Monday, September 20, 2004
Godfather Horse Head Pillow
This is our little contribution to the Godfather legacy. A custom severed horse head pillow that is actually quite comfortable to sleep on, albeit a tad on the south side of morbid. A great conversation piece for the film buff who has everything and whose wife won't let them own a revolver. Fans of the Godfather can now unite and sleep comfortably, if not uneasily.
Live On Air Car Crash at 50 MPH
The on air news reporter is doing a segment on how dangerous an intersection is and during the segment a truck side swipes a car at 50 MPH. We could of taken the broadcasters word for it their was no need for the live demonstration.
Hangman for the Mentally Disabled
This is not your ordinary version of the old game, this is Hangman for the Mentally Disabled.
Dr Pepper - Flammable?
I don't know if Dr Pepper is actually flammable or if they put something into this but either way I am going to try it.
I think it IS
I think it IS
Weeping Muse (NSFW)
The Weeping Muse
This website is dedicated to the expression of the spirit.
This site has one mission and that is to liberate humanity from it's inhibitions.
This website is dedicated to the expression of the spirit.
This site has one mission and that is to liberate humanity from it's inhibitions.
100 Photographs that changes the World
Life magazine provides you a look at 100 photographs that changed the world.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Monday, August 16, 2004
Word Of The Day
tete-a-tete \TAYT-uh-TAYT; TET-uh-TET\, adjective:
Private; confidential; familiar.
noun:
1. A private conversation between two people.
2. A short sofa intended to accommodate two persons.
Once you have a couple of offers in hand, ask the boss for a tete-a-tete.
--Michelle Cottle, "Seeking That Fair Day's Pay." New York Times, January 24, 1999
George Adamski, a penny-ante guru already in the flying saucer business, lecturing on the subject and selling his own UFO photos, had his first tete-a-tete with a Venusian named Orthon, who explained by dumb show and telepathy that his saucer was powered by Earth's magnetism.
--Thomas M. Disch, The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of
Raw garlic will give you plenty of this disulfide, but cooking gets rid of it because it is volatile enough to evaporate during cooking. This is the reason you can safely eat a soup or stew that has lots of garlic in the recipe, and still enjoy a friendly tete-a-tete with someone.
--John Emsley, Molecules at an Exhibition
Tete-a-tete comes from the French, literally "head-to-head."
quisling \KWIZ-ling\, noun:
Someone who collaborates with an enemy occupying his or her country; a traitor.
In the clutches of Herod, a quisling whom even his Roman paymasters despise, John is an all-too-perfect personification of Israel under Roman rule abetted by Jewish collaboration.
--Jack Miles, Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God
This circle had already closed ranks around Tito in the prewar period of illegal struggle, and our ensuing sacrifices, our suffering, the exploits of both Party and people as they made war against the Nazi and Fascist occupiers and their quislings and supporters, had only further toughened and hardened the leaders.
--Milovan Djilas, Fall of the New Class
A quisling is so called after Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945), Norwegian politician and officer who collaborated with the Nazis.
nolens volens \NO-lenz-VO-lenz\:
Whether unwilling or willing.
Beneath the surface, little-noticed but fundamental changes are taking place that must compel both sides, nolens volens, sooner or later to reconfigure their tortured but inseparable relationship.
--Bernard Wasserstein, Israelis and Palestinians
Events have put NATO in a position where it is the policeman of Europe and beyond, nolens volens.
--"NATO then, Nato now," Daily Telegraph, April 23, 1999
After all, I'm not sure that I'm so angry with them, for it means that now you've got to remain here indefinitely -- nolens volens.
--Mina McDonald, "True Stories Of The Great War: Some Experiences In Hungary," History of the World, January 1, 1992
Nolens volens is from the Latin, from nolle, "to be unwilling" + velle, "to wish, to be willing."
woolgathering \WOOL-gath-(uh)-ring\, noun:
Indulgence in idle daydreaming.
Similarly, in the meadow, if you laze too late into the fall, woolgathering, snow could fill your mouth.
--Edward Hoagland, "Earth's eye," Sierra, May 1999
It would be easy to slip off into woolgathering and miss a deadline.
--Jeraldine Saunders, Washington Post, March 4, 2004
Plagued by guilt, they took refuge in wine, women, and woolgathering.
--Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust
The soprano roused Fergus from his woolgathering.
--Sandra Brown, Where There's Smoke
Woolgathering derives from the literal sense, "gathering fragments of wool."
ab ovo \ab-OH-voh\, adverb:
From the beginning.
I will begin ab ovo -- at the very beginning.
--War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The performers do not have to discover these techniques and processes ab ovo; they learn them from the previous generation, who learned them from their predecessors, and so on.
--William L. Benzon, Beethoven's Anvil
Ab ovo is from Latin, literally, "from the egg."
Private; confidential; familiar.
noun:
1. A private conversation between two people.
2. A short sofa intended to accommodate two persons.
Once you have a couple of offers in hand, ask the boss for a tete-a-tete.
--Michelle Cottle, "Seeking That Fair Day's Pay." New York Times, January 24, 1999
George Adamski, a penny-ante guru already in the flying saucer business, lecturing on the subject and selling his own UFO photos, had his first tete-a-tete with a Venusian named Orthon, who explained by dumb show and telepathy that his saucer was powered by Earth's magnetism.
--Thomas M. Disch, The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of
Raw garlic will give you plenty of this disulfide, but cooking gets rid of it because it is volatile enough to evaporate during cooking. This is the reason you can safely eat a soup or stew that has lots of garlic in the recipe, and still enjoy a friendly tete-a-tete with someone.
--John Emsley, Molecules at an Exhibition
Tete-a-tete comes from the French, literally "head-to-head."
quisling \KWIZ-ling\, noun:
Someone who collaborates with an enemy occupying his or her country; a traitor.
In the clutches of Herod, a quisling whom even his Roman paymasters despise, John is an all-too-perfect personification of Israel under Roman rule abetted by Jewish collaboration.
--Jack Miles, Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God
This circle had already closed ranks around Tito in the prewar period of illegal struggle, and our ensuing sacrifices, our suffering, the exploits of both Party and people as they made war against the Nazi and Fascist occupiers and their quislings and supporters, had only further toughened and hardened the leaders.
--Milovan Djilas, Fall of the New Class
A quisling is so called after Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945), Norwegian politician and officer who collaborated with the Nazis.
nolens volens \NO-lenz-VO-lenz\:
Whether unwilling or willing.
Beneath the surface, little-noticed but fundamental changes are taking place that must compel both sides, nolens volens, sooner or later to reconfigure their tortured but inseparable relationship.
--Bernard Wasserstein, Israelis and Palestinians
Events have put NATO in a position where it is the policeman of Europe and beyond, nolens volens.
--"NATO then, Nato now," Daily Telegraph, April 23, 1999
After all, I'm not sure that I'm so angry with them, for it means that now you've got to remain here indefinitely -- nolens volens.
--Mina McDonald, "True Stories Of The Great War: Some Experiences In Hungary," History of the World, January 1, 1992
Nolens volens is from the Latin, from nolle, "to be unwilling" + velle, "to wish, to be willing."
woolgathering \WOOL-gath-(uh)-ring\, noun:
Indulgence in idle daydreaming.
Similarly, in the meadow, if you laze too late into the fall, woolgathering, snow could fill your mouth.
--Edward Hoagland, "Earth's eye," Sierra, May 1999
It would be easy to slip off into woolgathering and miss a deadline.
--Jeraldine Saunders, Washington Post, March 4, 2004
Plagued by guilt, they took refuge in wine, women, and woolgathering.
--Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust
The soprano roused Fergus from his woolgathering.
--Sandra Brown, Where There's Smoke
Woolgathering derives from the literal sense, "gathering fragments of wool."
ab ovo \ab-OH-voh\, adverb:
From the beginning.
I will begin ab ovo -- at the very beginning.
--War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The performers do not have to discover these techniques and processes ab ovo; they learn them from the previous generation, who learned them from their predecessors, and so on.
--William L. Benzon, Beethoven's Anvil
Ab ovo is from Latin, literally, "from the egg."
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Word Of The Day
providential \prov-uh-DEN(T)-shuhl\, adjective:
1. Of or resulting from divine direction or superintendence.
2. Occurring through or as if through divine intervention; peculiarly fortunate or appropriate.
For Boston's progressive Unitarians in this period, rejecting the Calvinism of their forebears increasingly meant opposing the old idea that suffering was inevitable, irremediable, and providential.
--Elisabeth Gitter, The Imprisoned Guest
The laws of nature seem to have been carefully arranged so that they can be discovered by beings with our level of intelligence. That not only fits the idea of design, but it also suggests a providential purpose for humankind -- that is, to learn about our habitat and to develop science and technology.
--Robin Collins, quoted in The Case for a Creator, by Lee Strobel
In the very first sentences of Mein Kampf, Adolf was to emphasize -- what became a Nazi stock-in-trade -- how providential it was that he had been born in Braunau am Inn, on the border of the two countries he saw it as his life's task to unite.
--Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris
Providential derives from Latin providentia, from providens, provident-, present participle of providere, literally, "to see ahead," from pro-, "forward" + videre, "to see."
1. Of or resulting from divine direction or superintendence.
2. Occurring through or as if through divine intervention; peculiarly fortunate or appropriate.
For Boston's progressive Unitarians in this period, rejecting the Calvinism of their forebears increasingly meant opposing the old idea that suffering was inevitable, irremediable, and providential.
--Elisabeth Gitter, The Imprisoned Guest
The laws of nature seem to have been carefully arranged so that they can be discovered by beings with our level of intelligence. That not only fits the idea of design, but it also suggests a providential purpose for humankind -- that is, to learn about our habitat and to develop science and technology.
--Robin Collins, quoted in The Case for a Creator, by Lee Strobel
In the very first sentences of Mein Kampf, Adolf was to emphasize -- what became a Nazi stock-in-trade -- how providential it was that he had been born in Braunau am Inn, on the border of the two countries he saw it as his life's task to unite.
--Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris
Providential derives from Latin providentia, from providens, provident-, present participle of providere, literally, "to see ahead," from pro-, "forward" + videre, "to see."
Monday, August 02, 2004
Word Of The Day
megrim \MEE-grim\, noun:
1. A migraine.
2. A fancy; a whim.
3. In the plural: lowness of spirits -- often with 'the'.
That might justify her, fairly enough, in being kept away from meeting now and again by headaches, or undefined megrims.
--Harold Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware
Tonight, by some megrim of the scheduler, I have the honor of working with the departmental chairman, Dr. B.
--Pamela Grim, Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives
They do say it's always darkest before the dawn, she thought. I reckon this is proof of it. I've got the megrims, that's all.
--Stephens Mitchell, Scarlett
Kate had learned a long time ago that the best way to deal with Effie's megrims was to maintain an attitude of determined cheerfulness.
--Susan Carroll, Midnight Bride
Megrim is from Middle English migrem, from MiddleFrench migraine, modification of Late Latin hemicrania, "pain inone side of the head," from Greek hemikrania, from hemi-, "half"+ kranion, "skull."
apotheosis \uh-pah-thee-OH-sis; ap-uh-THEE-uh-sis\, noun plural apotheoses \-seez\:
1. Elevation to divine rank or stature; deification.
2. An exalted or glorified example; a model of excellenceor perfection of a kind.
Following martyrdom at the Alamo and apotheosis in song, tall tale, and celluloid myth, this bumpkin from west Tennessee [Davy Crockett] became better known and more revered than all but a handful of American presidents.
--Mark Royden Winchell, Cleanth Brooks and the Rise of Modern Criticism
Plato's Athens, conventionally the apotheosis of civilized Western urbanity, endured Diogenes the Cynic, who (according to tradition) dwelt in contented filth under an overturned bathtub outside the city gates, heaping ribald scorn on philosophers and citizens alike.
--Mark Caldwell, A Short History of Rudeness
Charles I's court represented the English apotheosis of this Renaissance ideal of kingship.
--John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination
Apotheosis comes from Greek, from apotheoun, "to deify,"from apo- + theos, "a god."
fructuous \FRUHK-choo-uhs\, adjective:
Fruitful; productive.
It had by now reached much beyond even that status to appear in our minds as a place sentient, actively helping these once forlorn and homeless sailors, presenting us with fructuous soil to grow our food, bountifully adding its own edible offerings, its waters supplying us with an abundance of fish.
--William Brinkley, Last Ship
Theory does not provide us worthy marching orders for a fructuous future, for theory in itself tells us nothing about how and when it is applicable.
--Sheila McNamee and Kenneth J. Gergen, Relational Responsibility
Fructuous comes from Latin fructuosus, from fructus, "enjoyment, product, fruit," from the past participle of frui, "to enjoy."
1. A migraine.
2. A fancy; a whim.
3. In the plural: lowness of spirits -- often with 'the'.
That might justify her, fairly enough, in being kept away from meeting now and again by headaches, or undefined megrims.
--Harold Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware
Tonight, by some megrim of the scheduler, I have the honor of working with the departmental chairman, Dr. B.
--Pamela Grim, Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives
They do say it's always darkest before the dawn, she thought. I reckon this is proof of it. I've got the megrims, that's all.
--Stephens Mitchell, Scarlett
Kate had learned a long time ago that the best way to deal with Effie's megrims was to maintain an attitude of determined cheerfulness.
--Susan Carroll, Midnight Bride
Megrim is from Middle English migrem, from MiddleFrench migraine, modification of Late Latin hemicrania, "pain inone side of the head," from Greek hemikrania, from hemi-, "half"+ kranion, "skull."
apotheosis \uh-pah-thee-OH-sis; ap-uh-THEE-uh-sis\, noun plural apotheoses \-seez\:
1. Elevation to divine rank or stature; deification.
2. An exalted or glorified example; a model of excellenceor perfection of a kind.
Following martyrdom at the Alamo and apotheosis in song, tall tale, and celluloid myth, this bumpkin from west Tennessee [Davy Crockett] became better known and more revered than all but a handful of American presidents.
--Mark Royden Winchell, Cleanth Brooks and the Rise of Modern Criticism
Plato's Athens, conventionally the apotheosis of civilized Western urbanity, endured Diogenes the Cynic, who (according to tradition) dwelt in contented filth under an overturned bathtub outside the city gates, heaping ribald scorn on philosophers and citizens alike.
--Mark Caldwell, A Short History of Rudeness
Charles I's court represented the English apotheosis of this Renaissance ideal of kingship.
--John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination
Apotheosis comes from Greek, from apotheoun, "to deify,"from apo- + theos, "a god."
fructuous \FRUHK-choo-uhs\, adjective:
Fruitful; productive.
It had by now reached much beyond even that status to appear in our minds as a place sentient, actively helping these once forlorn and homeless sailors, presenting us with fructuous soil to grow our food, bountifully adding its own edible offerings, its waters supplying us with an abundance of fish.
--William Brinkley, Last Ship
Theory does not provide us worthy marching orders for a fructuous future, for theory in itself tells us nothing about how and when it is applicable.
--Sheila McNamee and Kenneth J. Gergen, Relational Responsibility
Fructuous comes from Latin fructuosus, from fructus, "enjoyment, product, fruit," from the past participle of frui, "to enjoy."
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Binary
There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and those who dont.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/binary.html
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/binary.html
Word Of The Day
hypnagogic \hip-nuh-GOJ-ik; -GOH-jik\, adjective:
Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state ofdrowsiness preceding sleep.
It is of course precisely in such episodes of mental traveling that writers are known to do good work, sometimes even their best, solving formal problems, getting advice from Beyond, having hypnagogic adventures that with luck can be recovered later on.
-- Thomas Pynchon, "Nearer, My Couch, to Thee," New York Times, June 6, 1993
... the phenomenon of hypnagogic hallucinations, or what Mr. Alvarez describes as "the flickering images and voices that well up just before sleep takes over."
--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "The Faces of Night, Many of Them Scary," New York Times, January 9, 1995
His uncensored and uncensoring subconscious allows him to absorb the world around him and in him, and to spit it out almost undigested, as if he were walking around in a constant hypnagogic state.
--Susan Bolotin, "Don't Turn Your Back on This Book," New York Times, June 9, 1985
Hypnagogic (sometimes spelled hypnogogic) ultimately derives from Greek hupnos, "sleep" + agogos, "leading," fromagein, "to lead."
Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state ofdrowsiness preceding sleep.
It is of course precisely in such episodes of mental traveling that writers are known to do good work, sometimes even their best, solving formal problems, getting advice from Beyond, having hypnagogic adventures that with luck can be recovered later on.
-- Thomas Pynchon, "Nearer, My Couch, to Thee," New York Times, June 6, 1993
... the phenomenon of hypnagogic hallucinations, or what Mr. Alvarez describes as "the flickering images and voices that well up just before sleep takes over."
--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "The Faces of Night, Many of Them Scary," New York Times, January 9, 1995
His uncensored and uncensoring subconscious allows him to absorb the world around him and in him, and to spit it out almost undigested, as if he were walking around in a constant hypnagogic state.
--Susan Bolotin, "Don't Turn Your Back on This Book," New York Times, June 9, 1985
Hypnagogic (sometimes spelled hypnogogic) ultimately derives from Greek hupnos, "sleep" + agogos, "leading," fromagein, "to lead."
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Full Spectrum Warrior hits its target
Full Spectrum Warrior is an excellent military action game that marks an intriguing departure from the norm.
Now available on Xbox, it was initially commissioned by the US military as a training aid.
"The army realised that a lot of their recruits would play video games in their downtime," explains Greg Donovan, one of the game's producers.
"The game was originally never supposed to be seen as a consumer version. It was always supposed to be a training tool for light infantry."
The army hoped the game could help drive home the tactics that troops learn in field training.
When it was decided that there was also potential for an marketable game, the developers added storylines and characters - "stuff the army didn't care about", as Donovan puts it.
Reflecting its training origins, the comprehensive tutorial level takes a while to wade through, but once you get to grips with the controls and principles, they're very intuitive.
Atmospheric action
Full Spectrum Warrior throws you into an urban warfare scenario in a fictional Middle Eastern battle zone.
You control two 'fire teams' of four soldiers. Viewing them from a reliable third person viewpoint, you switch between the two to give them orders to move, fire and take cover.
The feel is eerily reminiscent of news footage of the world's hotspots, an effect the makers were keen to accomplish.
"We've implemented a steadicam to convey the sense of an embedded reporter," says Donovan. "you're down with the soldiers at ground level, in the thick of the action."
That steadicam works a treat, adding urgency to the beautifully rendered action.
It contributes to the overall atmosphere that makes FSW genuinely unnerving to play. The faded colours and menacing dusty streets are straight out of Black Hawk Down, whilst moody music helps keep the scene firmly set.
Most of the time you have to leap-frog, with one team rushing to a corner and laying down covering fire while the other group rushes to the next strategic position and returns the favour.
You can assign particular members of a team to do specific tasks according to their particular training, but for the most part you order the entire team to take action.
Shooting is not a precise business - rather you select a 'fire sector' area and have the team attack targets within it as best they can. If the enemy can't be hit, you have to come up with another way to strike them.
Because you are constantly keeping track of two teams in different places and subject to different attacks, there is a major sense of urgency and tension that few other games can match.
It's easy to get disorientated as you flick between teams in the middle of a firefight, but that all adds authenticity; a sense of chaos can easily set in if you mess up, and panicking will just compound the situation.
The fog of war
The combination of elements makes for an exhiliarating experience and one that's superbly executed. It is a testament to the design that such a potentially complex game feels so natural, so quickly.
The neat and realistic 'fog of war' feature helps you see which areas of play could contain threats. Flick a switch and segments of the environment not being watched by any of your men appear blurred, giving an instant recap as to who's covering which direction.
Although there is the odd concession to practicability, FSW offers a convincing recreation of urban battle tactics, behaviour and problems, and for the layperson the military insight is rather intriguing.
Soldiers chat to each other constantly, combining barked orders with convincing banter - all liberally peppered with industrial language.
Largely written by a former US Army sniper, the dialogue is entertaining and feels realistic.
The game's presentation is solid, pointedly avoiding any of the over-the-top armed-forces melodrama that you might fear, and the polished cut-scenes tell the story well.
If there's a downside to FSW it's that there's not a great deal of detail to unfold as things progress. Once you've got a feeling for things, there are few revelations to unlock.
Instead there are just successive levels of solidly good gameplay, which are so enjoyable that you probably won't complain.
Now available on Xbox, it was initially commissioned by the US military as a training aid.
"The army realised that a lot of their recruits would play video games in their downtime," explains Greg Donovan, one of the game's producers.
"The game was originally never supposed to be seen as a consumer version. It was always supposed to be a training tool for light infantry."
The army hoped the game could help drive home the tactics that troops learn in field training.
When it was decided that there was also potential for an marketable game, the developers added storylines and characters - "stuff the army didn't care about", as Donovan puts it.
Reflecting its training origins, the comprehensive tutorial level takes a while to wade through, but once you get to grips with the controls and principles, they're very intuitive.
Atmospheric action
Full Spectrum Warrior throws you into an urban warfare scenario in a fictional Middle Eastern battle zone.
You control two 'fire teams' of four soldiers. Viewing them from a reliable third person viewpoint, you switch between the two to give them orders to move, fire and take cover.
The feel is eerily reminiscent of news footage of the world's hotspots, an effect the makers were keen to accomplish.
"We've implemented a steadicam to convey the sense of an embedded reporter," says Donovan. "you're down with the soldiers at ground level, in the thick of the action."
That steadicam works a treat, adding urgency to the beautifully rendered action.
It contributes to the overall atmosphere that makes FSW genuinely unnerving to play. The faded colours and menacing dusty streets are straight out of Black Hawk Down, whilst moody music helps keep the scene firmly set.
Most of the time you have to leap-frog, with one team rushing to a corner and laying down covering fire while the other group rushes to the next strategic position and returns the favour.
You can assign particular members of a team to do specific tasks according to their particular training, but for the most part you order the entire team to take action.
Shooting is not a precise business - rather you select a 'fire sector' area and have the team attack targets within it as best they can. If the enemy can't be hit, you have to come up with another way to strike them.
Because you are constantly keeping track of two teams in different places and subject to different attacks, there is a major sense of urgency and tension that few other games can match.
It's easy to get disorientated as you flick between teams in the middle of a firefight, but that all adds authenticity; a sense of chaos can easily set in if you mess up, and panicking will just compound the situation.
The fog of war
The combination of elements makes for an exhiliarating experience and one that's superbly executed. It is a testament to the design that such a potentially complex game feels so natural, so quickly.
The neat and realistic 'fog of war' feature helps you see which areas of play could contain threats. Flick a switch and segments of the environment not being watched by any of your men appear blurred, giving an instant recap as to who's covering which direction.
Although there is the odd concession to practicability, FSW offers a convincing recreation of urban battle tactics, behaviour and problems, and for the layperson the military insight is rather intriguing.
Soldiers chat to each other constantly, combining barked orders with convincing banter - all liberally peppered with industrial language.
Largely written by a former US Army sniper, the dialogue is entertaining and feels realistic.
The game's presentation is solid, pointedly avoiding any of the over-the-top armed-forces melodrama that you might fear, and the polished cut-scenes tell the story well.
If there's a downside to FSW it's that there's not a great deal of detail to unfold as things progress. Once you've got a feeling for things, there are few revelations to unlock.
Instead there are just successive levels of solidly good gameplay, which are so enjoyable that you probably won't complain.
Monday, July 12, 2004
New programming terms
Obfuckate: (v): to take a seemingly working piece of code and implement a supplementary module, thereby rendering it less than useless.
Mork: a developer who frequently calls for help from above; as in “Mork calling Orson”.
Treeview: the need to overcomplicate a simple piece of code with a weighty GUI - “Can’t see the wood for the treeviews.”
dotnetit: (v): “why have one, when you can have two, at three times the price?”
UN resolution: a really great idea for a piece of software, which everybody knows will help business a great deal, but which you know everybody is going to ignore, and use a word/excel mail merge anyway.
war on terror: the act of developing a piece of software, ignoring all defined guidance and well-established practices. “We looked at all of the UN resolutions, then sent our troops in.”
Mork: a developer who frequently calls for help from above; as in “Mork calling Orson”.
Treeview: the need to overcomplicate a simple piece of code with a weighty GUI - “Can’t see the wood for the treeviews.”
dotnetit: (v): “why have one, when you can have two, at three times the price?”
UN resolution: a really great idea for a piece of software, which everybody knows will help business a great deal, but which you know everybody is going to ignore, and use a word/excel mail merge anyway.
war on terror: the act of developing a piece of software, ignoring all defined guidance and well-established practices. “We looked at all of the UN resolutions, then sent our troops in.”
Our receptionist
WOULD THE PERSON THAT HAS LEFT AN ENVELOPE TO BE CURRIED IN THE POST TRAY PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY
Whitehouse.org
Check out www.whitehouse.org, it's come such a long way. I am so happy I found that this morning.
Bush military records destroyed
Documents that could have decided a dispute over President George W Bush's days in the military 30 years ago have been destroyed, the Pentagon says.
Microfilm containing the pertinent payroll records for the Texas-based Air National Guard had been damaged and could not be salvaged, it said.
Democrats have accused the president of ducking the draft call to Vietnam in favour of less dangerous duties.
The White House has released some records in a bid to refute the charges.
'No back-up copies'
The destroyed files included President Bush's pay records for two three-month periods in 1969 and 1972, a Department of Defence statement said.
"Searches for back-up paper copies of the missing records were unsuccessful," it added.
The 1969 period is not contentious for Mr Bush, as it is already known he was training to be a pilot at the time.
But in 1972 he moved to Alabama to work on a political campaign, and opponents say he failed to turn up for guard duties during this time.
'Beyond doubt'
The lost records might have thrown some light on whether he fulfilled his legal commitment.
Doubts were first raised nationally about Mr Bush's service during the 2000 presidential campaign and the issue has resurfaced as Mr Bush fights for re-election.
Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, has said Mr Bush must come clean on what he did.
A White House spokeswoman has said the documents already released prove beyond doubt that President Bush "fulfilled his duties in the National Guard at the time".
'Inadvertent destruction'
The microfilm containing the records apparently disintegrated as staff were trying to preserve it from decay.
The loss was announced by the Pentagon's Office of Freedom of Information and Security Review in letters responding to media demands for full access to Mr Bush's records.
"The Defence Finance and Accounting Service has advised of the inadvertent destruction of microfilm containing certain National Guard payroll records," said the letter, signed by the office's chief C Y Talbott.
It added that in 1996 and 1997 the microfilm records of "numerous service members" from the first quarter of 1969 and the third quarter of 1972 were ruined - Mr Bush's among them.
Mr Bush trained as a pilot while a member of the Texas and Alabama air national guard but never flew in combat.
He left the national guard in 1973 with an honourable discharge to attend Harvard Business School.
Microfilm containing the pertinent payroll records for the Texas-based Air National Guard had been damaged and could not be salvaged, it said.
Democrats have accused the president of ducking the draft call to Vietnam in favour of less dangerous duties.
The White House has released some records in a bid to refute the charges.
'No back-up copies'
The destroyed files included President Bush's pay records for two three-month periods in 1969 and 1972, a Department of Defence statement said.
"Searches for back-up paper copies of the missing records were unsuccessful," it added.
The 1969 period is not contentious for Mr Bush, as it is already known he was training to be a pilot at the time.
But in 1972 he moved to Alabama to work on a political campaign, and opponents say he failed to turn up for guard duties during this time.
'Beyond doubt'
The lost records might have thrown some light on whether he fulfilled his legal commitment.
Doubts were first raised nationally about Mr Bush's service during the 2000 presidential campaign and the issue has resurfaced as Mr Bush fights for re-election.
Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, has said Mr Bush must come clean on what he did.
A White House spokeswoman has said the documents already released prove beyond doubt that President Bush "fulfilled his duties in the National Guard at the time".
'Inadvertent destruction'
The microfilm containing the records apparently disintegrated as staff were trying to preserve it from decay.
The loss was announced by the Pentagon's Office of Freedom of Information and Security Review in letters responding to media demands for full access to Mr Bush's records.
"The Defence Finance and Accounting Service has advised of the inadvertent destruction of microfilm containing certain National Guard payroll records," said the letter, signed by the office's chief C Y Talbott.
It added that in 1996 and 1997 the microfilm records of "numerous service members" from the first quarter of 1969 and the third quarter of 1972 were ruined - Mr Bush's among them.
Mr Bush trained as a pilot while a member of the Texas and Alabama air national guard but never flew in combat.
He left the national guard in 1973 with an honourable discharge to attend Harvard Business School.
US 'may delay vote if attacked'
The Bush administration is reported to be investigating the possibility of postponing the presidential election in the event of a terror attack.
The White House will neither confirm or deny the report, which suggests Congress might be asked to grant the powers to the election commission.
It is not clear where the final decision would be taken in the event of a terror attack.
However, a senior Democrat in Congress has signalled her opposition.
Jane Harman, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said such a proposal would be "excessive based on what we know".
She also criticised the suggestion last week from Tom Ridge, the Homeland Security Secretary, that al-Qaeda was planning to disrupt the election.
That warning was based on old information, she added.
"If they do this, boy, my God, they're extremely desperate" - Ciro Rodriguez Democrat Congressman
The Democrats' unspoken fear is that the White House will play on the nerves of Americans as the election nears, and hope to gain support from a nation fearful of any change in course.
It is a difficult strategy for the Democrats to counter.
If they appeared complacent and the terrorists did strike, they would be politically destroyed.
The White House will neither confirm or deny the report, which suggests Congress might be asked to grant the powers to the election commission.
It is not clear where the final decision would be taken in the event of a terror attack.
However, a senior Democrat in Congress has signalled her opposition.
Jane Harman, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said such a proposal would be "excessive based on what we know".
She also criticised the suggestion last week from Tom Ridge, the Homeland Security Secretary, that al-Qaeda was planning to disrupt the election.
That warning was based on old information, she added.
"If they do this, boy, my God, they're extremely desperate" - Ciro Rodriguez Democrat Congressman
The Democrats' unspoken fear is that the White House will play on the nerves of Americans as the election nears, and hope to gain support from a nation fearful of any change in course.
It is a difficult strategy for the Democrats to counter.
If they appeared complacent and the terrorists did strike, they would be politically destroyed.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
SpaceShipOne back on course
SpaceShipOne, the world's first private space craft, is back on course for the Ansari X-Prize after solving technical hitches following June's historic trip.
The craft, built by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, had a major flight-control problem towards the top of its 100km record-breaking voyage above the Earth.
The X-Prize awards the first team that sends a three-person craft to an altitude over 100km, and then repeats the feat in the same craft within two weeks.
The view from space that pilot Mike Melvill had
"We plan our next two flights to be the X-Prize attempts. Announcement of the dates will be made by the X-Prize Foundation," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3876455.stm
The craft, built by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, had a major flight-control problem towards the top of its 100km record-breaking voyage above the Earth.
The X-Prize awards the first team that sends a three-person craft to an altitude over 100km, and then repeats the feat in the same craft within two weeks.
The view from space that pilot Mike Melvill had
"We plan our next two flights to be the X-Prize attempts. Announcement of the dates will be made by the X-Prize Foundation," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3876455.stm
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Nasty Birds
This letter was in the Metro the other day, in reply to a series of reader's letters regarding the subject of how nasty seagulls are and the fact that they have been seen to eat smaller birds such as sparrows:
"... why don't we arm the sparrows with metal spikes so that they can protect themselves? Or better yet we could replace the seagull's beaks with wax crayons then they might be encouraged to do something more artistic."
Fantastic suggestion.
"... why don't we arm the sparrows with metal spikes so that they can protect themselves? Or better yet we could replace the seagull's beaks with wax crayons then they might be encouraged to do something more artistic."
Fantastic suggestion.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Word Of The Day
misprize \mis-PRYZ\, transitive verb:
1. To hold in contempt.
2. To undervalue.
I hesitate to appear to misprize my native city, but how can the history of dear, sedate old London town possibly compare to Paris for sheer excitement?
--Alistair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris
Or did he misprize such fidelity and harden his heart against so great a love as hers?
--Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, translated by Guido Waldman
Alternatively, when disagreements are noticed, they may by chance be overemphasized by those who misprize their significance by failing to assess the pressure exerted by economic and institutional factors as opposed to the purely intellectual.
--Ellen Handler Spitz, "Warrant for trespass/permission to peer," The Art Bulletin, December 1, 1995
Misprize comes from Middle French mesprisier, from mes-, "amiss, wrong" + prisier, "to appraise."
1. To hold in contempt.
2. To undervalue.
I hesitate to appear to misprize my native city, but how can the history of dear, sedate old London town possibly compare to Paris for sheer excitement?
--Alistair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris
Or did he misprize such fidelity and harden his heart against so great a love as hers?
--Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, translated by Guido Waldman
Alternatively, when disagreements are noticed, they may by chance be overemphasized by those who misprize their significance by failing to assess the pressure exerted by economic and institutional factors as opposed to the purely intellectual.
--Ellen Handler Spitz, "Warrant for trespass/permission to peer," The Art Bulletin, December 1, 1995
Misprize comes from Middle French mesprisier, from mes-, "amiss, wrong" + prisier, "to appraise."
Monday, June 28, 2004
Breaking News
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says the planned 30 June
handover of power in Iraq is to be brought forward to today.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3845517.stm
handover of power in Iraq is to be brought forward to today.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3845517.stm
Red Sox
June 27, 2004
Philadelphia 3, Boston 12 at Fenway Park
Winning Pitcher - Curt Schilling (10-4)
Losing Pitcher - Brett Myers (5-5)
PHI Runs: 3, Hits: 12, Errors: 0
BOS Runs: 12, Hits: 12, Errors: 1
HR: PHI: P. Burrell (13), D. Bell (8). BOS: D. Ortiz (19), M. Bellhorn (9).
Boston Record: (42-32)
Next Game: Jun 29, 2004 07:05 PM ET
Upcoming Home Games:
vs. Athletics, Jul 06, 2004 07:05 PM ET
vs. Athletics, Jul 07, 2004 07:05 PM ET
vs. Athletics, Jul 08, 2004 07:05 PM ET
Philadelphia 3, Boston 12 at Fenway Park
Winning Pitcher - Curt Schilling (10-4)
Losing Pitcher - Brett Myers (5-5)
PHI Runs: 3, Hits: 12, Errors: 0
BOS Runs: 12, Hits: 12, Errors: 1
HR: PHI: P. Burrell (13), D. Bell (8). BOS: D. Ortiz (19), M. Bellhorn (9).
Boston Record: (42-32)
Next Game: Jun 29, 2004 07:05 PM ET
Upcoming Home Games:
vs. Athletics, Jul 06, 2004 07:05 PM ET
vs. Athletics, Jul 07, 2004 07:05 PM ET
vs. Athletics, Jul 08, 2004 07:05 PM ET
Word Of The Day
peccant \PEK-unt\, adjective:
1. Sinning; guilty of transgression.
2. Violating a rule or a principle.
There must be redemption even for a formerly peccant father.
--John Simon, review of Lone Star, National Review, July 29, 1996
The peccant fellow is Cliff, who cheats, or tries to cheat, on his wife.
--John Simon, review of Crimes and Misdemeanors, National Review, December 8, 1989
No accuser, however, was prepared to come forward to initiate a prosecution, nor could the bishop find the necessary eyewitnesses to support a criminal case against the peccant clergymen.
--Peter Linehan and Janet L. Nelson, Medieval World
Peccant comes from the present participle of Latin of peccare, "to sin."
1. Sinning; guilty of transgression.
2. Violating a rule or a principle.
There must be redemption even for a formerly peccant father.
--John Simon, review of Lone Star, National Review, July 29, 1996
The peccant fellow is Cliff, who cheats, or tries to cheat, on his wife.
--John Simon, review of Crimes and Misdemeanors, National Review, December 8, 1989
No accuser, however, was prepared to come forward to initiate a prosecution, nor could the bishop find the necessary eyewitnesses to support a criminal case against the peccant clergymen.
--Peter Linehan and Janet L. Nelson, Medieval World
Peccant comes from the present participle of Latin of peccare, "to sin."
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Massive Word Of The Day Update
equanimity \ee-kwuh-NIM-uh-tee; ek-wuh-\, noun:
Evenness of mind; calmness; composure; as, "to bear misfortunes with equanimity."
For one whose mind has been notoriously troubled, Brian Lara is at least retaining a sense of equanimity.
--Richard Hobson, "Croft offers no respite as Lara's theme continues," Times (London), June 8, 2000
When one is happy, one can look at both comedy and tragedy with equanimity.
--Phillip Lopate, Totally, Tenderly, Tragically
I think one person can hardly understand why another has conducted his life in such a way, how he came to commit certain actions and not others, whether he looks upon the past with mostly pleasure or equanimity or regret.
--Chang-Rae Lee, A Gesture Life
Equanimity comes from Latin aequanimitas, "impartiality, calmness," from aequanimus, "impartial, even-tempered," from aequus, "even" + animus, "mind, soul."
bedizen \bih-DY-zuhn\, transitive verb:
To dress or adorn in gaudy manner.
At 18, he attended a party "frizzled, powdered and curled, in radiant pink satin, with waistcoat bedizened with gems of pink paste and a mosaic of colored foils and a hat blazing with 5,000 metallic beads," according to Michael Battersberry in "Fashion, The Mirror of History."
--Donna Larcen, "Details, Details: Everything Old Is New Again," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 19, 1994
... Ford's 2001-model F-150 SuperCrew "Harley-Davidson" model. This special edition pickup truck is bedizened with enough chrome, leather, and H-D logos to bring a RUBbie (Rich Urban Biker) weeping to his knees.
--"Summer Autos 2001," Newsday, May 19, 2001
Bedizen is the prefix be-, "completely; thoroughly; excessively" + dizen, an archaic word meaning "to deck out in fine clothes and ornaments," from Middle Dutch disen, "to dress (a distaff) with flax ready for spinning," from Middle Low German dise, "the bunch of flax placed on a distaff."
sonorous \suh-NOR-uhs; SAH-nuh-rus\, adjective:
1. Giving sound when struck; resonant; as, "sonorous metals."
2. Loud-sounding; giving a clear or loud sound; as, "a sonorous voice."
3. Yielding sound; characterized by sound; as, "the vowels are sonorous."
4. Impressive in sound; high-sounding.
Tecumseh spoke fluently in the Shawnee tongue, adding weight to his emphatic and sonorous words with elegant gestures.
--John Sugden, Tecumseh: A Life
The safety video began, optimistically, with Scott's "Great God, this is an awful place" delivered in a sonorous thespian voice and accompanying footage of well-clad individuals crashing into crevasses.
--Sara Wheeler, Terra Incognita
The Web, in Locke's view, brings the revolution against the sonorous all-knowing corporate voice to its inevitable climax and resolution in favor of the plebeians.
--Leslie Kaufman, "Internet Scene May Have a Lot in Common With the '60s," New York Times, April 10, 2000
Sonorous comes from Latin sonorus, from sonor, "sound."
enjoin \en-JOIN\, transitive verb:
1. To direct or impose with authority; to order.
2. To prohibit; to forbid.
While the Qur'an contains a number of references, some direct and some oblique, to the other four pillars, in only one place does it specifically enjoin fasting during the month of Ramadan: "O you faithful, fasting is ordained for you in the same way that it was ordained for those who came before you, so that you may fear God.... It was during the month of Ramadan that the Qur'an was sent down as a guidance for humanity. . .. Whoever among you sees the moon, then he should fast, but the one who is sick or on a journey, [can fast] an equal number of other days" (Sura 2:183-85).
--Jane I. Smith, Islam in America
Few judges were friendly to unions, as demonstrated by a steady stream of decisions enjoining strikes, boycotts, picket lines, and other collective actions.
--Sanford M. Jacoby, Modern Manors
Enjoin derives from Old French enjoindre, from Latin injungere, "to attach, to fasten to; also, to bring upon," from in- + jungere, "to join."
Trivia: Enjoin is its own antonym. Other self-antonyms include fast ("moving quickly; fixed firmly in place") and cleave ("to split; to adhere").
homily \HAH-muh-lee\, noun:
1. A sermon; a discourse on a religious theme.
2. A moralizing lecture or discourse.
3. An inspirational saying; also, a platitude.
Trumpets sounded, wine ran from fountains, bishops delivered homilies, magistrates presented the keys to their cities, triumphal arches sprang up along the way.
--Christine Pevitt, Philippe, Duc D'Orleans: Regent of France
He launched into a homily about marriage as a garden that requires care.
--Janet Maslin, " 'Somehow Form a Family': Between the Hills and Gilligan's Island," New York Times, June 7, 2001
Fathers Cyprien and Marie-Nizier were the first to nod off during the homily on bad thoughts.
--Rémy Rougeau, "Cello"
The book consisted of easy-to-remember rhyming homilies on the subjects of selling, winning, and making money ("If you want to earn your dough, get up in the morning and GO, GO, GO!").
--Brad Barkley, Money, Love
A Washington homily fit the situation: "That which must be done eventually is best done immediately."
--Ward Just, Echo House
Homily ultimately derives from Greek homilia, "instruction," from homolein, "to be together or in company with," hence "to have dealings with," from homilos, "an assembled crowd," from homos, "same." One who delivers homilies is a homilist. Homiletic means "of or pertaining to a homily."
comely \KUHM-lee\, adjective:
1. Pleasing or agreeable to the sight; good-looking.
2. Suitable or becoming; proper; agreeable.
Why should it matter if an author is comely or plain?
--Robb Forman Dew, "Silence of the Father," New York Times, January 19, 1992
Although aware that she was considered quite comely, she had never felt entirely confident of her charms, a hangover from her childhood.
--Kate Lehrer, Out of Eden
His glossy nails made his hands look ornamental and special, caressive, comely and lovely with which to be touched.
--Anne O'Brien Rice, The Vampire Armand
Comely derives from Old English cymlic, from cyme, "pretty, beautiful, fine, delicate" + lic, adjectival suffix.
politic \POL-ih-tik\, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to polity, or civil government; political (as in the phrase "the body politic").
2. (Of persons): Sagacious in promoting a policy; ingenious in devising and advancing a system of management; characterized by political skill and ingenuity; hence, shrewdly tactful, cunning.
3. (Of actions or things): Pertaining to or promoting a policy; hence, judicious; expedient; as, "a politic decision."
Plato, in Aristotle's judgment, confused and treated as one the diverse elements that make up the body politic-- household, community (village), and state.
--Richard Pipes, Property and Freedom
It also occurred to me then that members of the circle around Peres thought that since negotiations with Syria were bound to continue, it would be more politic to present the concessions that would have to be made as having been made by the late Rabin.
--Itamar Rabinovich, The Brink of Peace
I, on the other hand, loathed Philby... but it hardly seems politic to say this to my host.
--John le Carre, "My New Friends in the New Russia: In Search of A Few Good Crooks, Cops and Former Agents," New York Times, February 19, 1995
It didn't seem too politic to give voice to this thought.
--Lesley Hazleton, Driving To Detroit
Politic derives from Greek politikos, from polites, "citizen," from polis, "city."
aegis \EE-jis\, noun:
1. Protection; support.
2. Sponsorship; patronage.
3. Guidance, direction, or control.
4. A shield or protective armor;-- applied in mythology to
the shield of Zeus.
It is this ideal of the human under the aegis of something higher which seems to me to provide the strongest counterpressure against the fragmentation and barbarization of our world.
--Ted J. Smith III (Editor) In Defense of Tradition: Collected Shorter Writings of Richard M. Weaver, 1929Ð1963
A third round of talks is scheduled to begin on May 23rd in New York under the aegis of the United Nations.
--"Denktash declared head after rival withdraws," Irish Times, April 21, 2000
In real life, Lang's father was commercially astute and fantastically hardworking, and under his aegis the construction business flourished.
--Patrick McGilligan, Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast
Aegis derives from the Greek aigis, the shield of Zeus, from aix, aig-, "a goat," many primitive shields being goatskin-covered.
pernicious \pur-NISH-us\, adjective:
Highly injurious; deadly; destructive; exceedingly harmful.
Half-truths can be more pernicious than outright falsehoods.
--Wendy Lesser, "Who's Afraid of Arnold Bennett?" New York Times, September 28, 1997
But he said they were not thinkers but snobs, and their influence was pernicious.
--Saul Bellow, Ravelstein
Racism should be condemned because its effects are pernicious.
--Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Genes, Peoples, and Languages
Pernicious comes from Latin perniciosus, "destructive, ruinous," from pernicies, "destruction, disaster, ruin," from per-, "through, thoroughly" + nex, nec-, "violent death."
neologism \nee-OLL-uh-jiz-um\, noun:
1. A new word or expression.
2. A new use of a word or expression.
3. The use or creation of new words or expressions.
4. (Psychiatry) An invented, meaningless word used by a person with a psychiatric disorder.
5. (Theology) A new view or interpretation of a scripture.
The word "civilization" was just coming into use in the 18th century, in French and in English, and conservative men of letters preferred to avoid it as a newfangled neologism.
--Larry Wolff, "'If I Were Younger I Would Make Myself Russian': Voltaire's Encounter With the Czars," New York Times, November 13, 1994
If the work is really a holding operation, this will show in a closed or flat quality in the prose and in the scheme of the thing, a logiclessness, if you will pardon the neologism, in the writing.
--Harold Brodkey, "Reading, the Most Dangerous Game," New York Times, November 24, 1985
The word popularizing was a relative neologism (the Review boasted five years later, "Why should we be afraid of introducing new words into the language which it is our mission to spread over a new world?").
--Edward L. Widmer, Young America
The French word neologisme, from which the English is borrowed, is made up of the elements neo-, "new" + log-, "word" + -isme, -ism (all of which are derived from Greek).
A neologist is one who introduces new words or new senses of old words into a language. Neologistic, or neologistical, describes that which pertains to neology, "the introduction of a new word, or of words or significations, into a language." To neologize is to coin or use neologisms, and neologization is the act or process of doing so.
suasion \SWAY-zhun\, noun:
The act of persuading; persuasion.
As in the 1960s, violence converged with dynamism in American life, but unlike that subsequent period of protest, the militancy of the 1930s was restrained by the long arm of an American political tradition that favored reform by moral suasion.
--Nona Balakian, The World of William Saroyan
He visualized a world wherein power is exercised peacefully by moral suasion and political acumen, a world of idealism in many ways.
--George Perkovich, India's Nuclear Bomb
Some of the earliest protests of the incipient civil rights movement demanded the removal of baseball's color line. Beyond this cultural suasion, legal efforts to mandate integration were under way almost two years before Jackie Robinson donned a Brooklyn Dodger uniform.
--Dean Chadwin, Those Damn Yankees
Even more reassuring--more wishful and escapist, from our secularist-modern perspective--is the idea that the universe is moral and hence responsive to moral suasion.
--Yi-Fu Tuan, Escapism
Suasion comes from Latin suasio, from suadere, "to present in a pleasing manner," hence, "to advise." It is related to suave, "gracious or agreeable in manner."
hullabaloo \HUL-uh-buh-loo\, noun:
A confused noise; uproar; tumult.
True, he had diplomatic immunity as the assistant agricultural officer at the consulate, but the publicity and hullabaloo of an arrest and interrogation, not to mention expulsion from the country, would not be career-enhancing.
--Stephen Coonts, Hong Kong
By jumping on and off goods trains and encountering a sympathetic manager who hid him down a mine until the hullabaloo over his escape had died down, he finally reached freedom.
--David Stafford, Churchill and Secret Service
Hullabaloo is perhaps a corruption of hurly-burly, or the interjection halloo with rhyming reduplication.
apologia \ap-uh-LOH-jee-uh; -juh\, noun:
A formal defense or justification, especially of one's opinions, position, or actions.
Mr. Arbatov is well aware that he was perceived in this country as a spokesman at best and toady at worst for the regime. And he clearly wants this book to serve as his apologia.
--Bernard Gwertzman, "When Soviet Bureaucrats Were the Last to Know," New York Times, August 20, 1992
I should hasten to add that this volume is neither a dreary academic summary nor a tedious apologia by a politician who has just left office.
--Jack F. Matlock Jr., "Chinese Checkers," New York Times, September 13, 1998
John F. Lehman Jr. has written a lively and provocative apologia, in the classic sense of the word, to defend and justify his stewardship as Secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987.
--Richard Halloran, "Floating a Few Proposals," New York Times, February 19, 1989
The work is "a classic apologia, an aggressive defense of Roth's moral stance as an author," Harold Bloom said in The Book Review last year.
--Patricia T. O'Conner, New York Times, September 14, 1986
Apologia is from the Greek word meaning "a spoken or written defense," from apologos, "a story," from apo- + logos, "speech."
Trivia: Originally, apologia and apology had the same basic meaning: a formal justification or defense. Though apology is still sometimes used in that sense, it now usually indicates an acknowledgment expressing regret or asking pardon for a fault or offense. An apologia involves explaining, defending, or clarifying one's conduct, opinions, etc.
ignoramus \ig-nuh-RAY-mus\, noun:
An ignorant person; a dunce.
My "perfect" reader is not a scholar but neither is he an ignoramus; he does not read because he has to, nor as a pastime, nor to make a splash in society, but because he is curious about many things, wishes to choose among them and does not wish to delegate this choice to anyone; he knows the limits of his competence and education, and directs his choices accordingly.
--Primo Levi, "This Above All: Be Clear," New York Times, November 20, 1988
I am quite an ignoramus, I know nothing in the world.
--Charlotte Bronte, Villette
Ignoramus was the name of a character in George Ruggle's 1615 play of the same name. The name was derived from the Latin, literally, "we are ignorant," from ignorare, "not to know," from ignarus, "not knowing," from ig- (for in-), "not" + gnarus, "knowing, acquainted with, expert in." It is related to ignorant and ignore.
The correct plural form is ignoramuses. Since ignoramus in Latin is a verb, not a noun, there is no justification for a plural form ending in -i.
hardscrabble \HARD-skrab-uhl\, adjective:
1. Yielding a bare or meager living with great labor or difficulty.
2. Marked by poverty.
I remember it being green and humid, nothing like this hardscrabble land.
--Elmore Leonard, Cuba Libre
Most inhabitants scratched out a living from hardscrabble farming, yet these newcomers were hopeful and enterprising.
--Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
A scenic town fed by rich snowbirds who reside a few months a year in gated communities, High Balsam also is home to the hardscrabble residents who frequent Margaret's food-pantry giveaways.
--Deirdre Donahue, "A sweet 'Evensong,' " USA Today, December 2, 1999
Hardscrabble is formed from hard (from Old English heard) + scrabble (from Dutch schrabbelen, "to scratch").
embonpoint \ahn-bohn-PWAN\, noun:
Plumpness of person; stoutness.
With his embonpoint, Mr Soames appears to be wearing a quadruple-breasted suit.
--Simon Hoggart, "Roll up, roll up, to explore the Soames Zone," The Guardian, February 1, 2000
His embonpoint expands by the day and his eyes are buried in the fat of his cheeks.
--Quoted in Goethe: The Poet and the Age: Revolution and Renunciation, by Nicholas Boyle
Embonpoint is from French, literally "in good condition" (en, "in" + bon, "good" + point, "situation, condition").
gravid \GRAV-id\, adjective:
Being with child; heavy with young or eggs; pregnant.
For the moment the Cap'n Toby lies at rest outside the harbor, and the twelve-inch mackerels that Brian and I are cutting up for lobster bait are ripe, their bellies gravid with either blood-red roe or milt the color of sailors' bones.
--Richard Adams Carey, Against the Tide
In North America, in contrast, the British conquered an empire; New France disappeared from history. But-- Anderson's profound theme-- Britain's triumph was gravid with defeat.
--Jack Beatty, "Defeat in Victory," The Atlantic, December 2000
she is a bored society matron who seduces him before a carload gravid with already weary, now grossed-out morning commuters.
--Rita Kempley, review of The Adjuster (MGM/UA Studios movie), Washington Post, June 29, 1992
Gravid derives from Latin gravidus, from gravis, "heavy."
nascent \NAS-uhnt; NAY-suhnt\, adjective:
Beginning to exist or having recently come into existence; coming into being.
But there are other nascent technologies that are widely predicted to play a major part in moving the world from a dependence on oil, nuclear energy and coal.
--"Out of thin air," The Guardian, October 31, 2001
By the time that John D. Rockefeller was born in 1839, Richford was acquiring the amenities of a small town. It had some nascent industries... plus a schoolhouse and a church.
--Ron Chernow, Titan The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
This surprising success prompted several other companies to enter this nascent market.
--Ted Gioia, The History of Jazz
Nascent comes from Latin nascens, "being born," present participle of nasci, "to be born."
commodious \kuh-MOH-dee-us\, adjective:
Comfortably or conveniently spacious; roomy; as, a commodious house.
Then there are the trousers, black check or blue check, with commodious pockets.
--Richard F. Shepard, "For Caring Chefs, Crowning Glory Is the Headgear," New York Times, August 15, 1990
This brought John to accept Benjamin Franklin's invitation to reside in his commodious quarters in Passy, a suburb at the city's edge.
--Paul C. Nagel, John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life
Fed by the melting ice packs, the ocean rose again, inundating coastal lowlands and pouring back through the Narrows, creating the commodious Upper Bay that would serve as the harbor of New York.
--Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898
Commodious derives from the Latin commodus, "conforming to measure, hence convenient or fit for a particular purpose," from com-, "with" + modus, "measure."
remonstrate \rih-MAHN-strayt; REH-mun-strayt\, intransitive
verb:
To present and urge reasons in opposition to an act, measure, or any course of proceedings-- usually used with 'with'.
transitive verb:
To say or plead in protest, opposition, or reproof.
If a hailstorm starts, surely instead of remonstrating with it, you try to take shelter.
--Victor Pelevin, A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia and Other Stories
When things went beyond the control of her forceful personality, inventiveness or charm, if the problem was something she could not alter or manipulate, she didn't pine or remonstrate, she merely buried what was threatening or damaging to her sense of worth.
--Colin Thubron, "Sophisticated Traveler," New York Times, October 10, 1999
Tories and Liberal Democrats remonstrated with each other.
--Matthew Parris, "Cockney market forces drive Ginger bananas," Times (London), May 16, 2001
Remonstrate comes from Medieval Latin remonstrare, "to show again, to point back to, as a fault," from re- + monstrare, "to show."
troglodyte \TROG-luh-dyt\, noun:
1. A member of a primitive people that lived in caves, dens, or holes; a cave dweller.
2. One who is regarded as reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.
When the survivalists emerged blinking into the sunlight to restock their caves after the terror, my first reaction was to say, "Bless their dotty, troglodyte hearts."
--Judy Mann, "Survivalists Flee Reality to Live in Fear," Washington Post, October 5, 2001
... an admitted electronics-averse troglodyte like myself, who writes with a fountain pen, shaves with a mug and brush, grinds his own coffee and spends summers in a Maine fishing town where the nearest latte is 45 minutes away.
--Frank Van Riper, "Another Door Opens," Washington Post, May 5, 2000
For the first time, opening a fashion magazine didn't make me feel like a cloddish troglodyte who needed fixing.
--Janelle Brown, "Keeping it real," Salon, June 4, 2001
Troglodyte comes from Latin Troglodytae, a people said to be cave dwellers, from Greek Troglodytai, from trogle, "a hole" + dyein, "to enter." The adjective form is troglodytic.
gambol \GAM-buhl\, intransitive verb:
To dance and skip about in play; to frolic.
noun:
A skipping or leaping about in frolic.
I've been told dolphins like to gambol in the waves in these waters, and that sighting them brings good luck.
--Barbara Kingsolver, "Where the Map Stopped," New York Times, May 17, 1992
The bad news is that while most of us gambol in the sun, there will be much wringing of hands in environment-hugging circles about global warming and climate change.
--Derek Brown, "Heatwaves," The Guardian, June 16, 2000
Then they joined hands (it was the stranger who began it by catching Martha and Matilda) and danced the table round, shaking their feet and tossing their arms, the glee ever more uproarious,-- danced until they were breathless, every one of them, save little Sammy, who was not asked to join the gambol, but sat still in his chair, and seemed to expect no invitation.
--Norman Duncan, "Santa Claus At Lonely Cove," The Atlantic, December 1903
Gambol, earlier gambolde or gambalde, comes from Medieval French gambade, "a leaping or skipping," from Late Latin gamba, "hock (of a horse), leg," from Greek kampe, "a joint or bend."
repletion \rih-PLEE-shun\, noun:
1. The condition of being completely filled or supplied.
2. Excessive fullness, as from overeating.
We have to earn silence, then, to work for it: to make it not an absence but a presence; not emptiness but repletion.
--Pico Iyer, "The Eloquent Sounds of Silence," Time, January 1993
With distended belly and bursting waistcoat, his eyes glazed with repletion, he picks listlessly at his teeth with a fork.
--Kenneth Rose, "Madness of King George's son," Daily Telegraph, November 14, 1998
He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion.
--Jeff Guinn, "The Ghoul, the Bad, the Ugly," Arizona Republic, June 7, 1999
Repletion is derived from Latin replere, "to fill again, to fill up," from re- + plere, " to fill." Plenty is a related word.
sanctum \SANK-tum\, noun;
plural sanctums or sancta:
1. A sacred place.
2. A place of retreat where one is free from intrusion.
What's more, the babble of radios, televisions and raised voices from the other households in the condominium rarely penetrated this sanctum.
--Tim Parks, Mimi's Ghost
Seymour has spent most of her research time in that sanctum of the professional biographer, the London Library.
--John Mullan, "The agony and the ecstasy," The Guardian, December 23, 2000
Sanctum comes from the Latin, meaning "holy, sacred, or inviolable."
deign \DAYN\, intransitive verb:
To think worthy; to condescend-- followed by an infinitive.
intransitive verb:
To condescend to give or bestow; to stoop to furnish; to grant.
Not until I pour vodka on his shirt does he deign to acknowledge my existence.
--Jay McInerney, Model Behavior
Maybe the President does not deign to read op-ed pages, but his speechwriters surely do.
--William Safire, "The Wrong Way." New York Times, June 14, 1999
Like most healthy, normal people (if you deign to categorize yourself that way), you are probably fraught with worry so intense these days you are sleeping standing up with your eyes open.
--Lisa Napoli, "Every Little Thing's Gonna Be All Right!" New York Times, December 14, 1996
Deign comes from Old French deignier, "to regard as worthy," from Latin dignari, from dignus, "worthy." It is related to dignity, "the quality or state of being worthy."
efficacious \ef-ih-KAY-shuhs\, adjective:
Possessing the quality of being effective; producing, or capable of producing, the effect intended; as, an efficacious law.
Lawyers make claims not because they believe them to be true, but because they believe them to be legally efficacious.
--Paul F. Campos, Jurismania
Henri IV wrote to his son's nurse, Madame de Montglat, in 1607 insisting 'it is my wish and my command that he be whipped every time he is stubborn or misbehaves, knowing full well from personal experience that nothing in the world is as efficacious'.
--Katharine MacDonogh, Reigning Cats and Dogs: A History of Pets at Court Since the Renaissance
Plagued by rats, the citizens of Hamelin desperately seek some efficacious method of pest control.
--Francine Prose, review of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, as retold by Robert Holden, New York Times, August 16, 1998
Efficacious is from Latin efficax, -acis, from efficere, "to effect, to bring about," from ex-, "out" + facere, "to do or make."
idyll \EYE-dl\, noun:
1. A simple descriptive work, either in poetry or prose, dealing with simple, rustic life; pastoral scenes; and the like.
2. A narrative poem treating an epic, romantic, or tragic theme.
3. A lighthearted carefree episode or experience.
4. A romantic interlude.
Sheep are not the docile, pleasant creatures of the pastoral idyll. Any countryman will tell you that. They are sly, occasionally vicious, pathologically stupid.
--Joanne Harris, Chocolat
From too much looking back, he was destroyed,... trying to re-create an idyll that never truly existed except in his own imagination.
--Gore Vidal, The Essential Gore Vidal
She kept a diary that poignantly captured the sense of youthful gaiety shattered by events suddenly intruding on their teenage idyll.
--James T. Fisher, Dr. America
The Guevaras' honeymoon idyll, such as it was, did not last long.
--Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
Idyll ultimately derives from Greek eidullion, "a short descriptive poem (usually on pastoral subjects); an idyll," from eidos, "that which is seen; form; shape; figure." The adjective form is idyllic.
vagary \VAY-guh-ree; vuh-GER-ee\, noun:
An extravagant, erratic, or unpredictable notion, action, or occurrence.
Her words are a dreadful reminder that much of life's consequences are resultant of vagary and caprice, dictated by the tragedy of the ill-considered action, the irrevocable misstep, the irrevocable moment in which a terrible wrong can seem the only right.
--Rosemary Mahoney, "Acts of Mercy?" New York Times, September 13, 1998
Weather is one of the vagaries of blue-water racing, ruling the sport like a malicious jester.
--Martin Dugard, Knockdown
This thing called love was a total mystery to me, but the vagaries of passion and despair that accompanied each devotion kept my life in high drama.
--Jane Alexander, Command Performance
Vagary comes from Latin vagari, "to stroll about, to wander," from vagus, "wandering."
ancillary \AN-suh-lair-ee\, noun:
1. Subordinate; subsidiary.
2. Auxiliary; helping.
noun:
Something that is subordinate to something else.
The dining room, never used except as an ancillary larder, a cool place in which to set jellies and store meat, eggs and fish for the cat, is unchanged in essentials since I first came here in 1945.
--Angela Carter, Shaking a Leg
The forty-two active divisions, comprising 600,000 men, would on mobilisation take with them into the field another twenty-five reserve divisions and ancillary reserve units, raising the war strength of the army to over three million.
--John Keegan, The First World War
Narrow streets, reeking of horse and pig manure, were crowded with boardinghouses, countless shops and warehouses, and a sea of trade signs, all surrounded by a forest of masts, intricate webs of spars and rigging, shipyard ways, ropewalks, breweries, a distillery, and grog shops-- the innumerable ancillaries of a booming seaport.
--Richard M. Ketchum, Saratoga
Ancillary comes from Latin ancillaris, from ancilla, "female servant."
Evenness of mind; calmness; composure; as, "to bear misfortunes with equanimity."
For one whose mind has been notoriously troubled, Brian Lara is at least retaining a sense of equanimity.
--Richard Hobson, "Croft offers no respite as Lara's theme continues," Times (London), June 8, 2000
When one is happy, one can look at both comedy and tragedy with equanimity.
--Phillip Lopate, Totally, Tenderly, Tragically
I think one person can hardly understand why another has conducted his life in such a way, how he came to commit certain actions and not others, whether he looks upon the past with mostly pleasure or equanimity or regret.
--Chang-Rae Lee, A Gesture Life
Equanimity comes from Latin aequanimitas, "impartiality, calmness," from aequanimus, "impartial, even-tempered," from aequus, "even" + animus, "mind, soul."
bedizen \bih-DY-zuhn\, transitive verb:
To dress or adorn in gaudy manner.
At 18, he attended a party "frizzled, powdered and curled, in radiant pink satin, with waistcoat bedizened with gems of pink paste and a mosaic of colored foils and a hat blazing with 5,000 metallic beads," according to Michael Battersberry in "Fashion, The Mirror of History."
--Donna Larcen, "Details, Details: Everything Old Is New Again," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 19, 1994
... Ford's 2001-model F-150 SuperCrew "Harley-Davidson" model. This special edition pickup truck is bedizened with enough chrome, leather, and H-D logos to bring a RUBbie (Rich Urban Biker) weeping to his knees.
--"Summer Autos 2001," Newsday, May 19, 2001
Bedizen is the prefix be-, "completely; thoroughly; excessively" + dizen, an archaic word meaning "to deck out in fine clothes and ornaments," from Middle Dutch disen, "to dress (a distaff) with flax ready for spinning," from Middle Low German dise, "the bunch of flax placed on a distaff."
sonorous \suh-NOR-uhs; SAH-nuh-rus\, adjective:
1. Giving sound when struck; resonant; as, "sonorous metals."
2. Loud-sounding; giving a clear or loud sound; as, "a sonorous voice."
3. Yielding sound; characterized by sound; as, "the vowels are sonorous."
4. Impressive in sound; high-sounding.
Tecumseh spoke fluently in the Shawnee tongue, adding weight to his emphatic and sonorous words with elegant gestures.
--John Sugden, Tecumseh: A Life
The safety video began, optimistically, with Scott's "Great God, this is an awful place" delivered in a sonorous thespian voice and accompanying footage of well-clad individuals crashing into crevasses.
--Sara Wheeler, Terra Incognita
The Web, in Locke's view, brings the revolution against the sonorous all-knowing corporate voice to its inevitable climax and resolution in favor of the plebeians.
--Leslie Kaufman, "Internet Scene May Have a Lot in Common With the '60s," New York Times, April 10, 2000
Sonorous comes from Latin sonorus, from sonor, "sound."
enjoin \en-JOIN\, transitive verb:
1. To direct or impose with authority; to order.
2. To prohibit; to forbid.
While the Qur'an contains a number of references, some direct and some oblique, to the other four pillars, in only one place does it specifically enjoin fasting during the month of Ramadan: "O you faithful, fasting is ordained for you in the same way that it was ordained for those who came before you, so that you may fear God.... It was during the month of Ramadan that the Qur'an was sent down as a guidance for humanity. . .. Whoever among you sees the moon, then he should fast, but the one who is sick or on a journey, [can fast] an equal number of other days" (Sura 2:183-85).
--Jane I. Smith, Islam in America
Few judges were friendly to unions, as demonstrated by a steady stream of decisions enjoining strikes, boycotts, picket lines, and other collective actions.
--Sanford M. Jacoby, Modern Manors
Enjoin derives from Old French enjoindre, from Latin injungere, "to attach, to fasten to; also, to bring upon," from in- + jungere, "to join."
Trivia: Enjoin is its own antonym. Other self-antonyms include fast ("moving quickly; fixed firmly in place") and cleave ("to split; to adhere").
homily \HAH-muh-lee\, noun:
1. A sermon; a discourse on a religious theme.
2. A moralizing lecture or discourse.
3. An inspirational saying; also, a platitude.
Trumpets sounded, wine ran from fountains, bishops delivered homilies, magistrates presented the keys to their cities, triumphal arches sprang up along the way.
--Christine Pevitt, Philippe, Duc D'Orleans: Regent of France
He launched into a homily about marriage as a garden that requires care.
--Janet Maslin, " 'Somehow Form a Family': Between the Hills and Gilligan's Island," New York Times, June 7, 2001
Fathers Cyprien and Marie-Nizier were the first to nod off during the homily on bad thoughts.
--Rémy Rougeau, "Cello"
The book consisted of easy-to-remember rhyming homilies on the subjects of selling, winning, and making money ("If you want to earn your dough, get up in the morning and GO, GO, GO!").
--Brad Barkley, Money, Love
A Washington homily fit the situation: "That which must be done eventually is best done immediately."
--Ward Just, Echo House
Homily ultimately derives from Greek homilia, "instruction," from homolein, "to be together or in company with," hence "to have dealings with," from homilos, "an assembled crowd," from homos, "same." One who delivers homilies is a homilist. Homiletic means "of or pertaining to a homily."
comely \KUHM-lee\, adjective:
1. Pleasing or agreeable to the sight; good-looking.
2. Suitable or becoming; proper; agreeable.
Why should it matter if an author is comely or plain?
--Robb Forman Dew, "Silence of the Father," New York Times, January 19, 1992
Although aware that she was considered quite comely, she had never felt entirely confident of her charms, a hangover from her childhood.
--Kate Lehrer, Out of Eden
His glossy nails made his hands look ornamental and special, caressive, comely and lovely with which to be touched.
--Anne O'Brien Rice, The Vampire Armand
Comely derives from Old English cymlic, from cyme, "pretty, beautiful, fine, delicate" + lic, adjectival suffix.
politic \POL-ih-tik\, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to polity, or civil government; political (as in the phrase "the body politic").
2. (Of persons): Sagacious in promoting a policy; ingenious in devising and advancing a system of management; characterized by political skill and ingenuity; hence, shrewdly tactful, cunning.
3. (Of actions or things): Pertaining to or promoting a policy; hence, judicious; expedient; as, "a politic decision."
Plato, in Aristotle's judgment, confused and treated as one the diverse elements that make up the body politic-- household, community (village), and state.
--Richard Pipes, Property and Freedom
It also occurred to me then that members of the circle around Peres thought that since negotiations with Syria were bound to continue, it would be more politic to present the concessions that would have to be made as having been made by the late Rabin.
--Itamar Rabinovich, The Brink of Peace
I, on the other hand, loathed Philby... but it hardly seems politic to say this to my host.
--John le Carre, "My New Friends in the New Russia: In Search of A Few Good Crooks, Cops and Former Agents," New York Times, February 19, 1995
It didn't seem too politic to give voice to this thought.
--Lesley Hazleton, Driving To Detroit
Politic derives from Greek politikos, from polites, "citizen," from polis, "city."
aegis \EE-jis\, noun:
1. Protection; support.
2. Sponsorship; patronage.
3. Guidance, direction, or control.
4. A shield or protective armor;-- applied in mythology to
the shield of Zeus.
It is this ideal of the human under the aegis of something higher which seems to me to provide the strongest counterpressure against the fragmentation and barbarization of our world.
--Ted J. Smith III (Editor) In Defense of Tradition: Collected Shorter Writings of Richard M. Weaver, 1929Ð1963
A third round of talks is scheduled to begin on May 23rd in New York under the aegis of the United Nations.
--"Denktash declared head after rival withdraws," Irish Times, April 21, 2000
In real life, Lang's father was commercially astute and fantastically hardworking, and under his aegis the construction business flourished.
--Patrick McGilligan, Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast
Aegis derives from the Greek aigis, the shield of Zeus, from aix, aig-, "a goat," many primitive shields being goatskin-covered.
pernicious \pur-NISH-us\, adjective:
Highly injurious; deadly; destructive; exceedingly harmful.
Half-truths can be more pernicious than outright falsehoods.
--Wendy Lesser, "Who's Afraid of Arnold Bennett?" New York Times, September 28, 1997
But he said they were not thinkers but snobs, and their influence was pernicious.
--Saul Bellow, Ravelstein
Racism should be condemned because its effects are pernicious.
--Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Genes, Peoples, and Languages
Pernicious comes from Latin perniciosus, "destructive, ruinous," from pernicies, "destruction, disaster, ruin," from per-, "through, thoroughly" + nex, nec-, "violent death."
neologism \nee-OLL-uh-jiz-um\, noun:
1. A new word or expression.
2. A new use of a word or expression.
3. The use or creation of new words or expressions.
4. (Psychiatry) An invented, meaningless word used by a person with a psychiatric disorder.
5. (Theology) A new view or interpretation of a scripture.
The word "civilization" was just coming into use in the 18th century, in French and in English, and conservative men of letters preferred to avoid it as a newfangled neologism.
--Larry Wolff, "'If I Were Younger I Would Make Myself Russian': Voltaire's Encounter With the Czars," New York Times, November 13, 1994
If the work is really a holding operation, this will show in a closed or flat quality in the prose and in the scheme of the thing, a logiclessness, if you will pardon the neologism, in the writing.
--Harold Brodkey, "Reading, the Most Dangerous Game," New York Times, November 24, 1985
The word popularizing was a relative neologism (the Review boasted five years later, "Why should we be afraid of introducing new words into the language which it is our mission to spread over a new world?").
--Edward L. Widmer, Young America
The French word neologisme, from which the English is borrowed, is made up of the elements neo-, "new" + log-, "word" + -isme, -ism (all of which are derived from Greek).
A neologist is one who introduces new words or new senses of old words into a language. Neologistic, or neologistical, describes that which pertains to neology, "the introduction of a new word, or of words or significations, into a language." To neologize is to coin or use neologisms, and neologization is the act or process of doing so.
suasion \SWAY-zhun\, noun:
The act of persuading; persuasion.
As in the 1960s, violence converged with dynamism in American life, but unlike that subsequent period of protest, the militancy of the 1930s was restrained by the long arm of an American political tradition that favored reform by moral suasion.
--Nona Balakian, The World of William Saroyan
He visualized a world wherein power is exercised peacefully by moral suasion and political acumen, a world of idealism in many ways.
--George Perkovich, India's Nuclear Bomb
Some of the earliest protests of the incipient civil rights movement demanded the removal of baseball's color line. Beyond this cultural suasion, legal efforts to mandate integration were under way almost two years before Jackie Robinson donned a Brooklyn Dodger uniform.
--Dean Chadwin, Those Damn Yankees
Even more reassuring--more wishful and escapist, from our secularist-modern perspective--is the idea that the universe is moral and hence responsive to moral suasion.
--Yi-Fu Tuan, Escapism
Suasion comes from Latin suasio, from suadere, "to present in a pleasing manner," hence, "to advise." It is related to suave, "gracious or agreeable in manner."
hullabaloo \HUL-uh-buh-loo\, noun:
A confused noise; uproar; tumult.
True, he had diplomatic immunity as the assistant agricultural officer at the consulate, but the publicity and hullabaloo of an arrest and interrogation, not to mention expulsion from the country, would not be career-enhancing.
--Stephen Coonts, Hong Kong
By jumping on and off goods trains and encountering a sympathetic manager who hid him down a mine until the hullabaloo over his escape had died down, he finally reached freedom.
--David Stafford, Churchill and Secret Service
Hullabaloo is perhaps a corruption of hurly-burly, or the interjection halloo with rhyming reduplication.
apologia \ap-uh-LOH-jee-uh; -juh\, noun:
A formal defense or justification, especially of one's opinions, position, or actions.
Mr. Arbatov is well aware that he was perceived in this country as a spokesman at best and toady at worst for the regime. And he clearly wants this book to serve as his apologia.
--Bernard Gwertzman, "When Soviet Bureaucrats Were the Last to Know," New York Times, August 20, 1992
I should hasten to add that this volume is neither a dreary academic summary nor a tedious apologia by a politician who has just left office.
--Jack F. Matlock Jr., "Chinese Checkers," New York Times, September 13, 1998
John F. Lehman Jr. has written a lively and provocative apologia, in the classic sense of the word, to defend and justify his stewardship as Secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987.
--Richard Halloran, "Floating a Few Proposals," New York Times, February 19, 1989
The work is "a classic apologia, an aggressive defense of Roth's moral stance as an author," Harold Bloom said in The Book Review last year.
--Patricia T. O'Conner, New York Times, September 14, 1986
Apologia is from the Greek word meaning "a spoken or written defense," from apologos, "a story," from apo- + logos, "speech."
Trivia: Originally, apologia and apology had the same basic meaning: a formal justification or defense. Though apology is still sometimes used in that sense, it now usually indicates an acknowledgment expressing regret or asking pardon for a fault or offense. An apologia involves explaining, defending, or clarifying one's conduct, opinions, etc.
ignoramus \ig-nuh-RAY-mus\, noun:
An ignorant person; a dunce.
My "perfect" reader is not a scholar but neither is he an ignoramus; he does not read because he has to, nor as a pastime, nor to make a splash in society, but because he is curious about many things, wishes to choose among them and does not wish to delegate this choice to anyone; he knows the limits of his competence and education, and directs his choices accordingly.
--Primo Levi, "This Above All: Be Clear," New York Times, November 20, 1988
I am quite an ignoramus, I know nothing in the world.
--Charlotte Bronte, Villette
Ignoramus was the name of a character in George Ruggle's 1615 play of the same name. The name was derived from the Latin, literally, "we are ignorant," from ignorare, "not to know," from ignarus, "not knowing," from ig- (for in-), "not" + gnarus, "knowing, acquainted with, expert in." It is related to ignorant and ignore.
The correct plural form is ignoramuses. Since ignoramus in Latin is a verb, not a noun, there is no justification for a plural form ending in -i.
hardscrabble \HARD-skrab-uhl\, adjective:
1. Yielding a bare or meager living with great labor or difficulty.
2. Marked by poverty.
I remember it being green and humid, nothing like this hardscrabble land.
--Elmore Leonard, Cuba Libre
Most inhabitants scratched out a living from hardscrabble farming, yet these newcomers were hopeful and enterprising.
--Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
A scenic town fed by rich snowbirds who reside a few months a year in gated communities, High Balsam also is home to the hardscrabble residents who frequent Margaret's food-pantry giveaways.
--Deirdre Donahue, "A sweet 'Evensong,' " USA Today, December 2, 1999
Hardscrabble is formed from hard (from Old English heard) + scrabble (from Dutch schrabbelen, "to scratch").
embonpoint \ahn-bohn-PWAN\, noun:
Plumpness of person; stoutness.
With his embonpoint, Mr Soames appears to be wearing a quadruple-breasted suit.
--Simon Hoggart, "Roll up, roll up, to explore the Soames Zone," The Guardian, February 1, 2000
His embonpoint expands by the day and his eyes are buried in the fat of his cheeks.
--Quoted in Goethe: The Poet and the Age: Revolution and Renunciation, by Nicholas Boyle
Embonpoint is from French, literally "in good condition" (en, "in" + bon, "good" + point, "situation, condition").
gravid \GRAV-id\, adjective:
Being with child; heavy with young or eggs; pregnant.
For the moment the Cap'n Toby lies at rest outside the harbor, and the twelve-inch mackerels that Brian and I are cutting up for lobster bait are ripe, their bellies gravid with either blood-red roe or milt the color of sailors' bones.
--Richard Adams Carey, Against the Tide
In North America, in contrast, the British conquered an empire; New France disappeared from history. But-- Anderson's profound theme-- Britain's triumph was gravid with defeat.
--Jack Beatty, "Defeat in Victory," The Atlantic, December 2000
she is a bored society matron who seduces him before a carload gravid with already weary, now grossed-out morning commuters.
--Rita Kempley, review of The Adjuster (MGM/UA Studios movie), Washington Post, June 29, 1992
Gravid derives from Latin gravidus, from gravis, "heavy."
nascent \NAS-uhnt; NAY-suhnt\, adjective:
Beginning to exist or having recently come into existence; coming into being.
But there are other nascent technologies that are widely predicted to play a major part in moving the world from a dependence on oil, nuclear energy and coal.
--"Out of thin air," The Guardian, October 31, 2001
By the time that John D. Rockefeller was born in 1839, Richford was acquiring the amenities of a small town. It had some nascent industries... plus a schoolhouse and a church.
--Ron Chernow, Titan The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
This surprising success prompted several other companies to enter this nascent market.
--Ted Gioia, The History of Jazz
Nascent comes from Latin nascens, "being born," present participle of nasci, "to be born."
commodious \kuh-MOH-dee-us\, adjective:
Comfortably or conveniently spacious; roomy; as, a commodious house.
Then there are the trousers, black check or blue check, with commodious pockets.
--Richard F. Shepard, "For Caring Chefs, Crowning Glory Is the Headgear," New York Times, August 15, 1990
This brought John to accept Benjamin Franklin's invitation to reside in his commodious quarters in Passy, a suburb at the city's edge.
--Paul C. Nagel, John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life
Fed by the melting ice packs, the ocean rose again, inundating coastal lowlands and pouring back through the Narrows, creating the commodious Upper Bay that would serve as the harbor of New York.
--Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898
Commodious derives from the Latin commodus, "conforming to measure, hence convenient or fit for a particular purpose," from com-, "with" + modus, "measure."
remonstrate \rih-MAHN-strayt; REH-mun-strayt\, intransitive
verb:
To present and urge reasons in opposition to an act, measure, or any course of proceedings-- usually used with 'with'.
transitive verb:
To say or plead in protest, opposition, or reproof.
If a hailstorm starts, surely instead of remonstrating with it, you try to take shelter.
--Victor Pelevin, A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia and Other Stories
When things went beyond the control of her forceful personality, inventiveness or charm, if the problem was something she could not alter or manipulate, she didn't pine or remonstrate, she merely buried what was threatening or damaging to her sense of worth.
--Colin Thubron, "Sophisticated Traveler," New York Times, October 10, 1999
Tories and Liberal Democrats remonstrated with each other.
--Matthew Parris, "Cockney market forces drive Ginger bananas," Times (London), May 16, 2001
Remonstrate comes from Medieval Latin remonstrare, "to show again, to point back to, as a fault," from re- + monstrare, "to show."
troglodyte \TROG-luh-dyt\, noun:
1. A member of a primitive people that lived in caves, dens, or holes; a cave dweller.
2. One who is regarded as reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.
When the survivalists emerged blinking into the sunlight to restock their caves after the terror, my first reaction was to say, "Bless their dotty, troglodyte hearts."
--Judy Mann, "Survivalists Flee Reality to Live in Fear," Washington Post, October 5, 2001
... an admitted electronics-averse troglodyte like myself, who writes with a fountain pen, shaves with a mug and brush, grinds his own coffee and spends summers in a Maine fishing town where the nearest latte is 45 minutes away.
--Frank Van Riper, "Another Door Opens," Washington Post, May 5, 2000
For the first time, opening a fashion magazine didn't make me feel like a cloddish troglodyte who needed fixing.
--Janelle Brown, "Keeping it real," Salon, June 4, 2001
Troglodyte comes from Latin Troglodytae, a people said to be cave dwellers, from Greek Troglodytai, from trogle, "a hole" + dyein, "to enter." The adjective form is troglodytic.
gambol \GAM-buhl\, intransitive verb:
To dance and skip about in play; to frolic.
noun:
A skipping or leaping about in frolic.
I've been told dolphins like to gambol in the waves in these waters, and that sighting them brings good luck.
--Barbara Kingsolver, "Where the Map Stopped," New York Times, May 17, 1992
The bad news is that while most of us gambol in the sun, there will be much wringing of hands in environment-hugging circles about global warming and climate change.
--Derek Brown, "Heatwaves," The Guardian, June 16, 2000
Then they joined hands (it was the stranger who began it by catching Martha and Matilda) and danced the table round, shaking their feet and tossing their arms, the glee ever more uproarious,-- danced until they were breathless, every one of them, save little Sammy, who was not asked to join the gambol, but sat still in his chair, and seemed to expect no invitation.
--Norman Duncan, "Santa Claus At Lonely Cove," The Atlantic, December 1903
Gambol, earlier gambolde or gambalde, comes from Medieval French gambade, "a leaping or skipping," from Late Latin gamba, "hock (of a horse), leg," from Greek kampe, "a joint or bend."
repletion \rih-PLEE-shun\, noun:
1. The condition of being completely filled or supplied.
2. Excessive fullness, as from overeating.
We have to earn silence, then, to work for it: to make it not an absence but a presence; not emptiness but repletion.
--Pico Iyer, "The Eloquent Sounds of Silence," Time, January 1993
With distended belly and bursting waistcoat, his eyes glazed with repletion, he picks listlessly at his teeth with a fork.
--Kenneth Rose, "Madness of King George's son," Daily Telegraph, November 14, 1998
He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion.
--Jeff Guinn, "The Ghoul, the Bad, the Ugly," Arizona Republic, June 7, 1999
Repletion is derived from Latin replere, "to fill again, to fill up," from re- + plere, " to fill." Plenty is a related word.
sanctum \SANK-tum\, noun;
plural sanctums or sancta:
1. A sacred place.
2. A place of retreat where one is free from intrusion.
What's more, the babble of radios, televisions and raised voices from the other households in the condominium rarely penetrated this sanctum.
--Tim Parks, Mimi's Ghost
Seymour has spent most of her research time in that sanctum of the professional biographer, the London Library.
--John Mullan, "The agony and the ecstasy," The Guardian, December 23, 2000
Sanctum comes from the Latin, meaning "holy, sacred, or inviolable."
deign \DAYN\, intransitive verb:
To think worthy; to condescend-- followed by an infinitive.
intransitive verb:
To condescend to give or bestow; to stoop to furnish; to grant.
Not until I pour vodka on his shirt does he deign to acknowledge my existence.
--Jay McInerney, Model Behavior
Maybe the President does not deign to read op-ed pages, but his speechwriters surely do.
--William Safire, "The Wrong Way." New York Times, June 14, 1999
Like most healthy, normal people (if you deign to categorize yourself that way), you are probably fraught with worry so intense these days you are sleeping standing up with your eyes open.
--Lisa Napoli, "Every Little Thing's Gonna Be All Right!" New York Times, December 14, 1996
Deign comes from Old French deignier, "to regard as worthy," from Latin dignari, from dignus, "worthy." It is related to dignity, "the quality or state of being worthy."
efficacious \ef-ih-KAY-shuhs\, adjective:
Possessing the quality of being effective; producing, or capable of producing, the effect intended; as, an efficacious law.
Lawyers make claims not because they believe them to be true, but because they believe them to be legally efficacious.
--Paul F. Campos, Jurismania
Henri IV wrote to his son's nurse, Madame de Montglat, in 1607 insisting 'it is my wish and my command that he be whipped every time he is stubborn or misbehaves, knowing full well from personal experience that nothing in the world is as efficacious'.
--Katharine MacDonogh, Reigning Cats and Dogs: A History of Pets at Court Since the Renaissance
Plagued by rats, the citizens of Hamelin desperately seek some efficacious method of pest control.
--Francine Prose, review of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, as retold by Robert Holden, New York Times, August 16, 1998
Efficacious is from Latin efficax, -acis, from efficere, "to effect, to bring about," from ex-, "out" + facere, "to do or make."
idyll \EYE-dl\, noun:
1. A simple descriptive work, either in poetry or prose, dealing with simple, rustic life; pastoral scenes; and the like.
2. A narrative poem treating an epic, romantic, or tragic theme.
3. A lighthearted carefree episode or experience.
4. A romantic interlude.
Sheep are not the docile, pleasant creatures of the pastoral idyll. Any countryman will tell you that. They are sly, occasionally vicious, pathologically stupid.
--Joanne Harris, Chocolat
From too much looking back, he was destroyed,... trying to re-create an idyll that never truly existed except in his own imagination.
--Gore Vidal, The Essential Gore Vidal
She kept a diary that poignantly captured the sense of youthful gaiety shattered by events suddenly intruding on their teenage idyll.
--James T. Fisher, Dr. America
The Guevaras' honeymoon idyll, such as it was, did not last long.
--Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
Idyll ultimately derives from Greek eidullion, "a short descriptive poem (usually on pastoral subjects); an idyll," from eidos, "that which is seen; form; shape; figure." The adjective form is idyllic.
vagary \VAY-guh-ree; vuh-GER-ee\, noun:
An extravagant, erratic, or unpredictable notion, action, or occurrence.
Her words are a dreadful reminder that much of life's consequences are resultant of vagary and caprice, dictated by the tragedy of the ill-considered action, the irrevocable misstep, the irrevocable moment in which a terrible wrong can seem the only right.
--Rosemary Mahoney, "Acts of Mercy?" New York Times, September 13, 1998
Weather is one of the vagaries of blue-water racing, ruling the sport like a malicious jester.
--Martin Dugard, Knockdown
This thing called love was a total mystery to me, but the vagaries of passion and despair that accompanied each devotion kept my life in high drama.
--Jane Alexander, Command Performance
Vagary comes from Latin vagari, "to stroll about, to wander," from vagus, "wandering."
ancillary \AN-suh-lair-ee\, noun:
1. Subordinate; subsidiary.
2. Auxiliary; helping.
noun:
Something that is subordinate to something else.
The dining room, never used except as an ancillary larder, a cool place in which to set jellies and store meat, eggs and fish for the cat, is unchanged in essentials since I first came here in 1945.
--Angela Carter, Shaking a Leg
The forty-two active divisions, comprising 600,000 men, would on mobilisation take with them into the field another twenty-five reserve divisions and ancillary reserve units, raising the war strength of the army to over three million.
--John Keegan, The First World War
Narrow streets, reeking of horse and pig manure, were crowded with boardinghouses, countless shops and warehouses, and a sea of trade signs, all surrounded by a forest of masts, intricate webs of spars and rigging, shipyard ways, ropewalks, breweries, a distillery, and grog shops-- the innumerable ancillaries of a booming seaport.
--Richard M. Ketchum, Saratoga
Ancillary comes from Latin ancillaris, from ancilla, "female servant."
Friday, May 28, 2004
Word Of The Day
olla podrida \ol-uh-puh-DREE-duh; oy-uh-\, noun; plural olla podridas /-DREE-duhz/ or ollas podridas:
1. A stew of highly seasoned meat and vegetables.
2. A mixture; a hodgepodge.
This complex, Byzantine, at times long-winded work, which spent more than 60 weeks on Spain's best sellers list, throws together mystery, romance, and crime into one big mix like an olla podrida.
--Lawrence Olszewski, review of [1]The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Library Journal, February 1, 2004
The whole piece is an olla podrida of light music, in which the jig is the most conspicuous.
--Juanita Karpf and Tom Scott, "Populism with Religious Restraint," review of Esther, the Beautiful Queen, by William B. Bradbury, Popular Music and Society, Spring 1999
Continuously testing the resilience of the melting pot differentiates America from other places; and the olla
podrida of colors and cultures creates a reservoir of talents unduplicated on the planet.
--Rotan E. Lee, "Black gay men suffer double racism," Philadelphia Tribune, August 22, 2003
Olla podrida comes from the Spanish, literally "rotten pot," from olla, "pot" (from Latin olla) + podrida, feminine of podrido, "rotten," from Latin putridus.
1. A stew of highly seasoned meat and vegetables.
2. A mixture; a hodgepodge.
This complex, Byzantine, at times long-winded work, which spent more than 60 weeks on Spain's best sellers list, throws together mystery, romance, and crime into one big mix like an olla podrida.
--Lawrence Olszewski, review of [1]The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Library Journal, February 1, 2004
The whole piece is an olla podrida of light music, in which the jig is the most conspicuous.
--Juanita Karpf and Tom Scott, "Populism with Religious Restraint," review of Esther, the Beautiful Queen, by William B. Bradbury, Popular Music and Society, Spring 1999
Continuously testing the resilience of the melting pot differentiates America from other places; and the olla
podrida of colors and cultures creates a reservoir of talents unduplicated on the planet.
--Rotan E. Lee, "Black gay men suffer double racism," Philadelphia Tribune, August 22, 2003
Olla podrida comes from the Spanish, literally "rotten pot," from olla, "pot" (from Latin olla) + podrida, feminine of podrido, "rotten," from Latin putridus.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
More Words for Today
glabrous \GLAY-bruhs\, adjective:
Smooth; having a surface without hairs, projections, or any unevenness.
How much more powerful then will be the effect -- next week? next month? soon enough -- when Gore, resplendent, clean-shaven, glabrous in his glory, returns from the dead! Radiant! Reborn!
--Lance Morrow, "Al Gore, and Other Famous Bearded Men," Time, August 16, 2001
We offered to the rebarbative Senator Patrick Leahy's demands on us amused resistance and the promise to buy the glabrous old boy a proper hairpiece.
--R Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., "Jumpin' Jim Jehoshaphat!" The American Spectator, July 1, 2001
Glabrous is from Latin glaber, "smooth, bald."
irrupt \ih-RUHPT\, intransitive verb:
1. To burst in forcibly or suddenly; to intrude.
2. (Ecology) To increase rapidly in number.
Furthermore, and most decisively, the 1848 revolutions had shown how the masses could irrupt into the closed circle of their rulers, and the progress of industrial society itself made their pressure constantly greater even in non-revolutionary periods.
--The Age of Capital: 1848-1875 by Eric J. Hobsbawm
What happens in these flashes of inspiration is a kind of transcendence in science in which a new concept, something that has never been dreamt or thought of before, irrupts into the scientist's imagination.
--Roy Bhaskar, Reflections on Meta-Reality
What sounds are these that sting as they caress, that irrupt into my soul and twine about my heart?
--Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls
Archetypes are primordial forces, hidden within the collective unconscious, which normally lie dormant and unnoticed but which can suddenly irrupt into the conscious mind and produce the most unexpected results.
--Dewi Rees, Death and Bereavement
But unlike the populations of some of their more famous relatives (more famous to ecologists, at least), whose population fluctuations follow a regular, three-year cycle, some meadow vole populations irrupt sporadically and others almost always stay high or low.
--Richard S. Ostfeld, "Little loggers make a big difference," Natural History, May 2002
Irrupt is derived from the past participle of Latin irrumpere, from ir-, in-, "in" + rumpere, "to break."
agrestic \uh-GRES-tik\, adjective:
Pertaining to fields or the country; rural; rustic.
The funniest and most agrestic of all his paintings were, undoubtedly, the cows.
--Robert Hughes, "An Outlaw Who Loved Laws," Time, July 26, 1993
Grass plants possess an agrestic simplicity that probably connects them, at sorne level of mind, with wholesome grain and the restorative country life.
--George Schen, The Complete Shade Gardener
Agrestic is from agrestis, from ager, "field." It is related to agriculture.
Smooth; having a surface without hairs, projections, or any unevenness.
How much more powerful then will be the effect -- next week? next month? soon enough -- when Gore, resplendent, clean-shaven, glabrous in his glory, returns from the dead! Radiant! Reborn!
--Lance Morrow, "Al Gore, and Other Famous Bearded Men," Time, August 16, 2001
We offered to the rebarbative Senator Patrick Leahy's demands on us amused resistance and the promise to buy the glabrous old boy a proper hairpiece.
--R Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., "Jumpin' Jim Jehoshaphat!" The American Spectator, July 1, 2001
Glabrous is from Latin glaber, "smooth, bald."
irrupt \ih-RUHPT\, intransitive verb:
1. To burst in forcibly or suddenly; to intrude.
2. (Ecology) To increase rapidly in number.
Furthermore, and most decisively, the 1848 revolutions had shown how the masses could irrupt into the closed circle of their rulers, and the progress of industrial society itself made their pressure constantly greater even in non-revolutionary periods.
--The Age of Capital: 1848-1875 by Eric J. Hobsbawm
What happens in these flashes of inspiration is a kind of transcendence in science in which a new concept, something that has never been dreamt or thought of before, irrupts into the scientist's imagination.
--Roy Bhaskar, Reflections on Meta-Reality
What sounds are these that sting as they caress, that irrupt into my soul and twine about my heart?
--Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls
Archetypes are primordial forces, hidden within the collective unconscious, which normally lie dormant and unnoticed but which can suddenly irrupt into the conscious mind and produce the most unexpected results.
--Dewi Rees, Death and Bereavement
But unlike the populations of some of their more famous relatives (more famous to ecologists, at least), whose population fluctuations follow a regular, three-year cycle, some meadow vole populations irrupt sporadically and others almost always stay high or low.
--Richard S. Ostfeld, "Little loggers make a big difference," Natural History, May 2002
Irrupt is derived from the past participle of Latin irrumpere, from ir-, in-, "in" + rumpere, "to break."
agrestic \uh-GRES-tik\, adjective:
Pertaining to fields or the country; rural; rustic.
The funniest and most agrestic of all his paintings were, undoubtedly, the cows.
--Robert Hughes, "An Outlaw Who Loved Laws," Time, July 26, 1993
Grass plants possess an agrestic simplicity that probably connects them, at sorne level of mind, with wholesome grain and the restorative country life.
--George Schen, The Complete Shade Gardener
Agrestic is from agrestis, from ager, "field." It is related to agriculture.
Word Of The Day
cap-a-pie \cap-uh-PEE\, adverb:
From head to foot; at all points.
Yet it is increasingly hard to ignore other scientific predictions sashaying into the press dressed cap-a-pie in silver lining.
--Andrew Marr, "Skegness: not so much bracing as basking?" Daily Telegraph, January 14, 2004
The dress code was smart but informal and Cherie Blair cut an appropriately dark but bohemian figure dressed cap-a-pie in floor-length black leather.
--Cassandra Jardine, "Court of King Tony takes centre stage," Daily Telegraph, September 8, 2001
They are of one shade cap-a-pie, black as midnight and fleet of wing.
--M.D. Harmon, "Sorry, but it's true: Birds of a feather do flock together," Portland Press Herald, January 5, 2004
In another age, there would have been beheadings, clanging prison doors in the dark Tower; there would have been a second royal court with an army preparing to do battle, prancing steeds and knights armored cap-a-pie.
--Arnold Beichman, "Spellbinding farewell . . . and fantasy," Washington Times, September 10, 1997
cap-a-pie is from Middle French (de) cap a pé, "from head to foot," from Latin ped, "foot" + caput, "head."
From head to foot; at all points.
Yet it is increasingly hard to ignore other scientific predictions sashaying into the press dressed cap-a-pie in silver lining.
--Andrew Marr, "Skegness: not so much bracing as basking?" Daily Telegraph, January 14, 2004
The dress code was smart but informal and Cherie Blair cut an appropriately dark but bohemian figure dressed cap-a-pie in floor-length black leather.
--Cassandra Jardine, "Court of King Tony takes centre stage," Daily Telegraph, September 8, 2001
They are of one shade cap-a-pie, black as midnight and fleet of wing.
--M.D. Harmon, "Sorry, but it's true: Birds of a feather do flock together," Portland Press Herald, January 5, 2004
In another age, there would have been beheadings, clanging prison doors in the dark Tower; there would have been a second royal court with an army preparing to do battle, prancing steeds and knights armored cap-a-pie.
--Arnold Beichman, "Spellbinding farewell . . . and fantasy," Washington Times, September 10, 1997
cap-a-pie is from Middle French (de) cap a pé, "from head to foot," from Latin ped, "foot" + caput, "head."
More Marc
marc says:
ARSENAL SCUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tommy Tornado says:
Are you saying that Arsenal are scum, or that I am scum?
marc says:
The Team
marc says:
and supporters
Tommy Tornado says:
Aha, I getcha. Does that include me?
marc says:
no
Tommy Tornado says:
So you don't think I support Arsenal then?
marc says:
i know you do
Tommy Tornado says:
How do you know that?
marc says:
cause i am a source for all knowledge
ARSENAL SCUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tommy Tornado says:
Are you saying that Arsenal are scum, or that I am scum?
marc says:
The Team
marc says:
and supporters
Tommy Tornado says:
Aha, I getcha. Does that include me?
marc says:
no
Tommy Tornado says:
So you don't think I support Arsenal then?
marc says:
i know you do
Tommy Tornado says:
How do you know that?
marc says:
cause i am a source for all knowledge
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Marc
Tommy Tornado says:
allright geezer?
Tommy Tornado says:
sorry, I couldn't talk earlier
marc says:
Thats okay how are you? Did you have a good weekend?
Tommy Tornado says:
Yes, very cool. Went to see the streets on Friday, saturday FA cup
marc says:
your not a milwall supporter? ARE YOU?
Tommy Tornado says:
What if I am?
marc says:
YOU NEED YOU HEAD EXAMINED!!!!! IPSWICH TOWN ALL THE WAY !!!!!!!
marc says:
are you a Milwall supporter or not?
Tommy Tornado says:
What does it matter?
marc says:
Cause I never knew that you like football , and I want to take the piss out of you when ITFC Play Milwall
marc says:
and ITFC WIN
Tommy Tornado says:
I'll tell you what...
Tommy Tornado says:
When Ipswich play Milwall, you can take the piss all you like.
Tommy Tornado says:
Because I don't give a crap
Tommy Tornado says:
I only follow one football team.
marc says:
NOT MUFC?
Tommy Tornado says:
And it's not wanky half-arsed ITFC, which by the way, looks like a wanky spelling of 'titfuck'
marc says:
are you plastic mank?
Tommy Tornado says:
So take your Portman Road trash, back to the filthy mud-pits they came from and support a real football team.
Tommy Tornado says:
See, you can't take the piss out of me and my football team, because you don't know who I support, and I'm not going to tell you.
Tommy Tornado says:
You, conversly, have played your hand, and are now stuck with the fact that I know that support the world's biggest pile of excremental excuse for a football team
Tommy Tornado says:
Your team sucks arse
marc says:
Well that they may do, but I can admit that i support them, so the team you support must be that much of an embassrement to you that you can't admit who they are!
Tommy Tornado says:
Oh, they are very real, and they have a huge following, right here in England.
marc says:
GOOOOOONER'S? bunch of fucking foregin players?
Tommy Tornado says:
Do they football in Cyprus? Could "tITFuCk" beat any of them? Maybe the could play over there and stand a chance of being top of the world again.
marc says:
yep and they played here as a preseason tour in 2002, and beat everyone!!!!!
Tommy Tornado says:
Well that's hardly a claim to fame is it?
marc says:
and what have your team done recently
Tommy Tornado says:
There's less than a million people in cyprus, and half of those are fat english squaddies
marc says:
I know I am a big fat squaddie, but its well paid for
marc says:
yours would be your middle age spread
Tommy Tornado says:
Now if I told you what my team had done recently that would give the game away and I wouldn't be able to wind you up anymore
marc says:
that means you one of two teams Both of which are fucking scum!!!!!!! and I will find out
Tommy Tornado says:
good luck - Hey! There's a big picture ont eh front of the ITFC website that says you can buy ITFC for less than a fiver!
marc says:
I will find out your team.
Tommy Tornado says:
Well, good luck with that.
allright geezer?
Tommy Tornado says:
sorry, I couldn't talk earlier
marc says:
Thats okay how are you? Did you have a good weekend?
Tommy Tornado says:
Yes, very cool. Went to see the streets on Friday, saturday FA cup
marc says:
your not a milwall supporter? ARE YOU?
Tommy Tornado says:
What if I am?
marc says:
YOU NEED YOU HEAD EXAMINED!!!!! IPSWICH TOWN ALL THE WAY !!!!!!!
marc says:
are you a Milwall supporter or not?
Tommy Tornado says:
What does it matter?
marc says:
Cause I never knew that you like football , and I want to take the piss out of you when ITFC Play Milwall
marc says:
and ITFC WIN
Tommy Tornado says:
I'll tell you what...
Tommy Tornado says:
When Ipswich play Milwall, you can take the piss all you like.
Tommy Tornado says:
Because I don't give a crap
Tommy Tornado says:
I only follow one football team.
marc says:
NOT MUFC?
Tommy Tornado says:
And it's not wanky half-arsed ITFC, which by the way, looks like a wanky spelling of 'titfuck'
marc says:
are you plastic mank?
Tommy Tornado says:
So take your Portman Road trash, back to the filthy mud-pits they came from and support a real football team.
Tommy Tornado says:
See, you can't take the piss out of me and my football team, because you don't know who I support, and I'm not going to tell you.
Tommy Tornado says:
You, conversly, have played your hand, and are now stuck with the fact that I know that support the world's biggest pile of excremental excuse for a football team
Tommy Tornado says:
Your team sucks arse
marc says:
Well that they may do, but I can admit that i support them, so the team you support must be that much of an embassrement to you that you can't admit who they are!
Tommy Tornado says:
Oh, they are very real, and they have a huge following, right here in England.
marc says:
GOOOOOONER'S? bunch of fucking foregin players?
Tommy Tornado says:
Do they football in Cyprus? Could "tITFuCk" beat any of them? Maybe the could play over there and stand a chance of being top of the world again.
marc says:
yep and they played here as a preseason tour in 2002, and beat everyone!!!!!
Tommy Tornado says:
Well that's hardly a claim to fame is it?
marc says:
and what have your team done recently
Tommy Tornado says:
There's less than a million people in cyprus, and half of those are fat english squaddies
marc says:
I know I am a big fat squaddie, but its well paid for
marc says:
yours would be your middle age spread
Tommy Tornado says:
Now if I told you what my team had done recently that would give the game away and I wouldn't be able to wind you up anymore
marc says:
that means you one of two teams Both of which are fucking scum!!!!!!! and I will find out
Tommy Tornado says:
good luck - Hey! There's a big picture ont eh front of the ITFC website that says you can buy ITFC for less than a fiver!
marc says:
I will find out your team.
Tommy Tornado says:
Well, good luck with that.
Monday, May 24, 2004
Word Of The Day
tarradiddle \tair-uh-DID-uhl\, noun:
1. A petty falsehood; a fib.
2. Pretentious nonsense.
Oh please! Even in the parallel universe, tarradiddles of this magnitude cannot go unchallenged.
--"Taxation in the parallel universe," Sunday Business, June 11, 2000
Mr B did not tell a whopper. This was no fib, plumper, porker or tarradiddle. There was definitely no deceit, mendacity or fabrication.
--"Looking back," Western Mail, May 11, 2002
Other amendments, such as a chef at the birthday party, a dancing bear in the hunting scene, and a brief solo for the usually pedestrian Catalabutte, seemed more capricious, and the synopsis suggested further changes had been planned but perhaps found impractical. Some tarradiddle with roses for death and rebirth also necessitated different flowers for the traditional Rose Adagio.
--John Percival, "The other St Petersburg company," Independent, November 22, 2001
Tarradiddle is of unknown origin.
1. A petty falsehood; a fib.
2. Pretentious nonsense.
Oh please! Even in the parallel universe, tarradiddles of this magnitude cannot go unchallenged.
--"Taxation in the parallel universe," Sunday Business, June 11, 2000
Mr B did not tell a whopper. This was no fib, plumper, porker or tarradiddle. There was definitely no deceit, mendacity or fabrication.
--"Looking back," Western Mail, May 11, 2002
Other amendments, such as a chef at the birthday party, a dancing bear in the hunting scene, and a brief solo for the usually pedestrian Catalabutte, seemed more capricious, and the synopsis suggested further changes had been planned but perhaps found impractical. Some tarradiddle with roses for death and rebirth also necessitated different flowers for the traditional Rose Adagio.
--John Percival, "The other St Petersburg company," Independent, November 22, 2001
Tarradiddle is of unknown origin.
Exam Hall Games
Teachers have invented a version of the boys' game Battleships to relieve the boredom of invigilating exams, a study claimed yesterday.
They put crosses on a piece of paper marking the position of pupils with 'bad hair'.
The study found some teachers play tag as they move about the room. 'It is just like the real game but without any running,' said a contibuter to an exam antics website set up by the Time Educational Supplement.
The there is the game of 'chicken' in which teachers walk towards each other, the loser being the first to side-step to avoid colliding.
The nastiest game is ugly where a teacher stands beside the least good-looking pupil.
John Dunford, of the Secondary Heads Association, said the games did not bother pupils, whose main concern was the teachers' squeaky shoes.
They put crosses on a piece of paper marking the position of pupils with 'bad hair'.
The study found some teachers play tag as they move about the room. 'It is just like the real game but without any running,' said a contibuter to an exam antics website set up by the Time Educational Supplement.
The there is the game of 'chicken' in which teachers walk towards each other, the loser being the first to side-step to avoid colliding.
The nastiest game is ugly where a teacher stands beside the least good-looking pupil.
John Dunford, of the Secondary Heads Association, said the games did not bother pupils, whose main concern was the teachers' squeaky shoes.
Nan - At the NY Times
It's my friend Nan - doing a piece for the NY times!
"If you were wearing white, they'd rub off," she said, turning her back.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/20/garden/20ICFF.html
"If you were wearing white, they'd rub off," she said, turning her back.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/20/garden/20ICFF.html
Sunday, May 23, 2004
Real Band Names
http://www.metal-sludge.com/RealBandNames.htm
My personal favourite is "Alcoholocaust", which is the state Mike was fast approaching on Friday night.
My personal favourite is "Alcoholocaust", which is the state Mike was fast approaching on Friday night.
Friday, May 21, 2004
Word Of The Day
crabwise \KRAB-wyz\, adjective:
1. Sideways.
2. In a cautiously indirect manner.
Grass tells this story in awkward fashion, coming at it crabwise indeed, with hesitations, shifts of direction, and out of sequence, allowing his narrator to display his own confusion, uncertainty, resentment of a history that has deformed his own life.
--Allan Massie, review of Crabwalk, by Gunter Grass, [1]The Scotsman, April 5, 2003
Atwood moves crabwise through such questions as the place of moral or ideological content in art, the conflict between artistic purity and commercial necessity, and the nature of the relationship between writer, text and reader.
--Christopher Tayler, review of Negotiating with the Dead, by Margaret Atwood, [2]Sunday Telegraph March 10, 2002
Without taking his eyes from the road his left hand moved seamlessly from the old-fashioned gear stick to Sally's lap where, after a brief professional rummage, it moved crabwise on to me in the back seat.
--Sue Arnold, "The difference between a grope and a caress," [3]The Independent, October 4, 2003
1. Sideways.
2. In a cautiously indirect manner.
Grass tells this story in awkward fashion, coming at it crabwise indeed, with hesitations, shifts of direction, and out of sequence, allowing his narrator to display his own confusion, uncertainty, resentment of a history that has deformed his own life.
--Allan Massie, review of Crabwalk, by Gunter Grass, [1]The Scotsman, April 5, 2003
Atwood moves crabwise through such questions as the place of moral or ideological content in art, the conflict between artistic purity and commercial necessity, and the nature of the relationship between writer, text and reader.
--Christopher Tayler, review of Negotiating with the Dead, by Margaret Atwood, [2]Sunday Telegraph March 10, 2002
Without taking his eyes from the road his left hand moved seamlessly from the old-fashioned gear stick to Sally's lap where, after a brief professional rummage, it moved crabwise on to me in the back seat.
--Sue Arnold, "The difference between a grope and a caress," [3]The Independent, October 4, 2003
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
How to win an Online Argument
- Get friendly
Always refer to your opponent by his/her first name. Your messages will seem warm and friendly, despite the rabid ferocity of their content. After a few exchanges, begin to use a corruption of your opponent's name - begin with "William", then change to "Billy", then change to something like "Billy-Boy". Women don't enjoy having their names shortened either, so make sure that "Mrs. Elizabeth C. Osbourne-Smythe PhD, QC" is always addressed as "Lizzy". - Picky! Picky!
Criticising your opponents spelling or grammar will make you look pedantic. Far better to deliberately misread a message, then follow-up with an utterly incongruous statement. And if they make a factual error - no matter how small - make sure you're on hand to remind them of their error as often as possible. - Be selective
Selective editing is a good way to avoid engaging with your opponent's better arguments. Simply delete that intelligent, pointed question which ends paragraph three and reply instead to the weaker arguments beneath. Should your opponent post something like "I'm sorry but you're talking crap", snip everything but the first two words then graciously accept his apology. - Showboat
Once the argument is in full swing, publicly thank all those people who have e-mailed you privately with their messages of support. Claim that you are too busy to reply to each of them personally at the moment, but promise to continue fighting on their behalf. - You've got history
Boasting about how long you've been subscribed to a forum or newsgroup is not advised. Far better to make obscure references to the forum/newsgroup when only thirteen people knew it existed. Fondly recall a similar flame-war which took place in 1989 between "Big Al" and "Phyllis from Kent". If a newly arrived opponent produces a particularly strong argument, tell them that you've already discussed (and won) this debate last year and that you've no intention of repeating your crushing arguments all over again for their benefit. - There's lots of you
Always refer to yourself in the plural, as though you are speaking on behalf of the whole newsgroup: "all we are trying to say is..." sounds much more pompous than "all I am trying to say is...". When other people join in the thread, the rules are simple: if they side with you, follow-up immediately and enthusiastically, congratulating them on their courage; if they side with your opponent, ignore the tossers. - One step ahead
Pre-empt all replies. Tell your opponent that you know exactly how he or she is going to respond to your message because you've seen it all before. List all potential counter-arguments to your position and invite your opponent to choose one. - Beer and arguments don't mix
Never, ever, rejoin a long-running argument after ten pints in the pub. Although the devastating logic of your drunken ramblings will seem inescapable to you at the time, your opponent will lap up the incoherent, inconsistent, beer-troubled flaws in your argument and you'll be unlikely to recover. If you've been involved in a particularly vehement argument where you've staked your reputation on the line, get a friend to lock away your PC on pub nights. - Bamboozle with links
If your opponent's tenacity is proving too much for you, try a Google counter-attack. This involves posting up an endless stream of vaguely related links, insisting that there's more than enough evidence contained in the 50+ linked sites to crush any counter argument. Ensure you keep the references vague and preferably link to pages that are stuffed full of even more links. If your enemy can't find the evidence they're demanding, blame them for their lack of research skills - after all, you've already provided them with ample resources. - I didn't say that!
Never apologise for anything, ever. - Play dirty
Think the argument isn't going your way? Simply post one long, highly antagonistic message in which you completely misrepresent everything your opponent has said in the last three weeks. End by martyrishly declaring that the argument has dragged on for too long and that you have no choice but to kill-file/ignore your opponent. Ignore any further messages and/or quietly re-register under a new name. - Victory is yours!
Won the argument? Congratulations - but remember to be utterly unbearable in victory. Make generous excuses for your opponent's behaviour ("I know you primary school technicians can be under a lot of stress", "the menopause can be a very difficult time", etc), but retain a calm tone of superiority ("the important thing is to learn from your mistakes"). State that you hope your opponent stays around and reassure him/her that other subscribers are sure to forget all about this sorry business in a couple of years.
How to win an Argument
This post is copied in its entirety from http://www.ijmc.com/archives/1995/May/01May1995.html
I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me. You too can win arguments. Simply follow these rules:
* Drink Liquor.
Suppose you're at a party and some hotshot intellectual is expounding on the economy of Peru, a subject you know nothing about. If you're drinking some health-fanatic drink like grapefruit juice, you'll hang back, afraid to display your ignorance, while the hotshot enthralls your date. But if you drink several large shots of Jack Daniels, you'll discover you have STRONG VIEWS about the Peruvian economy. You'll be a WEALTH of information. You'll argue forcefully, offering searing insights and possibly upsetting furniture. People will be impressed. Some may leave the room.
* Make things up.
Suppose, in the Peruvian economy argument, you are trying to prove Peruvians are underpaid, a position you base solely on the fact that YOU are underpaid, and you're damned if you're going to let a bunch of Peruvians be better off. DON'T say: "I think Peruvians are underpaid." Say: "The average Peruvian's salary in 1981 dollars adjusted for the revised tax base is $1,452.81 per annum, which is $836.07 before the mean gross poverty level."
NOTE: Always make up exact figures.
If an opponent asks you where you got your information, make THAT up, too. Say: "This information comes from Dr. Hovel T. Moon's study for the Buford Commission published May 9, 1982. Didn't you read it?" Say this in the same tone of voice you would use to say "You left your soiled underwear in my bath house."
* Use meaningless but weightly-sounding words and phrases.
Memorize this list:
Let me put it this way
In terms of
Vis-a-vis
Per se
As it were
Qua
So to speak
well, any-who
You should also memorize some Latin abbreviations such as "Q.E.D.", "e.g.", and "i.e." These are all short for "I speak Latin, and you do not."
Here's how to use these words and phrases. Suppose you want to say:
"Peruvians would like to order appetizers more often, but they don't have enough money."
You never win arguments talking like that. But you WILL win if you say:
"Let me put it this way. In terms of appetizers vis-a-vis Peruvians qua Peruvians, they would like to order them more often, so to speak, but they do not have enough money per se, as it were. Q.E.D."
Only a fool would challenge that statement.
* Use snappy and irrelevant comebacks.
You need an arsenal of all-purpose irrelevent phrases to fire back at your opponents when they make valid points. The best are:
You're begging the question.
You're being defensive.
Don't compare apples and oranges.
What are your parameters?
This last one is especially valuable. Nobody, other than mathematicians, has the vaguest idea what "parameters" means.
Here's how to use your comebacks:
You say "As Abraham Lincoln said in 1873..."
Your opponents says "Lincoln died in 1865."
You say "You're begging the question."
OR
You say "Liberians, like most Asians..."
Your opponents says "Liberia is in Africa."
You say "You're being defensive."
* Compare your opponent to Adolf Hitler.
This is your heavy artillery, for when your opponent is obviously right and you are spectacularly wrong. Bring Hitler up subtly. Say: "That sounds suspiciously like something Adolf Hitler might say" or "You certainly do remind me of Adolf Hitler."
You now know how to out-argue anybody. Do not try to pull any of this on people who generally carry weapons.
I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me. You too can win arguments. Simply follow these rules:
* Drink Liquor.
Suppose you're at a party and some hotshot intellectual is expounding on the economy of Peru, a subject you know nothing about. If you're drinking some health-fanatic drink like grapefruit juice, you'll hang back, afraid to display your ignorance, while the hotshot enthralls your date. But if you drink several large shots of Jack Daniels, you'll discover you have STRONG VIEWS about the Peruvian economy. You'll be a WEALTH of information. You'll argue forcefully, offering searing insights and possibly upsetting furniture. People will be impressed. Some may leave the room.
* Make things up.
Suppose, in the Peruvian economy argument, you are trying to prove Peruvians are underpaid, a position you base solely on the fact that YOU are underpaid, and you're damned if you're going to let a bunch of Peruvians be better off. DON'T say: "I think Peruvians are underpaid." Say: "The average Peruvian's salary in 1981 dollars adjusted for the revised tax base is $1,452.81 per annum, which is $836.07 before the mean gross poverty level."
NOTE: Always make up exact figures.
If an opponent asks you where you got your information, make THAT up, too. Say: "This information comes from Dr. Hovel T. Moon's study for the Buford Commission published May 9, 1982. Didn't you read it?" Say this in the same tone of voice you would use to say "You left your soiled underwear in my bath house."
* Use meaningless but weightly-sounding words and phrases.
Memorize this list:
Let me put it this way
In terms of
Vis-a-vis
Per se
As it were
Qua
So to speak
well, any-who
You should also memorize some Latin abbreviations such as "Q.E.D.", "e.g.", and "i.e." These are all short for "I speak Latin, and you do not."
Here's how to use these words and phrases. Suppose you want to say:
"Peruvians would like to order appetizers more often, but they don't have enough money."
You never win arguments talking like that. But you WILL win if you say:
"Let me put it this way. In terms of appetizers vis-a-vis Peruvians qua Peruvians, they would like to order them more often, so to speak, but they do not have enough money per se, as it were. Q.E.D."
Only a fool would challenge that statement.
* Use snappy and irrelevant comebacks.
You need an arsenal of all-purpose irrelevent phrases to fire back at your opponents when they make valid points. The best are:
You're begging the question.
You're being defensive.
Don't compare apples and oranges.
What are your parameters?
This last one is especially valuable. Nobody, other than mathematicians, has the vaguest idea what "parameters" means.
Here's how to use your comebacks:
You say "As Abraham Lincoln said in 1873..."
Your opponents says "Lincoln died in 1865."
You say "You're begging the question."
OR
You say "Liberians, like most Asians..."
Your opponents says "Liberia is in Africa."
You say "You're being defensive."
* Compare your opponent to Adolf Hitler.
This is your heavy artillery, for when your opponent is obviously right and you are spectacularly wrong. Bring Hitler up subtly. Say: "That sounds suspiciously like something Adolf Hitler might say" or "You certainly do remind me of Adolf Hitler."
You now know how to out-argue anybody. Do not try to pull any of this on people who generally carry weapons.
Word of the Day
bromide \BROH-myd\, noun:
1. A compound of bromine and another element or a positive organic radical.
2. A dose of potassium bromide taken as a sedative.
3. A dull person with conventional thoughts.
4. A commonplace or conventional saying.
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." The words are in fact already a bromide when the pompous Malvolio finds and reads them.
--Marjorie Garber, Symptoms of Culture
He cannot resist the occasional bromide: "Ninety percent of diplomacy is a question of who blinks first."
--Gary J. Bass, "The Negotiator," New York Times, July 11, 1999
The next president could live up to that old political bromide "Let's run the government like a business" by staffing his cabinet with some leading figures from the new world of business.
--Daniel H. Pink, "Fast.Gov," Fast Company, October 2000
Bromide was formed from the first element of English bromine and the suffix -ide; the pair of bromine/bromide parallel chlorine/chloride. Bromine itself comes from French brome, from Greek bromos, "bad smell." The adjective form is bromidic (pronounced \broh-MID-ik\).
Trivia: The figurative sense of "a dull, conventional person or saying" was popularized by American humorist Gelett Burgess in his book Are You a Bromide? (1906).
1. A compound of bromine and another element or a positive organic radical.
2. A dose of potassium bromide taken as a sedative.
3. A dull person with conventional thoughts.
4. A commonplace or conventional saying.
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." The words are in fact already a bromide when the pompous Malvolio finds and reads them.
--Marjorie Garber, Symptoms of Culture
He cannot resist the occasional bromide: "Ninety percent of diplomacy is a question of who blinks first."
--Gary J. Bass, "The Negotiator," New York Times, July 11, 1999
The next president could live up to that old political bromide "Let's run the government like a business" by staffing his cabinet with some leading figures from the new world of business.
--Daniel H. Pink, "Fast.Gov," Fast Company, October 2000
Bromide was formed from the first element of English bromine and the suffix -ide; the pair of bromine/bromide parallel chlorine/chloride. Bromine itself comes from French brome, from Greek bromos, "bad smell." The adjective form is bromidic (pronounced \broh-MID-ik\).
Trivia: The figurative sense of "a dull, conventional person or saying" was popularized by American humorist Gelett Burgess in his book Are You a Bromide? (1906).
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
An End to the Big Book of British Smiles?
New teeth 'could soon be grown'
Technology to grow replacement teeth could mean the end of dentures.
Scientists at King's College London have been awarded £500,000 to help them develop human teeth from stem cells.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3679313.stm
Technology to grow replacement teeth could mean the end of dentures.
Scientists at King's College London have been awarded £500,000 to help them develop human teeth from stem cells.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3679313.stm
Monday, May 10, 2004
Word Of The Day
sentient \SEN-shee-uhnt; -tee-; -shuhnt\, adjective:
1. Capable of perceiving by the senses; conscious.
2. Experiencing sensation or feeling.
I can remember very vividly the first time I became aware of my existence; how for the first time I realised that I was a sentient human being in a perceptible world.
--Lord Berners, First Childhood
Answers to such profound questions as whether we are the only sentient beings in the universe, whether life is the product of random accident or deeply rooted law, and whether there may be some sort of ultimate meaning to our existence, hinge on what science can reveal about the formation of life.
--Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle
Sentient comes from Latin sentiens, "feeling," from sentire, "to discern or perceive by the senses."
1. Capable of perceiving by the senses; conscious.
2. Experiencing sensation or feeling.
I can remember very vividly the first time I became aware of my existence; how for the first time I realised that I was a sentient human being in a perceptible world.
--Lord Berners, First Childhood
Answers to such profound questions as whether we are the only sentient beings in the universe, whether life is the product of random accident or deeply rooted law, and whether there may be some sort of ultimate meaning to our existence, hinge on what science can reveal about the formation of life.
--Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle
Sentient comes from Latin sentiens, "feeling," from sentire, "to discern or perceive by the senses."
Shooty Arrow Game
Quite astoundingly retro, but still uncommonly good. Can you shoot the other bow-wielding stickman, before he makes you into a black line kebab?
http://www.xeron.org/cosas/bowman/
http://www.xeron.org/cosas/bowman/
Angry Bleak Nursery Rhymes
rage-filled nihilistic reinterpretations of kiddie favourites
http://www.lskerton.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/nursery.html
http://www.lskerton.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/nursery.html
Poo Stories
This week b3ta are doing your stories on poo.
"My cat once ate a 6 foot-long piece of red and green string, which it couldn't completely crap out. There i was, sitting in my living room, and my cat comes running through with about 5 feet of it trailing from its ass. Considering it was around Christmas, she looked rather festive.
"A few years ago when I was at school, we went on a trip to Italy. Someone did a shit in the sink, and when the teacher asked if it looked human, my mate replied 'no sir, it looks like a shit'
"Our dog found a bucket of Artex in the garden. And by the following morning had left perfect white plastercast turds all over the house. They had to be chipped off the floor with a spade."
Read them all here: http://b3ta.com/questions/shitstories/
"My cat once ate a 6 foot-long piece of red and green string, which it couldn't completely crap out. There i was, sitting in my living room, and my cat comes running through with about 5 feet of it trailing from its ass. Considering it was around Christmas, she looked rather festive.
"A few years ago when I was at school, we went on a trip to Italy. Someone did a shit in the sink, and when the teacher asked if it looked human, my mate replied 'no sir, it looks like a shit'
"Our dog found a bucket of Artex in the garden. And by the following morning had left perfect white plastercast turds all over the house. They had to be chipped off the floor with a spade."
Read them all here: http://b3ta.com/questions/shitstories/
Fake holiday reviews
Brilliant!
The idea is to find holiday destinations with double entendre names and write up reviews for their websites. One of our favourites for the Black Cock Inn: "the Black Cock Inn cider is one of my girlfriend's absolute favourites. She says that once you've tried it, nothing else will quite hit the spot again."
http://www.jboom.com/entendre
via b3ta
The idea is to find holiday destinations with double entendre names and write up reviews for their websites. One of our favourites for the Black Cock Inn: "the Black Cock Inn cider is one of my girlfriend's absolute favourites. She says that once you've tried it, nothing else will quite hit the spot again."
http://www.jboom.com/entendre
via b3ta
Hey Hey 16k
Did you use a home computer in the 1980s? Then you have to see your ginger Fuhrer Rob Manuel's new flash video. It's based upon a catchy song by MJ Hibbett which according to Rob, "said something about my youth and made me feel bittersweet nostalgia.
See it here: http://www2.b3ta.com/heyhey16k/
via b3ta
See it here: http://www2.b3ta.com/heyhey16k/
via b3ta
Come-Backs
"A friend of mine had an argument with his Dad. He called him an 'old bastard'. His Dad replied with, "I would have sexually abused you as a child if you weren’t so fucking ugly.'
"Was out with a woman friend once when this happened. Random bloke, 'Ere, love, sit on me face.' Her, 'Why, is your nose bigger than your penis?'
"I was seven, running around the garden, with a pointy stick. Suddenly my mum starts shouting from the kitchen, 'You'll have your eye out. What are you going to do then?' I replied 'I'll become a pirate mum!', and continued running around.
Read all the stories here: http://b3ta.com/questions/bestcomebacks/
"Was out with a woman friend once when this happened. Random bloke, 'Ere, love, sit on me face.' Her, 'Why, is your nose bigger than your penis?'
"I was seven, running around the garden, with a pointy stick. Suddenly my mum starts shouting from the kitchen, 'You'll have your eye out. What are you going to do then?' I replied 'I'll become a pirate mum!', and continued running around.
Read all the stories here: http://b3ta.com/questions/bestcomebacks/
Cannibal chase game
Have you ever wanted to experience the thrill of being chased by cannibals? NOW AT LAST YOU CAN They are quite small cannibals, but they ululate in a pleasing fashion as they chase you through a little tree maze.
Update: I really should post the url though.
Aha - here it is http://www.netcartoon.net/cannibals/cannibals.php
Update: I really should post the url though.
Aha - here it is http://www.netcartoon.net/cannibals/cannibals.php
Top 17 Programmer's Terminologies
1. A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES ARE BEING TRIED
- We are still pissing in the wind.
2. EXTENSIVE REPORT IS BEING PREPARED ON A FRESH APPROACH TO
THE PROBLEM
- We just hired three kids fresh out of college.
3. CLOSE PROJECT COORDINATION
- We know who to blame.
4. MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH
- It works OK, but looks very hi-tech.
5. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS DELIVERED ASSURED
- We are so far behind schedule the customer is happy to
get it delivered.
6. PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL TESTS WERE INCONCLUSIVE
- The darn thing blew up when we threw the switch.
7. TEST RESULTS WERE EXTREMELY GRATIFYING
- We are so surprised that the stupid thing works.
8. THE ENTIRE CONCEPT WILL HAVE TO BE ABANDONED
- The only person who understood the thing quit.
9. IT IS IN THE PROCESS
- It is so wrapped up in red tape that the situation
is about hopeless.
10. WE WILL LOOK INTO IT
- Forget it! We have enough problems for now.
11. PLEASE NOTE AND INITIAL
- Let's spread the responsibility for the screw up.
12. GIVE US THE BENEFIT OF YOUR THINKING
- We'll listen to what you have to say as long as it
doesn't interfere with what we've already done.
13. GIVE US YOUR INTERPRETATION
- I can't wait to hear this bull!
14. SEE ME or LET'S DISCUSS
- Come into my office, I'm lonely.
15. ALL NEW
- Code not interchangeable with the previous design.
16. YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT
- It finally worked!
17. LOW MAINTENANCE
- Impossible to fix if broken.
- We are still pissing in the wind.
2. EXTENSIVE REPORT IS BEING PREPARED ON A FRESH APPROACH TO
THE PROBLEM
- We just hired three kids fresh out of college.
3. CLOSE PROJECT COORDINATION
- We know who to blame.
4. MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH
- It works OK, but looks very hi-tech.
5. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS DELIVERED ASSURED
- We are so far behind schedule the customer is happy to
get it delivered.
6. PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL TESTS WERE INCONCLUSIVE
- The darn thing blew up when we threw the switch.
7. TEST RESULTS WERE EXTREMELY GRATIFYING
- We are so surprised that the stupid thing works.
8. THE ENTIRE CONCEPT WILL HAVE TO BE ABANDONED
- The only person who understood the thing quit.
9. IT IS IN THE PROCESS
- It is so wrapped up in red tape that the situation
is about hopeless.
10. WE WILL LOOK INTO IT
- Forget it! We have enough problems for now.
11. PLEASE NOTE AND INITIAL
- Let's spread the responsibility for the screw up.
12. GIVE US THE BENEFIT OF YOUR THINKING
- We'll listen to what you have to say as long as it
doesn't interfere with what we've already done.
13. GIVE US YOUR INTERPRETATION
- I can't wait to hear this bull!
14. SEE ME or LET'S DISCUSS
- Come into my office, I'm lonely.
15. ALL NEW
- Code not interchangeable with the previous design.
16. YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT
- It finally worked!
17. LOW MAINTENANCE
- Impossible to fix if broken.
Saturday, May 08, 2004
Canada MPs argue over sex symbol
Canada's parliament, scene of many worthy debates, was plunged into uproar after the alleged mispronunciation of a sexy Italian film actress' name.
Tempers flared when an MP accused an ex-minister of "rubbing shoulders with Gina Lollobreegeeda", reports said.
The apparent mispronunciation prompted Human Resources Minister Joe Volpe to yell: "It's Gina Lollobrigida, idiot!"
Opposition MP Jason Kenney hit back, saying he was sorry for "offending the ageing sex-kitten community".
Mr Volpe later told reporters he too had some regrets over the row.
"I'm sorry I called him an idiot. I should have referred to him as an imbecile," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3694389.stm
Tempers flared when an MP accused an ex-minister of "rubbing shoulders with Gina Lollobreegeeda", reports said.
The apparent mispronunciation prompted Human Resources Minister Joe Volpe to yell: "It's Gina Lollobrigida, idiot!"
Opposition MP Jason Kenney hit back, saying he was sorry for "offending the ageing sex-kitten community".
Mr Volpe later told reporters he too had some regrets over the row.
"I'm sorry I called him an idiot. I should have referred to him as an imbecile," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3694389.stm
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Googlism
A search for me - Adam Phillips - on googlism bring the following results:
adam phillips is a british psycho
adam phillips is a very good player indeed and a top bloke to boot
adam phillips is the lead guitarist and he's is someone to watch out for
adam phillips is an unusual man
adam phillips is fond of what you might call the audacious syllogism
It's all true I tell you!
A search for me - Adam Phillips - on googlism bring the following results:
adam phillips is a british psycho
adam phillips is a very good player indeed and a top bloke to boot
adam phillips is the lead guitarist and he's is someone to watch out for
adam phillips is an unusual man
adam phillips is fond of what you might call the audacious syllogism
It's all true I tell you!
Monday, May 03, 2004
I Don't Like Mondays (except bank holiday Mondays - I like those)
Thank you Boomtown Rats
The silicon chip inside her head.
Gets switched to overload,
And nobody's gonna go to school today,
She's going to make them stay at home,
And daddy doesn't understand it,
He always said she was as good as gold,
And he can see no reason.
Cos there are no reasons.
What reason do you need to be shown.
Tell me why.
I Dont't like Mondays.
I want to shoot.
The whole day down.
The Telex machine is kept so clean.
As it types to a waiting world,
And Mother feels so shocked,
Father's world is rocked,
And their thoughts turn to.
Their own little girl.
Sweet 16 ain't that peachy keen,
No, it ain't so neat to admit defeat,
They can see no reasons.
Cos there are no reasons.
What reason do you need to be shown,Br.
Tell me why.
I Dont't like Mondays.
I want to shoot.
The whole day down.
All the playing's stopped in the playground now
She wants to play with her toys a while
And school's out early and soon we'll be learning
And the lesson today is how to die,
And then the bullhorn crackles,
And the captain crackles,
With the problems and the how's and why's
And he can see no reasons
Cos there are no reasons
What reason do you need to die
The silicon chip ...
Tell me why...
Thank you Boomtown Rats
The silicon chip inside her head.
Gets switched to overload,
And nobody's gonna go to school today,
She's going to make them stay at home,
And daddy doesn't understand it,
He always said she was as good as gold,
And he can see no reason.
Cos there are no reasons.
What reason do you need to be shown.
Tell me why.
I Dont't like Mondays.
I want to shoot.
The whole day down.
The Telex machine is kept so clean.
As it types to a waiting world,
And Mother feels so shocked,
Father's world is rocked,
And their thoughts turn to.
Their own little girl.
Sweet 16 ain't that peachy keen,
No, it ain't so neat to admit defeat,
They can see no reasons.
Cos there are no reasons.
What reason do you need to be shown,Br.
Tell me why.
I Dont't like Mondays.
I want to shoot.
The whole day down.
All the playing's stopped in the playground now
She wants to play with her toys a while
And school's out early and soon we'll be learning
And the lesson today is how to die,
And then the bullhorn crackles,
And the captain crackles,
With the problems and the how's and why's
And he can see no reasons
Cos there are no reasons
What reason do you need to die
The silicon chip ...
Tell me why...
Bibles
I fear that buying two more old Bibles at Sunday's car boot sale means I now have a collection of Bibles.
According to www.dictionary.com a collection is "several things grouped together ".
The definition for "several" yields "Being of a number more than two or three but not many"
and finally, the definition of "many" is "Amounting to or consisting of a large indefinite number"
So, what have we learned? A collection is more than two or three things, but not as much as a large indefinite number. Thanks for that.
I fear that buying two more old Bibles at Sunday's car boot sale means I now have a collection of Bibles.
According to www.dictionary.com a collection is "several things grouped together ".
The definition for "several" yields "Being of a number more than two or three but not many"
and finally, the definition of "many" is "Amounting to or consisting of a large indefinite number"
So, what have we learned? A collection is more than two or three things, but not as much as a large indefinite number. Thanks for that.
Saturday, May 01, 2004
John Gibson - Twunt
I am so happy I could shit. A google search for "John Gibson Twunt" brings this site as the top result.
I am so happy I could shit. A google search for "John Gibson Twunt" brings this site as the top result.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Word of the Day
heterodox \HET-uh-ruh-doks\, adjective:
1. Contrary to or differing from some acknowledged standard, especially in church doctrine or dogma; unorthodox.
2. Holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines.
They fight with members of other faiths, who seem to challenge their claim to a monopoly of absolute truth; they also persecute their co-religionists for interpreting a tradition differently or for holding heterodox beliefs.
--Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History
Most of the Kurds were Sunni Muslims, but perhaps a quarter or a third adhered to heterodox varieties of Islam that preserved traces of earlier religions.
--Susan Meisalis, Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History
Moreover, heterodox behaviour -- in the form of eccentric chess moves -- was even encouraged, if it led to good results.
--Jon Speelman, "Chess," Independent, October 24, 1998
Mr. Buckley is an American exotic of the far right, who wins some sympathy for his frankness and boldness since, in this sorry world, the heterodox are always laughed at whether right or left.
--Richard L. Strout, "All That Is Out of Joint and Needs Setting Right," New York Times, April 28, 1963
Heterodox comes from Greek heterodoxos, "of another opinion, "from hetero-, "other" + doxa, "opinion," from dokein, "to believe."
heterodox \HET-uh-ruh-doks\, adjective:
1. Contrary to or differing from some acknowledged standard, especially in church doctrine or dogma; unorthodox.
2. Holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines.
They fight with members of other faiths, who seem to challenge their claim to a monopoly of absolute truth; they also persecute their co-religionists for interpreting a tradition differently or for holding heterodox beliefs.
--Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History
Most of the Kurds were Sunni Muslims, but perhaps a quarter or a third adhered to heterodox varieties of Islam that preserved traces of earlier religions.
--Susan Meisalis, Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History
Moreover, heterodox behaviour -- in the form of eccentric chess moves -- was even encouraged, if it led to good results.
--Jon Speelman, "Chess," Independent, October 24, 1998
Mr. Buckley is an American exotic of the far right, who wins some sympathy for his frankness and boldness since, in this sorry world, the heterodox are always laughed at whether right or left.
--Richard L. Strout, "All That Is Out of Joint and Needs Setting Right," New York Times, April 28, 1963
Heterodox comes from Greek heterodoxos, "of another opinion, "from hetero-, "other" + doxa, "opinion," from dokein, "to believe."
Monday, April 26, 2004
Opinions
Opinions are like assholes - everyone's got one and most of 'em stink.
(By grrwoo, posted on livejournal)
(By grrwoo, posted on livejournal)
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Goodbye George
Bush's press conference - White House transcript
Watched the full magilla last night. Bush was almost certainly to wearing an earpiece and being fed information, which cast "you know, I just -- I'm sure something will pop into my head here" in a whole new light. The poor man was screaming for help. None came.
I also love the new storyline, heralded by former FBI director Louis J Freeh in Monday's Wall Street Journal, that provides new backup for the Iraq/terror 'connection' and also explains Bush's failure to act on pre-911 intelligence.
1. Bush wasn't to blame. It was Al Qaeda flying the planes. So they're reponsible. Obviously. Oh and the UK failed, too. Not that Bush did. Fail, that is. So there. (oh, there's more on this point here if you want it.)
2. Now for the biggie: America wasn't on a war footing then, y'see. America needs to be on a war footing to be able to fight - and prevent - terror. Doesn't matter who the war is with, they just need to be on a war footing. Bush used the phrase 'war footing' five times during this press conference, just to be sure that we got the point. Because, gawrsh darn it, he's simple failed to communimicate it properly before.
I also love this:
"We knew they were hiding things -- a country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting caught." - George W. Bush
But that's just me thinking out loud. For proper analysis what like the pros do, see that filthy liberal rag, the Washington Post.
Plus, we also have the wonderful news that Bush and Sharon have cooked up a plan that solves the Palestinian problem by ignoring Palestinians. Me, I'm waiting for the speech that goes: "We're not building a road map, we're building a road. And roads need bulldozers!"
Bush's press conference - White House transcript
Watched the full magilla last night. Bush was almost certainly to wearing an earpiece and being fed information, which cast "you know, I just -- I'm sure something will pop into my head here" in a whole new light. The poor man was screaming for help. None came.
I also love the new storyline, heralded by former FBI director Louis J Freeh in Monday's Wall Street Journal, that provides new backup for the Iraq/terror 'connection' and also explains Bush's failure to act on pre-911 intelligence.
1. Bush wasn't to blame. It was Al Qaeda flying the planes. So they're reponsible. Obviously. Oh and the UK failed, too. Not that Bush did. Fail, that is. So there. (oh, there's more on this point here if you want it.)
2. Now for the biggie: America wasn't on a war footing then, y'see. America needs to be on a war footing to be able to fight - and prevent - terror. Doesn't matter who the war is with, they just need to be on a war footing. Bush used the phrase 'war footing' five times during this press conference, just to be sure that we got the point. Because, gawrsh darn it, he's simple failed to communimicate it properly before.
I also love this:
"We knew they were hiding things -- a country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting caught." - George W. Bush
But that's just me thinking out loud. For proper analysis what like the pros do, see that filthy liberal rag, the Washington Post.
Plus, we also have the wonderful news that Bush and Sharon have cooked up a plan that solves the Palestinian problem by ignoring Palestinians. Me, I'm waiting for the speech that goes: "We're not building a road map, we're building a road. And roads need bulldozers!"
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