GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)
As un-official IBDoF arbiter I exculpate and grant clemency to our sobriquet and apotheosis “Pun-misterâ€
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Monday August 7, 2006
peremptory \puh-REMP-tuh-ree\, adjective: 1. Precluding or putting an end to all debate or action. 2. Not allowing contradiction or refusal; absolute; decisive; conclusive; final. 3. Expressive of urgency or command. 4. Offensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power; dictatorial; dogmatic.
He would dismiss the whole business . . . with a peremptory snort.
-- R.M. Berry, Leonardo's Horse
When she meets with his angry and peremptory refusal, Lucy travels to his country estate; but, entering the woods that surround it, she finds that Charles has defended himself from just such unwanted visits by girding the estate with a number of steel traps.
-- Henry Alford, "Slaves of the Hamptons", New York Times, August 8, 1999
Peremptory letters from faceless financiers.
-- George F. Will, Bunts
And we're provided with mini-narratives familiar even to those with only a passing knowledge of Russian history: the woman who stands day after day outside the political prison in the frigid cold, hoping to catch a glimpse of her husband; the collisions with the imperious and peremptory bureaucrats.
-- Jim Shepard, "Dead Souls", New York Times, September 26, 1999
The voice that came over the wire was full of grovel and Hollywood subjunctives. It was a voice trained to cut through the din of nightclubs and theater rehearsals, a flexible instrument that could shift from adulation to abuse in a single syllable, ingratiating yet peremptory, a rich syrup of unction and specious authority.
-- Sidney Joseph Perelman, quoted in the New York Times, March 15, 1981
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Peremptory comes from Latin peremptorius, "destructive," from peremptus, past participle of perimere, "to take thoroughly, to do away with, to destroy; hence, to thwart, to frustrate," from per-, "thoroughly" + emere, "to take, to obtain."
peremptory \puh-REMP-tuh-ree\, adjective: 1. Precluding or putting an end to all debate or action. 2. Not allowing contradiction or refusal; absolute; decisive; conclusive; final. 3. Expressive of urgency or command. 4. Offensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power; dictatorial; dogmatic.
He would dismiss the whole business . . . with a peremptory snort.
-- R.M. Berry, Leonardo's Horse
When she meets with his angry and peremptory refusal, Lucy travels to his country estate; but, entering the woods that surround it, she finds that Charles has defended himself from just such unwanted visits by girding the estate with a number of steel traps.
-- Henry Alford, "Slaves of the Hamptons", New York Times, August 8, 1999
Peremptory letters from faceless financiers.
-- George F. Will, Bunts
And we're provided with mini-narratives familiar even to those with only a passing knowledge of Russian history: the woman who stands day after day outside the political prison in the frigid cold, hoping to catch a glimpse of her husband; the collisions with the imperious and peremptory bureaucrats.
-- Jim Shepard, "Dead Souls", New York Times, September 26, 1999
The voice that came over the wire was full of grovel and Hollywood subjunctives. It was a voice trained to cut through the din of nightclubs and theater rehearsals, a flexible instrument that could shift from adulation to abuse in a single syllable, ingratiating yet peremptory, a rich syrup of unction and specious authority.
-- Sidney Joseph Perelman, quoted in the New York Times, March 15, 1981
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peremptory comes from Latin peremptorius, "destructive," from peremptus, past participle of perimere, "to take thoroughly, to do away with, to destroy; hence, to thwart, to frustrate," from per-, "thoroughly" + emere, "to take, to obtain."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Tuesday August 8, 2006
ascribe \uh-SKRYB\, transitive verb: 1. To attribute, as to a source or cause; as, "they ascribed the poor harvest to drought." 2. To attribute, as a quality; to consider or allege to belong; as, "ascribed jealousy to the critics."
Scholars conventionally ascribe Hemingway's creative dissolution to drinking and depression, but to me that has always seemed too simple.
-- D. T. Max, "Ernest Hemingway's War Wounds", New York Times Magazine, July 18, 1999
Plainness won't do for today's cookbook writers; when they're not emoting over mere food, they ascribe all sorts of fanciful powers to it.
-- "Shut Up and Eat!", New York Times, November 24, 1996
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ascribe is from Latin ascribere, "to write in, to add in writing, hence to attribute," from ad- + scribere, "to write."
ascribe \uh-SKRYB\, transitive verb: 1. To attribute, as to a source or cause; as, "they ascribed the poor harvest to drought." 2. To attribute, as a quality; to consider or allege to belong; as, "ascribed jealousy to the critics."
Scholars conventionally ascribe Hemingway's creative dissolution to drinking and depression, but to me that has always seemed too simple.
-- D. T. Max, "Ernest Hemingway's War Wounds", New York Times Magazine, July 18, 1999
Plainness won't do for today's cookbook writers; when they're not emoting over mere food, they ascribe all sorts of fanciful powers to it.
-- "Shut Up and Eat!", New York Times, November 24, 1996
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ascribe is from Latin ascribere, "to write in, to add in writing, hence to attribute," from ad- + scribere, "to write."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Wednesday August 9, 2006
compunction \kuhm-PUHNK-shuhn\, noun: 1. Anxiety or deep unease proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain. 2. A sting of conscience or a twinge of uneasiness; a qualm; a scruple.
Not only were tears one means of prayer, according to Benedict, they were the only pure form: "We must know that God regards our purity of heart and tears of compunction, not our many words."
-- Tom Lutz, Crying
Yet, while Louise and Ruth and I and all our ilk are consumed by self-reproach, these two can recall not an ounce of compunction.
-- Rose Shepherd, "Fatal egg by pleasure laid", Independent, September 3, 1996
If they succeeded, however, Sicily would simply come under the authority of the new revolutionary government in Naples, a government that would feel no compunctions whatsoever about saddling the island with even more "stamp duties, official papers, and forced labor" than before.
-- James Fentress, Rebels and Mafiosi
I would reveal all without compunction because he is after all, my ex.
-- Karen Karbo, Generation Ex
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compunction derives from Late Latin compunctio, compunction-, "sting or pricking of conscience," from the past participle of compungere, "to prick severely," from com-, intensive prefix + pungere, "to prick."
compunction \kuhm-PUHNK-shuhn\, noun: 1. Anxiety or deep unease proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain. 2. A sting of conscience or a twinge of uneasiness; a qualm; a scruple.
Not only were tears one means of prayer, according to Benedict, they were the only pure form: "We must know that God regards our purity of heart and tears of compunction, not our many words."
-- Tom Lutz, Crying
Yet, while Louise and Ruth and I and all our ilk are consumed by self-reproach, these two can recall not an ounce of compunction.
-- Rose Shepherd, "Fatal egg by pleasure laid", Independent, September 3, 1996
If they succeeded, however, Sicily would simply come under the authority of the new revolutionary government in Naples, a government that would feel no compunctions whatsoever about saddling the island with even more "stamp duties, official papers, and forced labor" than before.
-- James Fentress, Rebels and Mafiosi
I would reveal all without compunction because he is after all, my ex.
-- Karen Karbo, Generation Ex
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compunction derives from Late Latin compunctio, compunction-, "sting or pricking of conscience," from the past participle of compungere, "to prick severely," from com-, intensive prefix + pungere, "to prick."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
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Kvetch
- Sweeper
- Posts: 11844
- Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 2:12 pm
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Ostentatiously, Dr Drachmapetros quaffed his drink, a farrago of deliquescing body parts, evanescent embalming fluid, unctous green-bubbling-ooze(TM) and multifarious other aberrant gewgaws, in an attempt to crack the hauteur of the officious demagogue who was threatening to trammel his afflatus and immure his greatest creation based on a mere cavil about the venial damage done by his creation's capacious footprints and the jocund claim that the comity of his mob allowed them to claim a legal quorum, or the clearly not germane claim to have the right to reference scuttlebutt.
"I am adamant that will not capitulate to your adventitious demands" he blustered, as day segued into night, the lambent alpenglow of the verdant mountains fading to dappled subfusc sepia, and the rubicund effulgence of the burning torches casting the nearby littoral conurbation into harsh backlighting. "I am a paladin, a votary of what is a truly recondite, indeed, almost ineffable area of study - and I should not be interrupted by your capricious whimsies."
Holding a nosegay to his face to stave off the maelstrom of scents from Drachmapetros' drink, the loquacious confrere leading the deputation replied. "We tire of your querulous and mawkish yet vociferous claims to be an exegete among the digerati - claims of great palpable dubiety to say the least. Not to mention your assiduous and sempiternal denial of the benefits of tmisis and the beneficence of laconic language. Indeed, your logorrhea has been bruited as offensive enough to our mores to allow your immediate and propitious immolation to appease the puissant goddess of linguistics, who is a real virago. Thus the onus is upon you to demonstrate that your subterfuges were laudable and that you are not just a twisted voluptuary who occupies himself writing billets-doux to corpses.
And please provide that defense _without_ calling upon your sesquipedalian lexicon - we are not overcome by such oneiric lassitude that we would not venture to provide some form of tocsin, where your person will no longer remain sacrosanct"
Summoning what aplomb he could, Dr Drachmapetros smiled with panache while he used his prestidigititive skills to press the button that would summon his kobold redivivus from it's alfresco sylvan lair. If he could not wheedle his way out of a mobbing, or at a pinch offer pelf as a dissuador, at least his carapaced creation was hale enough to put his opponents to flight.
"I expropriated this residence from the quondam owner, a dilettante whose contumely and rebarbative concupiscence had such an invidious effect on even the least uxorious of the patresfamilias of your village, the roads of the neighbouhood stand in contradistinction of the parlous milieu encouraged by my predecessor. Did I not munificently countermand the orders of my execrable cousin that had rendered your homes incommunicado with the outer world, coeval with my offering succor to you stolid paragons of agricultural virtue, edacious as you proved? and despite your tendency to greet each dawn with a stertorous ululating aubade, raising me untimely from my torpid languor?
For all we were consanguineous, scions of the same line, brought into the world by the same doula, we were disparate, our megalamonias of very different provenance. As striplings we learnt together, creating virtus of incontrovertibly daedal complexity. Our creations were bravuras - truly we were the wunderkinder of our family. They gatheed round with susurrations of joy to collect each apothesis of the crafter's art we forged, seizing with alacrity each palimpsest or ephemeron we let fall. Some wag called us GenI, Genuine Inventors and much as we excoriated that spoony concatenation, the sobriquet described us well.
Ah, I cannot begin to limn those heady days with the paucity of words available to me." The choleric Drachmapetros smiled jovially, showing a glimse of the long-lost hobbledehoy of his salad days, a strange juxtapostion against his next expression, one of implacable hatred. "But then it changed - the tendentious, supercilious junta that educated us posited that my cousin was a greater genius than I, I who constructed a deus ex machina from a few scraps of patina'd, but still malleable metals and a few sporadic variegated leaves (the largess of nature), whose equipoise could only be ascribed to my predilection for perfection, and hours of titivation. And overnight, my supporters-cum-aficionados, whose previously innocuous, nay, benignant attentions melted away, revealing their true venal nature, and subjecting me to superfluous peremptory perambulations in order to make materials more easily available to my arrant coz. It was this confluence of events that made me wish I was a true autodidact and ergo the arbiter of my own destiny..." Dr. Drachmapetros trailed off, as confused by his train of thoughts as the author.
Reacting with (if I say do myself) remarkable sang-froid, the author will without compunction expeditiously reintroduce you, the member of the bon ton who read this kind of literature, to the storyline at a point prior to the unfortunate contremps that was Drachmapetros' fulsome recollection of his youth. The author pleads clemency from the copious number of not so timorous literary luminarieswho peruse this panoply of salutary anecdotes and informative caveats, and ask that they remain equable in the face of this unfortunate digression. The author now returns you to that evening in the Ides of November, so imbued with gloom that the very air seems heavy:
"and despite your tendency to greet each dawn with a stertorous ululating aubade, raising me untimely from my torpid languor? ...
-----------------------------------
Three days that has taken me...
Ostentatiously, Dr Drachmapetros quaffed his drink, a farrago of deliquescing body parts, evanescent embalming fluid, unctous green-bubbling-ooze(TM) and multifarious other aberrant gewgaws, in an attempt to crack the hauteur of the officious demagogue who was threatening to trammel his afflatus and immure his greatest creation based on a mere cavil about the venial damage done by his creation's capacious footprints and the jocund claim that the comity of his mob allowed them to claim a legal quorum, or the clearly not germane claim to have the right to reference scuttlebutt.
"I am adamant that will not capitulate to your adventitious demands" he blustered, as day segued into night, the lambent alpenglow of the verdant mountains fading to dappled subfusc sepia, and the rubicund effulgence of the burning torches casting the nearby littoral conurbation into harsh backlighting. "I am a paladin, a votary of what is a truly recondite, indeed, almost ineffable area of study - and I should not be interrupted by your capricious whimsies."
Holding a nosegay to his face to stave off the maelstrom of scents from Drachmapetros' drink, the loquacious confrere leading the deputation replied. "We tire of your querulous and mawkish yet vociferous claims to be an exegete among the digerati - claims of great palpable dubiety to say the least. Not to mention your assiduous and sempiternal denial of the benefits of tmisis and the beneficence of laconic language. Indeed, your logorrhea has been bruited as offensive enough to our mores to allow your immediate and propitious immolation to appease the puissant goddess of linguistics, who is a real virago. Thus the onus is upon you to demonstrate that your subterfuges were laudable and that you are not just a twisted voluptuary who occupies himself writing billets-doux to corpses.
And please provide that defense _without_ calling upon your sesquipedalian lexicon - we are not overcome by such oneiric lassitude that we would not venture to provide some form of tocsin, where your person will no longer remain sacrosanct"
Summoning what aplomb he could, Dr Drachmapetros smiled with panache while he used his prestidigititive skills to press the button that would summon his kobold redivivus from it's alfresco sylvan lair. If he could not wheedle his way out of a mobbing, or at a pinch offer pelf as a dissuador, at least his carapaced creation was hale enough to put his opponents to flight.
"I expropriated this residence from the quondam owner, a dilettante whose contumely and rebarbative concupiscence had such an invidious effect on even the least uxorious of the patresfamilias of your village, the roads of the neighbouhood stand in contradistinction of the parlous milieu encouraged by my predecessor. Did I not munificently countermand the orders of my execrable cousin that had rendered your homes incommunicado with the outer world, coeval with my offering succor to you stolid paragons of agricultural virtue, edacious as you proved? and despite your tendency to greet each dawn with a stertorous ululating aubade, raising me untimely from my torpid languor?
For all we were consanguineous, scions of the same line, brought into the world by the same doula, we were disparate, our megalamonias of very different provenance. As striplings we learnt together, creating virtus of incontrovertibly daedal complexity. Our creations were bravuras - truly we were the wunderkinder of our family. They gatheed round with susurrations of joy to collect each apothesis of the crafter's art we forged, seizing with alacrity each palimpsest or ephemeron we let fall. Some wag called us GenI, Genuine Inventors and much as we excoriated that spoony concatenation, the sobriquet described us well.
Ah, I cannot begin to limn those heady days with the paucity of words available to me." The choleric Drachmapetros smiled jovially, showing a glimse of the long-lost hobbledehoy of his salad days, a strange juxtapostion against his next expression, one of implacable hatred. "But then it changed - the tendentious, supercilious junta that educated us posited that my cousin was a greater genius than I, I who constructed a deus ex machina from a few scraps of patina'd, but still malleable metals and a few sporadic variegated leaves (the largess of nature), whose equipoise could only be ascribed to my predilection for perfection, and hours of titivation. And overnight, my supporters-cum-aficionados, whose previously innocuous, nay, benignant attentions melted away, revealing their true venal nature, and subjecting me to superfluous peremptory perambulations in order to make materials more easily available to my arrant coz. It was this confluence of events that made me wish I was a true autodidact and ergo the arbiter of my own destiny..." Dr. Drachmapetros trailed off, as confused by his train of thoughts as the author.
Reacting with (if I say do myself) remarkable sang-froid, the author will without compunction expeditiously reintroduce you, the member of the bon ton who read this kind of literature, to the storyline at a point prior to the unfortunate contremps that was Drachmapetros' fulsome recollection of his youth. The author pleads clemency from the copious number of not so timorous literary luminarieswho peruse this panoply of salutary anecdotes and informative caveats, and ask that they remain equable in the face of this unfortunate digression. The author now returns you to that evening in the Ides of November, so imbued with gloom that the very air seems heavy:
"and despite your tendency to greet each dawn with a stertorous ululating aubade, raising me untimely from my torpid languor? ...
-----------------------------------
Three days that has taken me...
"I'm the family radical. The rest are terribly stuffy. Aside from Aunt - she's just odd."
Word of the Day for Thursday August 10, 2006
animus \AN-uh-muhs\, noun: 1. Basic attitude or animating spirit; disposition; intention. 2. A feeling of ill will; animosity. 3. In Jungian psychology, the inner masculine part of the female personality [cf. anima].
The seemingly anti-intellectual animus of the syllabus [the Syllabus of Errors, issued by Pope Pius IX in 1864] also disillusioned some converts, among them Thomas Arnold, who reverted to Anglicanism when he learned of it.
-- Patrick Allitt, Catholic Converts
It is important to note also that part of Kipling's animus against the Christian missionaries in India arose from his indignation at their destructive puritanism.
-- Christopher Hitchens, "A Man of Permanent Contradictions", The Atlantic, June 2002
To teach the poor chump a lesson, the media mogul steals the burglar's lucky ring, an act of scornful hauteur that brings out the animus in Dortmunder.
-- Marilyn Stasio, review of M Is for Malice, by Sue Grafton, New York Times, November 10, 1996
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Animus is from Latin animus, "soul, character, disposition."
animus \AN-uh-muhs\, noun: 1. Basic attitude or animating spirit; disposition; intention. 2. A feeling of ill will; animosity. 3. In Jungian psychology, the inner masculine part of the female personality [cf. anima].
The seemingly anti-intellectual animus of the syllabus [the Syllabus of Errors, issued by Pope Pius IX in 1864] also disillusioned some converts, among them Thomas Arnold, who reverted to Anglicanism when he learned of it.
-- Patrick Allitt, Catholic Converts
It is important to note also that part of Kipling's animus against the Christian missionaries in India arose from his indignation at their destructive puritanism.
-- Christopher Hitchens, "A Man of Permanent Contradictions", The Atlantic, June 2002
To teach the poor chump a lesson, the media mogul steals the burglar's lucky ring, an act of scornful hauteur that brings out the animus in Dortmunder.
-- Marilyn Stasio, review of M Is for Malice, by Sue Grafton, New York Times, November 10, 1996
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Animus is from Latin animus, "soul, character, disposition."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Friday August 11, 2006
piebald \PY-bald\, adjective: 1. Having spots and patches of black and white, or other colors; mottled. 2. Mixed; composed of incongruous parts.
She remembered the piebald hair of a convicted woman, with brown roots growing through the crude bleach.
-- Jan Dalley, Diana Mosley
The Reverend Joseph A. Burgess drives a station wagon whose make surely could be determined, but the car is so dilapidated--the ornamentation gone and the paint thin and piebald, as if sandblasted--that the vehicle has achieved a perfectly generic identity.
-- Richard Todd, "Faith, Fear, and Farming", Civilization, June 2000
This story happened a long while ago, he said, "in those uncomfortable piebald times when a third of the people were Pagan, and a third Christian, and the biggest third of all just followed whichever religion the Court happened to profess."
-- H. H. Munro (Saki), "The Story of St Vespaluus"
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Piebald is from pie, the parti-colored bird + bald.
piebald \PY-bald\, adjective: 1. Having spots and patches of black and white, or other colors; mottled. 2. Mixed; composed of incongruous parts.
She remembered the piebald hair of a convicted woman, with brown roots growing through the crude bleach.
-- Jan Dalley, Diana Mosley
The Reverend Joseph A. Burgess drives a station wagon whose make surely could be determined, but the car is so dilapidated--the ornamentation gone and the paint thin and piebald, as if sandblasted--that the vehicle has achieved a perfectly generic identity.
-- Richard Todd, "Faith, Fear, and Farming", Civilization, June 2000
This story happened a long while ago, he said, "in those uncomfortable piebald times when a third of the people were Pagan, and a third Christian, and the biggest third of all just followed whichever religion the Court happened to profess."
-- H. H. Munro (Saki), "The Story of St Vespaluus"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Piebald is from pie, the parti-colored bird + bald.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Monday August 14, 2006
fatuous \FACH-oo-uhs\, adjective: 1. Inanely foolish and unintelligent; stupid. 2. Illusory; delusive.
Publishers persist in the fatuous belief that a little hocus-pocus in the front flap blurb will so dazzle readers that they'll be too dazed to notice the quality of what's on the pages inside.
-- "A night in the city", Irish Times, October 7, 1997
No enquiry, however fatuous or ill informed, failed to receive his full attention, nor was any irrelevant personal information treated as less than engrossing.
-- Michael Palin, Hemingway's Chair
A British first amendment would support religious freedom by having nothing to do with Prince Charles's fatuous hope to be the 'defender of all the faiths', but by disestablishing the Church of England.
-- Nick Cohen, "Damn them all", The Observer, October 7, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fatuous comes from Latin fatuus, "foolish, idiotic, silly."
fatuous \FACH-oo-uhs\, adjective: 1. Inanely foolish and unintelligent; stupid. 2. Illusory; delusive.
Publishers persist in the fatuous belief that a little hocus-pocus in the front flap blurb will so dazzle readers that they'll be too dazed to notice the quality of what's on the pages inside.
-- "A night in the city", Irish Times, October 7, 1997
No enquiry, however fatuous or ill informed, failed to receive his full attention, nor was any irrelevant personal information treated as less than engrossing.
-- Michael Palin, Hemingway's Chair
A British first amendment would support religious freedom by having nothing to do with Prince Charles's fatuous hope to be the 'defender of all the faiths', but by disestablishing the Church of England.
-- Nick Cohen, "Damn them all", The Observer, October 7, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fatuous comes from Latin fatuus, "foolish, idiotic, silly."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Tuesday August 15, 2006
arrogate \AIR-uh-gayt\, transitive verb: 1. To claim or seize without right or justification; to appropriate. 2. To claim on behalf of another; to ascribe.
What's certain is that another American President has arrogated to himself the prerogative of dispatching U.S. military personnel on an overseas combat mission, disregarding the constitutional mandate that only Congress may declare war.
-- "Imposing 'democracy' in Haiti", The Progressive, November 1, 1994
A measure to abolish or radically restrict the ability of ministers to arrogate powers to themselves would be a necessary adjunct to the list of proposals on "open government/parliament".
-- Mike Marqusee, "Stumped for success", New Statesman & Society, January 19, 1996
The most sinister dimension of this form of 'terror' was that it became an intrinsic component of Fascist and Nazi governance, executed at the behest of, and in complete subservience to, the ruling political party of the land -- which had arrogated to itself complete, total control of the country and its people.
-- Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrogate comes from Latin adrogare, "to take to oneself, to claim," from ad-, "towards" + rogare, "to ask."
arrogate \AIR-uh-gayt\, transitive verb: 1. To claim or seize without right or justification; to appropriate. 2. To claim on behalf of another; to ascribe.
What's certain is that another American President has arrogated to himself the prerogative of dispatching U.S. military personnel on an overseas combat mission, disregarding the constitutional mandate that only Congress may declare war.
-- "Imposing 'democracy' in Haiti", The Progressive, November 1, 1994
A measure to abolish or radically restrict the ability of ministers to arrogate powers to themselves would be a necessary adjunct to the list of proposals on "open government/parliament".
-- Mike Marqusee, "Stumped for success", New Statesman & Society, January 19, 1996
The most sinister dimension of this form of 'terror' was that it became an intrinsic component of Fascist and Nazi governance, executed at the behest of, and in complete subservience to, the ruling political party of the land -- which had arrogated to itself complete, total control of the country and its people.
-- Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrogate comes from Latin adrogare, "to take to oneself, to claim," from ad-, "towards" + rogare, "to ask."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Wednesday August 16, 2006
chary \CHAIR-ee\, adjective: 1. Wary; cautious. 2. Not giving or expending freely; sparing.
What do you suppose the Founding Fathers, so chary of overweening government power, would make of a prosecutor with virtually unlimited reach and a staff the size of a small town?
-- "U.S. trampling rights at home and abroad", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 17, 1998
Investors should be chary, however, for the returns are far from sizzling.
-- "The Stampede Into Variable Annuities", Fortune, October 13, 1986
Bankers, consulted as to whether or not they believed that the full force of the decline had spent its fury, were chary of predictions.
-- "Leaders See Fear Waning", New York Times, October 30, 1929
When I visited Sissinghurst with my growing family she was always welcoming, eager for our news but chary of her own.
-- Nigel Nicolson, Long Life
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Chary comes from Old English cearig, "careful, sorrowful," from cearu, "grief, sorrow, care."
chary \CHAIR-ee\, adjective: 1. Wary; cautious. 2. Not giving or expending freely; sparing.
What do you suppose the Founding Fathers, so chary of overweening government power, would make of a prosecutor with virtually unlimited reach and a staff the size of a small town?
-- "U.S. trampling rights at home and abroad", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 17, 1998
Investors should be chary, however, for the returns are far from sizzling.
-- "The Stampede Into Variable Annuities", Fortune, October 13, 1986
Bankers, consulted as to whether or not they believed that the full force of the decline had spent its fury, were chary of predictions.
-- "Leaders See Fear Waning", New York Times, October 30, 1929
When I visited Sissinghurst with my growing family she was always welcoming, eager for our news but chary of her own.
-- Nigel Nicolson, Long Life
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Chary comes from Old English cearig, "careful, sorrowful," from cearu, "grief, sorrow, care."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Monday August 21, 2006
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
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Vagary comes from Latin vagari, "to stroll about, to wander," from vagus, "wandering."
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
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Vagary comes from Latin vagari, "to stroll about, to wander," from vagus, "wandering."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Wednesday August 23, 2006
expiate \EK-spee-ayt\, transitive verb: To make amends for; to atone for.
Then his devout and long-suffering widow, a princess born, built a beautiful church on the estate to expiate his sins.
-- Serge Schmemann, Echoes of a Native Land
And if you have offended each other, you expiate your sins and offenses by confessing them and apologizing.
-- Aung San Suu Kyi, The Voice of Hope
The characters often attempt, however futilely, to expiate their past mistakes.
-- Michael Ruhlman, "A Writer at His Best.", New York Times, September 20, 1987
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Expiate comes from Latin expiare, from ex-, here used intensively, + piare, to seek to appease by an offering, to make good, to atone for, from pius, dutiful.
expiate \EK-spee-ayt\, transitive verb: To make amends for; to atone for.
Then his devout and long-suffering widow, a princess born, built a beautiful church on the estate to expiate his sins.
-- Serge Schmemann, Echoes of a Native Land
And if you have offended each other, you expiate your sins and offenses by confessing them and apologizing.
-- Aung San Suu Kyi, The Voice of Hope
The characters often attempt, however futilely, to expiate their past mistakes.
-- Michael Ruhlman, "A Writer at His Best.", New York Times, September 20, 1987
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Expiate comes from Latin expiare, from ex-, here used intensively, + piare, to seek to appease by an offering, to make good, to atone for, from pius, dutiful.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day for Thursday August 24, 2006
denizen \DEN-uh-zuhn\, noun: 1. A dweller; an inhabitant. 2. One that frequents a particular place. 3. [Chiefly British] An alien granted certain rights of citizenship. 4. An animal, plant, etc. that has become naturalized.
Goethe, who visited Berlin only once, found the "wit and irony" of its denizens quite remarkable.
-- Peter Gay, My German Question
But he will know one thing about what it means to be an American, because he has known the raw continent, and not as tourist but as denizen.
-- "Noted With Pleasure", New York Times, February 2, 1992
So Charlie McCreevy is a regular denizen of the "Dáil bar."
-- Kathy Sheridan, "Feeling a little Bullish", Irish Times, April 22, 2000
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Denizen comes from Anglo-French denzein, "(one) living within (a city or state)," from Old French denz, "within," from Late Latin deintus, "from within," from Latin de-, "from" + intus, "within."
denizen \DEN-uh-zuhn\, noun: 1. A dweller; an inhabitant. 2. One that frequents a particular place. 3. [Chiefly British] An alien granted certain rights of citizenship. 4. An animal, plant, etc. that has become naturalized.
Goethe, who visited Berlin only once, found the "wit and irony" of its denizens quite remarkable.
-- Peter Gay, My German Question
But he will know one thing about what it means to be an American, because he has known the raw continent, and not as tourist but as denizen.
-- "Noted With Pleasure", New York Times, February 2, 1992
So Charlie McCreevy is a regular denizen of the "Dáil bar."
-- Kathy Sheridan, "Feeling a little Bullish", Irish Times, April 22, 2000
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Denizen comes from Anglo-French denzein, "(one) living within (a city or state)," from Old French denz, "within," from Late Latin deintus, "from within," from Latin de-, "from" + intus, "within."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day - Friday August 25, 2006
robustious \roh-BUHS-chuhs\, adjective: 1. Boisterous; vigorous. 2. Coarse; rough; crude.
. . .the robustious romantic figure comparable to John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility--he comes in with dash, then proves a temptation to the heroine but is an eventual disappointment.
-- Stanley Kauffmann, "Emma", New Republic, August 19, 1996
When the meaning of the disturbance became clear to him he placed a hand beside his mouth and shouted: "Hey! Frank!" in such a robustious voice that the feeble clamor of the natives was drowned and silenced.
-- O. Henry, Cabbages and Kings
Here he has seemingly swilled some of Falstaff's sack and has had robustious, fiery fun.
-- Stanley Kauffmann, "Star-Crossed Lovers", New Republic, January 4, 1999
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Robustious derives from Latin robustus, "oaken, hence strong, powerful, firm," from robur, "oak."
robustious \roh-BUHS-chuhs\, adjective: 1. Boisterous; vigorous. 2. Coarse; rough; crude.
. . .the robustious romantic figure comparable to John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility--he comes in with dash, then proves a temptation to the heroine but is an eventual disappointment.
-- Stanley Kauffmann, "Emma", New Republic, August 19, 1996
When the meaning of the disturbance became clear to him he placed a hand beside his mouth and shouted: "Hey! Frank!" in such a robustious voice that the feeble clamor of the natives was drowned and silenced.
-- O. Henry, Cabbages and Kings
Here he has seemingly swilled some of Falstaff's sack and has had robustious, fiery fun.
-- Stanley Kauffmann, "Star-Crossed Lovers", New Republic, January 4, 1999
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Robustious derives from Latin robustus, "oaken, hence strong, powerful, firm," from robur, "oak."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Monday August 28, 2006
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, 1929-1963
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
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Aegis derives from the Greek aigis, the shield of Zeus, from aix, aig-, "a goat," many primitive shields being goatskin-covered.
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, 1929-1963
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
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Aegis derives from the Greek aigis, the shield of Zeus, from aix, aig-, "a goat," many primitive shields being goatskin-covered.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Wednesday August 30, 2006
requisite \REK-wuh-zit\, adjective: 1. Required by the nature of things or by circumstances; indispensable. noun: 1. That which is required or necessary; something indispensable.
Those with the requisite talents made drawings and watercolors of the birds, the flowers, the untouched landscapes that unfolded before them.
-- Barbara Crossette, The Great Hill Stations of Asia
In this way, 2,156 buildings were laboriously hoisted, a quarter of an inch at a turn, until they reached the requisite height and new foundations could be built beneath them.
-- Cornelia Dean, Against the Tide
Rather than seeing mindfulness as a kind of talent, like artistic flair or musicality, he believes that everyone willing to make the requisite effort can attain it.
-- Winifred Gallagher, Working on God
Patience and an enquiring mind are absolute requisites for tracing family histories.
-- Mike Anderiesz, "Working the web: Genealogy", The Guardian, January 17, 2002
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Requisite derives from Latin requisitus, past participle of requirere, "to require."
requisite \REK-wuh-zit\, adjective: 1. Required by the nature of things or by circumstances; indispensable. noun: 1. That which is required or necessary; something indispensable.
Those with the requisite talents made drawings and watercolors of the birds, the flowers, the untouched landscapes that unfolded before them.
-- Barbara Crossette, The Great Hill Stations of Asia
In this way, 2,156 buildings were laboriously hoisted, a quarter of an inch at a turn, until they reached the requisite height and new foundations could be built beneath them.
-- Cornelia Dean, Against the Tide
Rather than seeing mindfulness as a kind of talent, like artistic flair or musicality, he believes that everyone willing to make the requisite effort can attain it.
-- Winifred Gallagher, Working on God
Patience and an enquiring mind are absolute requisites for tracing family histories.
-- Mike Anderiesz, "Working the web: Genealogy", The Guardian, January 17, 2002
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Requisite derives from Latin requisitus, past participle of requirere, "to require."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Friday September 1, 2006
acquiesce \ak-wee-ES\, intransitive verb: To accept or consent passively or without objection -- usually used with 'in' or 'to'.
At the same time, sellers might acquiesce to mafia involvement in their business as a way of ensuring payment for goods: if the buyer defaults, the mafioso will collect.
-- Louis S. Warren, The Hunter's Game
The British were not prepared to acquiesce to the return of the Chinese to Tibet, and determined to counter the reassertion of Chinese influence.
-- Tsering Shakya, The Dragon in the Land of Snows
France would probably express regret that a military strike had become necessary, but would acquiesce in it.
-- Craig R. Whitney, "France Pushes for Last-Ditch Diplomatic Solution.", New York Times, February 20, 1998
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Acquiesce comes from Latin acquiescere, "to give oneself to rest, hence to find one's rest or peace (in something)," from ad, "to" + quiescere, "to rest, to be or keep quiet."
acquiesce \ak-wee-ES\, intransitive verb: To accept or consent passively or without objection -- usually used with 'in' or 'to'.
At the same time, sellers might acquiesce to mafia involvement in their business as a way of ensuring payment for goods: if the buyer defaults, the mafioso will collect.
-- Louis S. Warren, The Hunter's Game
The British were not prepared to acquiesce to the return of the Chinese to Tibet, and determined to counter the reassertion of Chinese influence.
-- Tsering Shakya, The Dragon in the Land of Snows
France would probably express regret that a military strike had become necessary, but would acquiesce in it.
-- Craig R. Whitney, "France Pushes for Last-Ditch Diplomatic Solution.", New York Times, February 20, 1998
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Acquiesce comes from Latin acquiescere, "to give oneself to rest, hence to find one's rest or peace (in something)," from ad, "to" + quiescere, "to rest, to be or keep quiet."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Tuesday September 5, 2006
arcane \ar-KAYN\, adjective: Understood or known by only a few.
Under Indonesia's arcane system of land tenure, disputes between local residents, and between locals and developers, are commonplace.
-- "Not Fair.", TheEconomist, July 26, 1997
While addressing a problem in the arcane field of mathematical logic, he imagined a machine that could mimic human reasoning.
-- Paul Gray, "Alan Turing", Time Pacific, March 29, 1999
Practitioners of this arcane art combine highly abstract mathematical deduction with some of the basic behavioral assumptions of micro-economics to produce theories of the behavior of voters, of representative assemblies, of bureaucracies, and even of courts.
-- Jerry L. Mashaw, Greed, Chaos, and Governance
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Arcane comes from Latin arcanus, "shut, closed, secret," from arca, "chest, box."
arcane \ar-KAYN\, adjective: Understood or known by only a few.
Under Indonesia's arcane system of land tenure, disputes between local residents, and between locals and developers, are commonplace.
-- "Not Fair.", TheEconomist, July 26, 1997
While addressing a problem in the arcane field of mathematical logic, he imagined a machine that could mimic human reasoning.
-- Paul Gray, "Alan Turing", Time Pacific, March 29, 1999
Practitioners of this arcane art combine highly abstract mathematical deduction with some of the basic behavioral assumptions of micro-economics to produce theories of the behavior of voters, of representative assemblies, of bureaucracies, and even of courts.
-- Jerry L. Mashaw, Greed, Chaos, and Governance
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Arcane comes from Latin arcanus, "shut, closed, secret," from arca, "chest, box."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Wednesday September 6, 2006
verisimilitude \ver-uh-suh-MIL-uh-tood; -tyood\, noun: 1. The appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true. 2. Something that has the appearance of being true or real.
In an attempt to create verisimilitude, in addition to the usual vulgarities, the dialogue is full of street slang.
-- Wilborn Hampton, "Sugar Down Billie Hoak': An Unexpected Spot to Find a Father", New York Times, August 1, 1997
For those plays, Ms. Smith interviewed hundreds of people of different races and ages, somehow managing to internalize their expressions, anger and quirks enough to be able to portray them with astonishing verisimilitude.
-- Sarah Boxer, "An Experiment in Artistic Democracy", New York Times, August 7, 2000
The old man's massive forehead, penetrating eyes and enormous beard lent verisimilitude to this unappealing portrait.
-- "Charm itself", Economist, October 16, 1999
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Verisimilitude comes from Latin verisimilitudo, from verisimilis, from verus, "true" + similis, "like, resembling, similar." The adjective form is verisimilar.
verisimilitude \ver-uh-suh-MIL-uh-tood; -tyood\, noun: 1. The appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true. 2. Something that has the appearance of being true or real.
In an attempt to create verisimilitude, in addition to the usual vulgarities, the dialogue is full of street slang.
-- Wilborn Hampton, "Sugar Down Billie Hoak': An Unexpected Spot to Find a Father", New York Times, August 1, 1997
For those plays, Ms. Smith interviewed hundreds of people of different races and ages, somehow managing to internalize their expressions, anger and quirks enough to be able to portray them with astonishing verisimilitude.
-- Sarah Boxer, "An Experiment in Artistic Democracy", New York Times, August 7, 2000
The old man's massive forehead, penetrating eyes and enormous beard lent verisimilitude to this unappealing portrait.
-- "Charm itself", Economist, October 16, 1999
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Verisimilitude comes from Latin verisimilitudo, from verisimilis, from verus, "true" + similis, "like, resembling, similar." The adjective form is verisimilar.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Friday September 8, 2006
small beer \small beer\, noun: 1. Weak beer. 2. Insignificant matters; something of little importance. Adjective: 1. Unimportant; trivial.
We dined early upon stale bread and old mutton with small beer.
-- Ferdinand Mount,, Jem (and Sam)
I was not born for this kind of small beer, says Joan the wife of the colonial governor, who imagines leading armies or "droves of inflamed poets."
-- Nancy Willard, "The Nameless Women of the World", New York Times, December 18, 1988
Call me a geek, but for biologists, marvels like the parasitic flatworm are on tap every day, making the reveries of Hollywood seem like small beer.
-- Jerry A. Coyne, "The Truth Is Way Out There", New York Times, October 10, 1999
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Small beer is beer of only slight alcoholic strength; the other senses are derivative.
small beer \small beer\, noun: 1. Weak beer. 2. Insignificant matters; something of little importance. Adjective: 1. Unimportant; trivial.
We dined early upon stale bread and old mutton with small beer.
-- Ferdinand Mount,, Jem (and Sam)
I was not born for this kind of small beer, says Joan the wife of the colonial governor, who imagines leading armies or "droves of inflamed poets."
-- Nancy Willard, "The Nameless Women of the World", New York Times, December 18, 1988
Call me a geek, but for biologists, marvels like the parasitic flatworm are on tap every day, making the reveries of Hollywood seem like small beer.
-- Jerry A. Coyne, "The Truth Is Way Out There", New York Times, October 10, 1999
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small beer is beer of only slight alcoholic strength; the other senses are derivative.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Monday September 11, 2006
pejorative \pih-JOR-uh-tiv\, adjective: 1. Tending to make or become worse. 2. Tending to disparage or belittle. noun: 1. A belittling or disparaging word or expression.
Citing the construction industry, car dealers, and politicians as the purveyors of "sprawl" (a pejorative term that does not even allow for the possibility of benefits associated with low-density development), Kunstler fails to consider the role of market forces.
-- Julia Hansen, "letter to the editor", The Atlantic, December 1996
While he said that he is not a "fanboy," mildly pejorative slang for an aggressively obsessive "Star Wars" fan, he did mention that the John Williams "Star Wars" theme was played at his wedding reception two years ago.
-- Michel Marriott, "On a Galaxy of Sites, 'Star Wars' Fever Rises", New York Times, May 6, 1999
Welfare state is now, even for the Labour party whose grand historic achievement it was, obscurely shameful. A pejorative for our times.
-- John Sutherland, "How the potent language of civic life was undermined", The Guardian, March 20, 2001
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Pejorative is derived from the past participle of Late Latin pejorare, "to make worse, to become worse," from Latin pejor, "worse."
pejorative \pih-JOR-uh-tiv\, adjective: 1. Tending to make or become worse. 2. Tending to disparage or belittle. noun: 1. A belittling or disparaging word or expression.
Citing the construction industry, car dealers, and politicians as the purveyors of "sprawl" (a pejorative term that does not even allow for the possibility of benefits associated with low-density development), Kunstler fails to consider the role of market forces.
-- Julia Hansen, "letter to the editor", The Atlantic, December 1996
While he said that he is not a "fanboy," mildly pejorative slang for an aggressively obsessive "Star Wars" fan, he did mention that the John Williams "Star Wars" theme was played at his wedding reception two years ago.
-- Michel Marriott, "On a Galaxy of Sites, 'Star Wars' Fever Rises", New York Times, May 6, 1999
Welfare state is now, even for the Labour party whose grand historic achievement it was, obscurely shameful. A pejorative for our times.
-- John Sutherland, "How the potent language of civic life was undermined", The Guardian, March 20, 2001
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Pejorative is derived from the past participle of Late Latin pejorare, "to make worse, to become worse," from Latin pejor, "worse."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
(excerpt from "Self-Help for Librarians")
Tired and run down? Animate your animus! Panicking over that piebald pate? Fed up with fake and fatuous friends, arrogating a**holes and chary chumps? Is your vicinity vexed with victimizing vagaries? It’s time for an expiation exposé! Dance with do-or-die denizens of delight and robustious ruffians! Find equilibrium under the aegis of easy evenings and roust the requisite regalements! Do NOT acquiese to acrid accommodation or arcane archbishops! Verify the verisimilitude of that voluptuous vixen and smash the small beer to smithereens!
(And no pejorative puns about your pajamas either…)
Tired and run down? Animate your animus! Panicking over that piebald pate? Fed up with fake and fatuous friends, arrogating a**holes and chary chumps? Is your vicinity vexed with victimizing vagaries? It’s time for an expiation exposé! Dance with do-or-die denizens of delight and robustious ruffians! Find equilibrium under the aegis of easy evenings and roust the requisite regalements! Do NOT acquiese to acrid accommodation or arcane archbishops! Verify the verisimilitude of that voluptuous vixen and smash the small beer to smithereens!
(And no pejorative puns about your pajamas either…)
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously
Word of the Day Tuesday September 12, 2006
tetchy \TECH-ee\, adjective: Peevish; testy; irritable.
Waugh's tetchy and combative personality made him a difficult companion at arms.
-- Penelope Lively, "A Maverick Historian", The Atlantic, February 2001
Wright was in Tokyo, busy with the Imperial Hotel, firing off telegrams blaming his son, Lloyd, and Schindler for nagging cost overruns that Barnsdall, always tetchy about parting with money, was balking at.
-- Greg Goldin, "Light Houses", Los Angeles Magazine, February 2001
His every word was pure gold then, and even the chairman, who is not known to hide his light under a bushel, got a little tetchy being asked to opine on every economic subject known to man.
-- Jamie Dettmer, "Greenspan Doesn't Always Get It Right", Insight on the News, February 26, 2001
As prams trundle and toddlers bawl, bargain-hunters try to shove, grab and kick their way to consumerist nirvana, while their spouses, weighed down by bulging bags, get seriously tetchy.
-- Kim Gilmour, "Hello, good buy", Internet Magazine, November 2001
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Tetchy probably comes from Middle English tecche, "a bad habit," from Old French tache, teche, "a spot, stain, blemish, habit, vice."
tetchy \TECH-ee\, adjective: Peevish; testy; irritable.
Waugh's tetchy and combative personality made him a difficult companion at arms.
-- Penelope Lively, "A Maverick Historian", The Atlantic, February 2001
Wright was in Tokyo, busy with the Imperial Hotel, firing off telegrams blaming his son, Lloyd, and Schindler for nagging cost overruns that Barnsdall, always tetchy about parting with money, was balking at.
-- Greg Goldin, "Light Houses", Los Angeles Magazine, February 2001
His every word was pure gold then, and even the chairman, who is not known to hide his light under a bushel, got a little tetchy being asked to opine on every economic subject known to man.
-- Jamie Dettmer, "Greenspan Doesn't Always Get It Right", Insight on the News, February 26, 2001
As prams trundle and toddlers bawl, bargain-hunters try to shove, grab and kick their way to consumerist nirvana, while their spouses, weighed down by bulging bags, get seriously tetchy.
-- Kim Gilmour, "Hello, good buy", Internet Magazine, November 2001
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Tetchy probably comes from Middle English tecche, "a bad habit," from Old French tache, teche, "a spot, stain, blemish, habit, vice."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams