Feb 23, 2006

whippersnapper

A person regarded as insignificant and pretentious.

Wet-behind-the-ears whippersnapper that I was

mischievous

Playful in a naughty or teasing way.

Troublesome; irritating: a mischievous prank.

a mischievous student

girth

1. The distance around something; the circumference.

2. Size; bulk: a person of large girth.

parody

Something so bad as to be equivalent to intentional mockery; a travesty: The trial was a parody of justice.

Music The practice of reworking an already established composition, especially the incorporation into the Mass of material borrowed from other works, such as motets or madrigals.

word of the parody … soon reached most, if not all, of the student body

bylines
A line at the head of a newspaper or magazine article carrying the writer's name.

banter

Good-humored, playful conversation.

swapping sexual banter, dishing on school faculty or peers and sharing stories about drinking and drugs.

resourceful
Able to act effectively or imaginatively, especially in difficult situations.

some resourceful students are finding ways around the campus firewall

Feb 22, 2006

anemic

1. Relating to or suffering from anemia.

2. Lacking vitality; listless and weak

an anemic growth

eon

1. An indefinitely long period of time; an age.

2. The longest division of geologic time, containing two or more eras.

pulverize

make into a powder by breaking up or cause to become dust; "pulverize the grains"

reprisal

a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime

Feb 16, 2006

Sassy

1. Rude and disrespectful; impudent.

2. Lively and spirited; jaunty.

3. Stylish; chic: a sassy little hat.

Single 'n' Sassy
--Homer Simpson's bumper sticker

hokum

1. Something apparently impressive or legitimate but actually untrue or insincere; nonsense.

2. A stock technique for eliciting a desired response from an audience.

a message that seems to convey no meaning

The report itself is the usual hokum

contemptuous
Manifesting or feeling contempt; scornful.

Buying analysis is a contemptuous use of shareholder capital

Oaf

A person regarded as stupid or clumsy.

Homer Simpson

Crazy Engllish

The English Language. Have you ever wondered why foreigners have trouble with the English Language?. Let's face it. English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in the eggplant No ham in the hamburger. And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.

English muffins were not invented in England. French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted But if we examine its paradoxes we find that Quicksand takes you down slowly, Boxing rings are square. And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. If writers write, how come fingers don't fing.

If the plural of tooth is teeth. Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth,

If the teacher taught, Why didn't the preacher praught.

If a vegetarian eats vegetables. What the does a humanitarian eat?

Why do people recite at a play, Yet play at a recital?

Park on driveways and Drive on parkways.

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy. Of a language where a house can burn up as it burns down. And in which you fill in a form by filling it out. And a bell is only heard once it goes! English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (Which of course isn't a race at all) That is why when the stars are out they are visible, but when the lights are out they are invisible, and why it is that when I wind up my watch it starts, but when I wind up this observation, it ends.

Feb 14, 2006

brethren

A plural of brother.

The best class of our countrymen who go abroad keep us well posted about their doings in foreign lands, but their brethren vandals cannot sing their own praises or publish their adventures.
--Mark Twain, The Amercian Vandal Abroad

garrison

A military post, especially one that is permanently established.
We had the garrison out mighty quick -- four Greeks -- and we bribed them to betray the citadel and unlock the gates.
--same as above

citadel
A fortress in a commanding position in or near a city.

billow

a large sea wave

Feb 10, 2006

Moat

A ditch similar to one surrounding a fortification: A moat separates the animals in the zoo from the spectators.

Does this company have an economic moat?

Volition

A conscious choice or decision.

However, possessing the power of free will, some of them(angels) began to move further away from God by their own volition.

Vaunt
To speak boastfully of; brag about.

Vaunted U.S.-India nuclear deal begins to fall apart

Feb 09, 2006

lock stock and barrel

This is an expression, which has been around for several hundred years. Do you know anything about guns? I understand that the "lock", "stock" and "barrel" are different parts of a gun; they were originally different parts of a musket. The wooden "stock" was that portion which you placed against your shoulder when you fired the gun. The "lock" ignited the gunpowder and the bullet came out of the "barrel". Together the "lock, stock and barrel" made up the entire gun. It is not surprising therefore that the idiom means "including everything; every part of something". Here are a few examples.

*Shyam is moving his company lock, stock, and barrel from Patna to Bangalore.

(from this webpage)

*Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program

infidel

1. An unbeliever with respect to a particular religion, especially Christianity or Islam.

2. One who has no religious beliefs.

3. One who doubts or rejects a particular doctrine, system, or principle.

United States is the leader of Europe and the leading infidel in the world
-- an Afghanistan farmer (wow, his vocabulary is better than mine)

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
--Napoleon Bonaparte

Feb 08, 2006

Pound
Why pound is written as 'lb'?
thefreedictionary.com:
[Middle English, from Old English pund, from West Germanic *punda-, from Latin (lbra) pond, (a pound) by weight; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots.]
So may be its from Latin 'libra'

from answerbag.com

A pound is always written as "lb" to prevent confusion with pound (money) It is very old, traced back to the Roman "libra" (which explains its abreviation!). It was defined in England since Ethelred the Unready (968-1016). In fact, a pound (money) was originally a pound (weight) of silver, and the symbol for pound (money) is a stylised L.

Lampoon
To ridicule or satirize
[French lampon, perhaps from lampons, let us drink (from a common refrain in drinking songs), first person pl. imperative of lamper, to gulp down, of Germanic origin.]

the publication in Europe of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad

Slate
Cell is slated to run Sony Corp's upcoming PlayStation 3 video game system and high-definition TVs from Sony and Toshiba Corp.

List as candidate, probably comes from writing candidates' names on a piece of stone.

boon and bane
benefitial and harmful

The variables of trading and the opportunities that short-term price swings create for investors are both boon and bane

Feb 07,2006

Creed

1. A formal statement of religious belief; a confession of faith.

2. A system of belief, principles, or opinions: laws banning discrimination on the basis of race or creed; an architectural creed that demanded simple lines.

When democracy becomes dominated by a collectivist creed, democracy will inevitably destroy itself

Takes its toll

to have a bad effect on someone or something. Bringing up nine children had taken its toll on my mother. (often + on) The disease has taken a horrendous toll in parts of western Africa.

to cause harm or suffering. Divorce takes its toll on the children involved.

Life is only too short, and time takes its toll.
-- from lyrics of Epitaph of Seikelos (an ancient greek song)

revere

To regard with awe, deference, and devotion.

the highly revered monarch rarely interferes in political affairs

shenanigan

1.

a. A deceitful trick; an underhanded act.

b. Remarks intended to deceive; deceit. Often used in the plural.

2.

a. A playful or mischievous act; a prank.

b. Mischief; prankishness. Often used in the plural.

plenty of political shenanigans

Feb 06, 2006

Bastion
a defensive stronghold
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=bastion
"The church became last bastion against barbarism."
"the last bastion of communism"

Serfdom
A serf is a laborer who is bound to the land. Serfs formed the lowest social class of the feudal society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom

Road to Serfdom
http://nonestopthinking.blogspot.com/2006/02/road-to-serfdom.html

The Great Schism

schism -- split, disunion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East-West_Schism

The East-West Schism, known also as the Great Schism (though this latter term sometimes refers to the later Western Schism), was the event that divided Chalcedonian Christianity into Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Though normally dated to 1054, when Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael I excommunicated each other, the East-West Schism was actually the result of an extended period of estrangement between the two Churches.

Babylonian Captivity

or Babylonian exile, is the name generally given to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.

Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church is a theological work by the Reformer Martin Luther.

Regimentation
the imposition of order or discipline

regiment

1. A military unit of ground troops consisting of at least two battalions, usually commanded by a colonel.

2. A large group of people.

reg·i·ment·ed, reg·i·ment·ing, reg·i·ments

1. To form into a regiment.

2. To put into systematic order; systematize.

3. To subject to uniformity and rigid order.