaze Are Back: FXX’s ‘The League’ Ups the Degenerate Ante
Emily Shire
September 4, 2014

Historical Examples

Let us see if there is any foundation for this sentimental balderdash.
The Man Shakespeare
Frank Harris

This was the first time she had ever heard Martin ask for something as sentimental as a kiss.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius

This country is absurd with its sentimental regard for individual liberty.
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad

The public has a sort of sentimental regard for that fellow.
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad

There was not a trace of sentimental expression to this absorption.
Hetty’s Strange History
Anonymous

Today’s quote

Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you find it.

– Bob Dylan

On this day

15 August 1769 – birth of Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor. Died 5 May 1821.

15 August 1945 – Japan announces its surrender to the Allies following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The official ‘Instrument of Surrender’ was signed on 2 September 1945.

15 August 1947 – India Independence Day. At the stroke of midnight (14/15 August), India was partitioned and granted independence from British rule.

15 – 18 August 1969 – the Woodstock Music & Art Fair (or just ‘Woodstock’), a festival of peace and music, was held over three days at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm, 69 kilometres south-west of the town of Woodstock in New York State. It featured artists such as Joan Baez, Ravi Shankar, Arlo Guthrie, Mountain, the Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Cosby Stills Nash and Young, Blood Sweat and Tears, Ten Years After. A number of high profile musicians declined to play, including The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Chicago, The Byrds, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Iron Butterfly and Joni Mitchell. Woodstock is still considered to be the ultimate rock and counter-cultural festival. The promoters hoped for 50,000 to attend and were caught unprepared when more than 500,000 people attended.

14 August 2018

execrable

[ek-si-kruh-buh l]

adjective

1. utterly detestable; abominable; abhorrent.
2. very bad:
an execrable stage performance.

Origin of execrable

Middle English, Latin

1350-1400 for earlier sense “expressing a curse”; 1480-90 for def 1; Middle English < Latin ex(s)ecrābilis accursed, detestable. See execrate, -able

Related forms

execrableness, noun
execrably, adverb

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for execrable

Contemporary Examples

Anything, for example, to take our minds off the execrable “dining experience.”
Your iPod (Most Likely) Won’t Bring Down the Plane
Clive Irving
October 31, 2013

So I’m not criticizing her, and I’m certainly not defending DW Griffith’s execrable opinions.
The Economic History of Stereotypes
Megan McArdle
June 3, 2013

Historical Examples

And he’s likely to talk the most execrable slang, or to quote Browning.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson

Ah, I would willingly have killed that execrable Smith, for he was poisoning my life.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt

Not a word of it seemed to be true, and the style in which it was written was execrable.
Monday or Tuesday
Virginia Woolf

Why should not they admit that little picture, although he himself thought it execrable ?
His Masterpiece
Emile Zola

The host of the little inn had not exaggerated—the road was execrable.
Maurice Tiernay Soldier of Fortune
Charles James Lever

But the dinner was execrable, and all the feast was for the eyes.
Falk
Joseph Conrad

It is execrable stuff—the milk of sirens mingled with sea-water.
Lippincott’s Magazine, Vol. 20, August 1877
Various

“Just time if we put on some speed; but the roads are execrable,” he vouchsafed.
A harum-scarum schoolgirl
Angela Brazil

Today’s quote

A free press is the unsleeping guardian of every other right that free men prize; it is the most dangerous foe of tyranny. Where men have the habit of liberty, the Press will continue to be the vigilant guardian of the rights of the ordinary citizen.

– Winston Churchill

On this day

14 August 1248 – construction begins on the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.

14 August 1880 – construction of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany is finally completed … 632 years after commencement.

14 August 1947 – Pakistan Independence Day. At the stroke of midnight (14/15 August), India was partitioned and the nation of Pakistan created, independent of British and Indian rule.

14 August 1956 – death of Bertolt Brecht, German playwright, writer and theatre practitioner. Born 10 February 1898.

14 August 1963 – Considered to be the founding documents of Australia’s indigenous land rights (native title) movement, the first Bark Petition was presented to the Australian Government’s House of Representatives by Jock Nelson, Member for the Northern Territory on behalf of the Yolngu people of Yirrkala. The second Bark Petition was presented to the House of Representatives by then Opposition Leader, Arthur Calwell. The petitions were ochre paintings on bark and signed by 13 clan leaders of the Yolngu region (Gove peninsula), protesting the Commonwealth Government granting mining rights to Nabalco on Yolngu land . The petitions resulted in a parliamentary inquiry that recommended compensation be paid to the Yolngu people. It was the first recognition of native title in Australia.

13 August 2018

rebozo

[ri-boh-soh, -zoh; Spanish re-baw-thaw, -saw]

noun, plural rebozos [ri-boh-sohz, -zohz; Spanish re-baw-thaws, -saws] (Show IPA)

1. a long woven scarf, often of fine material, worn over the head and shoulders by Spanish and Mexican women.

Also, reboso, rebosa, riboso, ribozo.

Origin of rebozo

1800-1810; Spanish: scarf, shawl, equivalent to re- re- + bozo muzzle

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for rebozo

Contemporary Examples

She made the design as a comment on the comforting nature of wrapping oneself in a rebozo.
Shining a Spotlight on Mexico’s Iconic Textile—the Rebozo
Liza Foreman
June 16, 2014

Photographs by Lourdes Almeida explore the meaning of the style in which a rebozo is worn.
Shining a Spotlight on Mexico’s Iconic Textile—the Rebozo
Liza Foreman
June 16, 2014

Made from Japanese paper and thread, her rebozo is a critique of the condition of the planet and human behavior, the artist said.
Shining a Spotlight on Mexico’s Iconic Textile—the Rebozo
Liza Foreman
June 16, 2014

Today’s quote

We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.

– Maya Angelou

On this day

13 August 1784 – British Parliament enacts ‘Pitt’s India Act’, which brought the East India company under the control of the British government.

13 August 1899 – birth of Alfred Hitchcock, English movie director and producer. Died 29 April 1980.

13 August 1926 – birth of Fidel Castro, former Cuban President. Died 25 November 2016.

13 August 1946 – death of Herbert George ‘H.G.’ Wells, British science fiction writer, author of The War of the Worlds, Time Machine, Island of Dr Moreau, The War of the Worlds. Born 21 September 1866.

13 August 1961 – construction of the Berlin Wall commences. Torn down 9 November 1989.

12 August 2018

rustre

[roi-ster]

noun / adjective (french)

lout, someone who is rude, lack of education, of delicacy.

Example: He is such a rustre.

Today’s quote

What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space.

– Erwin Schrödinger

On this day

12 August 30BC – Cleopatra VII, last Pharoah of Ancient Egypt, suicides after learning of the suicide of her lover, Mark Antony (after he lost the Battle of Actium to Emperor Octavian). She reportedly allowed herself to be bitten by an asp. Soon after, Egypt became a Roman province under Octavian.

12 August 1887 – birth of Erwin Schrödinger, Nobel prize-winning Austrian physicist who developed a number of fundamental results in the field of quantum theory, which formed the basis of wave mechanics. He was the author of many works in various fields of physics: statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, physics of dielectrics, colour theory, electrodynamics, general relativity, and cosmology, and he made several attempts to construct a unified field theory. He paid great attention to the philosophical aspects of science, ancient and oriental philosophical concepts, ethics, and religion.[4] He also wrote on philosophy and theoretical biology. He is also known for his “Schrödinger’s cat” thought-experiment. Died 4 January 1961.

12 August 1964 – death of Ian Fleming, British author of the ‘James Bond’ novels. Born 28 May 1908.

12 August 2009 – death of Les Paul, (born Lester William Polsfuss) American musician and inventor of the solid body electric guitar. The popular Gibson Les Paul was designed in collaboration with him. Born 9 June 1915.