behemoth \bih-HEE-muhth\, noun:
1. noun 巨兽；庞然大物
2. noun [Bible] 河马（巨兽）[约伯记40：15-24]
1. Any creature or thing of monstrous size or power
2. An animal, perhaps the hippopotamus, mentioned in the Book of Job.
All the sportive rollickings of all the animals, from the agile fawn to the unwieldly behemoth, are dances taught them by nature.
-- Ambrose Bierce, They All Dance
And while that's not the case here, the retail behemoth clearly has the captive attention of mainstream America.
-- Dave Herrera, "3OH!3 gets enviable Walmart co-sign, prepares to print its own money," Denver Westword, July, 2010.
Behemoth derives from the Hebrew b'hemoth in the Book of Job, but may be a folk etymology of Egyptian pehemau , "water-ox," the name for the hippopotamus.
Friday, July 30, 2010
palladian
palladian \puh-LEY-dee-uhn\, adjective:
（16世纪意大利建筑家）帕拉第奥的；（建筑）帕拉第奥式的
1. Pertaining to wisdom, knowledge, or study.
2. Of or pertaining to the goddess Athena.
3. Pertaining to, introduced by, or in the architectural style of Andrea Palladio.
Within the sanctuary the gold and ivory image of Athena, fashioned by Phidias, had given way to the pale face of Our Lady, Mother of the Holy Child, and the grandiloquent Latin of the mass rolled its volume through the hall that once had echoed to the sonorous Greek of the Palladian hymns.
-- Justin Huntly McCarthy, The dryad: a novel
Miss Barfoot was smiling at this Palladian attitude when a servant announced two ladies, Mrs. Smallbrook and Miss Haven.
-- George Gissing, Arlene Young, The odd women
Palladian is a direct ancestor of the Greek Palládios, "of Athena," goddess of wisdom.
（16世纪意大利建筑家）帕拉第奥的；（建筑）帕拉第奥式的
1. Pertaining to wisdom, knowledge, or study.
2. Of or pertaining to the goddess Athena.
3. Pertaining to, introduced by, or in the architectural style of Andrea Palladio.
Within the sanctuary the gold and ivory image of Athena, fashioned by Phidias, had given way to the pale face of Our Lady, Mother of the Holy Child, and the grandiloquent Latin of the mass rolled its volume through the hall that once had echoed to the sonorous Greek of the Palladian hymns.
-- Justin Huntly McCarthy, The dryad: a novel
Miss Barfoot was smiling at this Palladian attitude when a servant announced two ladies, Mrs. Smallbrook and Miss Haven.
-- George Gissing, Arlene Young, The odd women
Palladian is a direct ancestor of the Greek Palládios, "of Athena," goddess of wisdom.
acedia
acedia \uh-SEE-dee-uh\, noun:
懒散，懒惰；麻痹；冷漠忧郁性综合征
1. Sloth.
2. Laziness or indifference in religious matters.
His tales give the impression of a man cursed with an incurable disenchantment with life, a malady about midway between acedia and ennui.
-- James Norman Hall, Under a thatched roof
Five thousand people yawning in their cars, intimidated by the cops and bored to acedia by the chant of the politicians.
-- Edward Abbey, The monkey wrench gang
Acedia is a simple derivation from the Greek akēdeia, "indifference."
懒散，懒惰；麻痹；冷漠忧郁性综合征
1. Sloth.
2. Laziness or indifference in religious matters.
His tales give the impression of a man cursed with an incurable disenchantment with life, a malady about midway between acedia and ennui.
-- James Norman Hall, Under a thatched roof
Five thousand people yawning in their cars, intimidated by the cops and bored to acedia by the chant of the politicians.
-- Edward Abbey, The monkey wrench gang
Acedia is a simple derivation from the Greek akēdeia, "indifference."
philogyny
philogyny \fi-LOJ-uh-nee\, noun:
对女人的爱好
Love of or liking for women (opposite of misogyny.)
We will, therefore, draw a curtain over this scene, from that philogyny which is in us, and proceed to matters which, instead of dishonouring the human species, will greatly raise and ennoble it.
-- Henry Fielding, The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great
To me, it is immaterial if misogyny or philogyny or whatever was in the writer's mind. It's the fact of censorship and, what is truly more infuriating, at the instigation of a cleric, that alarms me.
-- Giordiano Bruno, "Wrong move, Mr Rector, sir," Malta Independent, November 2009
Philogyny combines two Greek roots: philo, "love," and gyn, "woman."
对女人的爱好
Love of or liking for women (opposite of misogyny.)
We will, therefore, draw a curtain over this scene, from that philogyny which is in us, and proceed to matters which, instead of dishonouring the human species, will greatly raise and ennoble it.
-- Henry Fielding, The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great
To me, it is immaterial if misogyny or philogyny or whatever was in the writer's mind. It's the fact of censorship and, what is truly more infuriating, at the instigation of a cleric, that alarms me.
-- Giordiano Bruno, "Wrong move, Mr Rector, sir," Malta Independent, November 2009
Philogyny combines two Greek roots: philo, "love," and gyn, "woman."
impedimenta
impedimenta \im-ped-uh-MEN-tuh\, noun:
1. 行军行李，部队辎重
2. 包袱，累赘，阻碍
Baggage or other things that retard one's progress.
With the ladies, therefore, matters soon assumed vivid and definite shape; they became clearly and irrefutably materialized; they stood stripped of all doubt and other impedimenta.
-- Nikolaĭ Gogol, Dead Souls
Amid all the usual impedimenta of a life, he came upon an unexpected treasure."When I was going through my father's chest of drawers, I found a little book that turned out to be a diary of my mother," Rodriguez told The Times.
-- Elizabeth Ogus, "Mi Diario,"The Montclair Times, July 2010.
Impedimenta relates to the Latin impedire, literally "to shackle one's feet."
1. 行军行李，部队辎重
2. 包袱，累赘，阻碍
Baggage or other things that retard one's progress.
With the ladies, therefore, matters soon assumed vivid and definite shape; they became clearly and irrefutably materialized; they stood stripped of all doubt and other impedimenta.
-- Nikolaĭ Gogol, Dead Souls
Amid all the usual impedimenta of a life, he came upon an unexpected treasure."When I was going through my father's chest of drawers, I found a little book that turned out to be a diary of my mother," Rodriguez told The Times.
-- Elizabeth Ogus, "Mi Diario,"The Montclair Times, July 2010.
Impedimenta relates to the Latin impedire, literally "to shackle one's feet."
occlude
occlude \uh-KLOOD\, verb:
1.使闭塞；堵塞；遮断
2.使…透不过；关出
3.吸藏；吸留；吸收（气体、液体等）
4.（上下牙齿）咬合
1. To shut in, out, or off.
2. Physical Chemistry. (Of certain metals and other solids) to incorporate (gases and other foreign substances), as by absorption or adsorption.
3. Dentistry. To shut or close, with the cusps of the opposing teeth of the upper and lower jaws fitting together.
Were you afraid that this person would eclipse you, would occlude your very being, that your life would become the baby and nothing else, and that - and this is the most important thing - you wouldn't mind?
-- Joanna Smith Rakoff, A fortunate age: a novel
Unwin closed his dreaming eyes, but he could not occlude the vision of the man thrashing where he sat.
-- Jedediah Berry, The Manual of Detection
Occlude owes its popular usage to the dental term occlusion, "the fitting together of the teeth of the lower jaw with the corresponding teeth of the upper jaw when the jaws are closed."
1.使闭塞；堵塞；遮断
2.使…透不过；关出
3.吸藏；吸留；吸收（气体、液体等）
4.（上下牙齿）咬合
1. To shut in, out, or off.
2. Physical Chemistry. (Of certain metals and other solids) to incorporate (gases and other foreign substances), as by absorption or adsorption.
3. Dentistry. To shut or close, with the cusps of the opposing teeth of the upper and lower jaws fitting together.
Were you afraid that this person would eclipse you, would occlude your very being, that your life would become the baby and nothing else, and that - and this is the most important thing - you wouldn't mind?
-- Joanna Smith Rakoff, A fortunate age: a novel
Unwin closed his dreaming eyes, but he could not occlude the vision of the man thrashing where he sat.
-- Jedediah Berry, The Manual of Detection
Occlude owes its popular usage to the dental term occlusion, "the fitting together of the teeth of the lower jaw with the corresponding teeth of the upper jaw when the jaws are closed."
morganatic
morganatic \mawr-guh-NAT-ik\, adjective:
贵贱联姻的
Of or pertaining to a form of marriage in which a person of high rank, as a member of the nobility, marries someone of lower station with the stipulation that neither the low-ranking spouse nor their children, if any, will have any claim to the titles or entailed property of the high-ranking partner.
Plans for a morganatic marriage, for Mrs Simpson to become Duchess of Cornwall, came to nothing. It is a mark of how much has changed in the intervening three-quarters of a century that the British press maintained a loyal silence about the crisis until the last moment, though the King's affair with a married woman was common knowledge among the upper classes.
-- Adam Sisman, "The Last Dance: 1936 by Denys Blakeway: review," The Telegraph, June, 2010.
Your marriage is therefore no marriage at all, and the highest compliment we can pay your association is to call it morganatic.
-- Robertson Davies, Hunting Stuart: & The voice of the people : two plays
Morganatic relates to the Latin morganaticam, "a gift given by bride or groom the day after marriage."
贵贱联姻的
Of or pertaining to a form of marriage in which a person of high rank, as a member of the nobility, marries someone of lower station with the stipulation that neither the low-ranking spouse nor their children, if any, will have any claim to the titles or entailed property of the high-ranking partner.
Plans for a morganatic marriage, for Mrs Simpson to become Duchess of Cornwall, came to nothing. It is a mark of how much has changed in the intervening three-quarters of a century that the British press maintained a loyal silence about the crisis until the last moment, though the King's affair with a married woman was common knowledge among the upper classes.
-- Adam Sisman, "The Last Dance: 1936 by Denys Blakeway: review," The Telegraph, June, 2010.
Your marriage is therefore no marriage at all, and the highest compliment we can pay your association is to call it morganatic.
-- Robertson Davies, Hunting Stuart: & The voice of the people : two plays
Morganatic relates to the Latin morganaticam, "a gift given by bride or groom the day after marriage."
zaftig
zaftig \ZAHF-tik\, adjective:
（女人）丰满匀称的；性感的；有曲线美的
Full-bodied; well-proportioned.
Rina's mom had been svelte, her dad had been fit and muscular, yet she'd managed to get the same zaftig genes as her mom's sister.
-- Susan Lyons, She's on Top
This chair is definitely an affable zaftig blobject, but very expensive compared to, and not very dissimilar from, the cheap $5 garden chairs made of polypropylene.
-- Christopher Bright, "The Haute Seat," Dwell, May 2007.
Zaftig is a borrowing from Yiddish, zaftik, literally meaning "juicy."
（女人）丰满匀称的；性感的；有曲线美的
Full-bodied; well-proportioned.
Rina's mom had been svelte, her dad had been fit and muscular, yet she'd managed to get the same zaftig genes as her mom's sister.
-- Susan Lyons, She's on Top
This chair is definitely an affable zaftig blobject, but very expensive compared to, and not very dissimilar from, the cheap $5 garden chairs made of polypropylene.
-- Christopher Bright, "The Haute Seat," Dwell, May 2007.
Zaftig is a borrowing from Yiddish, zaftik, literally meaning "juicy."
don
don \DON\, verb:
穿
1. To put on or dress in.
noun:
1. A Spanish title prefixed to a man's given name.
2. (In the Mafia) a head of a family or syndicate.
For some inexpensive 3-D fun on a sunny day, have your child don the special glasses included with Optrix 3-D Bubbles to see holographic stars, hearts, butterflies, or lightning bolts on the bubbles she blows.
-- Amy Kaldor-Bull, "Bubble toys that burst with fun," Kansas City Star, July 2010.
"Ay, ay, and the rector fancied, sitting teaching me Greek out of old wild Homer all weekday - and his girl slipping out and in - 'twould do to don the cassock of a Sunday and preach out of the pulpit against the world, the devil, and the flesh - then warn me against the sea - ha!
-- George Cupples, The green hand: adventures of a naval lieutenant: a sea story for boys
Don is an early 14th Century contraction of "do on," as doff is a similar contraction of "do off."
穿
1. To put on or dress in.
noun:
1. A Spanish title prefixed to a man's given name.
2. (In the Mafia) a head of a family or syndicate.
For some inexpensive 3-D fun on a sunny day, have your child don the special glasses included with Optrix 3-D Bubbles to see holographic stars, hearts, butterflies, or lightning bolts on the bubbles she blows.
-- Amy Kaldor-Bull, "Bubble toys that burst with fun," Kansas City Star, July 2010.
"Ay, ay, and the rector fancied, sitting teaching me Greek out of old wild Homer all weekday - and his girl slipping out and in - 'twould do to don the cassock of a Sunday and preach out of the pulpit against the world, the devil, and the flesh - then warn me against the sea - ha!
-- George Cupples, The green hand: adventures of a naval lieutenant: a sea story for boys
Don is an early 14th Century contraction of "do on," as doff is a similar contraction of "do off."
nitid
nitid \NIT-id\, adjective:
明亮的
Bright; lustrous.
Intolerably, I dreamt of an exiguous and nitid labyrinth: in the center was a water jar; my hands almost touched it, my eyes could see it, but so intricate and perplexed were the curves that I knew I would die before reaching it.
-- Jorge Luis Borges, The Immortal
"What!" exclaimed Sir Norfolk, almost shuddering at the inadvertence he had committed; "a waiting-man in such costly and nitid attire."
-- William Harrison Ainsworth, The Miser's Daughter
Nitid is related to the Latin nitidus, "glistening."
明亮的
Bright; lustrous.
Intolerably, I dreamt of an exiguous and nitid labyrinth: in the center was a water jar; my hands almost touched it, my eyes could see it, but so intricate and perplexed were the curves that I knew I would die before reaching it.
-- Jorge Luis Borges, The Immortal
"What!" exclaimed Sir Norfolk, almost shuddering at the inadvertence he had committed; "a waiting-man in such costly and nitid attire."
-- William Harrison Ainsworth, The Miser's Daughter
Nitid is related to the Latin nitidus, "glistening."
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
vestigial
vestigial \ve-STIJ-ee-uhl\, adjective:
形 痕迹;遗迹;退化的
1. Relating to a body part that has become small and lost its use because of evolutionary change.
2. Pertaining to, or of the nature of anything that is no longer present or in existence.
Pixar filmmakers have to be able to tap into their vestigial child, their inner Andy. In that sense, the Toy Story series is their collective autobiography.
-- Richard Corliss, "End of Innocence", Time, June 2010.
In gasps he replied that it was a boa - boas were notoriously good-natured - he only wished to see its vestigial hind-legs - then would let it go - he was not hurting it.
-- Patrick O'Brian, The far side of the world
Vestigial is from the French vestige, "a mark, trace, sign," which comes from the Latin vestigium, "footprint, trace," of unknown origin.
形 痕迹;遗迹;退化的
1. Relating to a body part that has become small and lost its use because of evolutionary change.
2. Pertaining to, or of the nature of anything that is no longer present or in existence.
Pixar filmmakers have to be able to tap into their vestigial child, their inner Andy. In that sense, the Toy Story series is their collective autobiography.
-- Richard Corliss, "End of Innocence", Time, June 2010.
In gasps he replied that it was a boa - boas were notoriously good-natured - he only wished to see its vestigial hind-legs - then would let it go - he was not hurting it.
-- Patrick O'Brian, The far side of the world
Vestigial is from the French vestige, "a mark, trace, sign," which comes from the Latin vestigium, "footprint, trace," of unknown origin.
tantivy
tantivy \tan-TIV-ee\, adjective:
1. Swift; rapid.
adverb:
1. At full gallop.
noun:
1. A rush, a gallop or stampede.
interjection:
1. (used as a hunting cry when the chase is at full speed.)
The passage of wild pigeons from this wood to that-with their slight tantivy-and carrier haste- Now from under some rotten stump your hoe turns up a spotted salamander- your own contemporary- A small trace of Egypt and the Nile in New England- Where is the priest of Isis.
-- Henry David Thoreau, Journal: 1842-1848
How does it come that a few short hours later we find him galloping tantivy over the dusty hills, no less than two hundred miles, as the birds fly, from the counter railings of welcomings?
-- Francis Lynde, Empire Builders
Tantivy, while associated with many aspects of horseback riding, is of unknown origin.
1. Swift; rapid.
adverb:
1. At full gallop.
noun:
1. A rush, a gallop or stampede.
interjection:
1. (used as a hunting cry when the chase is at full speed.)
The passage of wild pigeons from this wood to that-with their slight tantivy-and carrier haste- Now from under some rotten stump your hoe turns up a spotted salamander- your own contemporary- A small trace of Egypt and the Nile in New England- Where is the priest of Isis.
-- Henry David Thoreau, Journal: 1842-1848
How does it come that a few short hours later we find him galloping tantivy over the dusty hills, no less than two hundred miles, as the birds fly, from the counter railings of welcomings?
-- Francis Lynde, Empire Builders
Tantivy, while associated with many aspects of horseback riding, is of unknown origin.
subtilize
subtilize \SUHT-l-ahyz\, verb:
1. To make (the mind, senses, etc.) keen or discerning.
2. To elevate in character.
3. To make thin, rare, or more fluid or volatile; refine.
By long brooding over our recollections, we subtilize them into something akin to imaginary stuff, and hardly capable of being distinguished from it.
-- Nathanial Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance
Another (ah Lord helpe) mee vilifies /With Art of Love, and how to subtilize, /Making lewd Venus, with eternall Lines, /To tye Adonis to her love's designes.
-- John Davies of Hereford, Papers Complaint, compil'd in ruthfull Rimes Against the Paper-spoylers of these Times
Subtilize grew in popularity among practitioners of alchemy and early medical theory.
1. To make (the mind, senses, etc.) keen or discerning.
2. To elevate in character.
3. To make thin, rare, or more fluid or volatile; refine.
By long brooding over our recollections, we subtilize them into something akin to imaginary stuff, and hardly capable of being distinguished from it.
-- Nathanial Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance
Another (ah Lord helpe) mee vilifies /With Art of Love, and how to subtilize, /Making lewd Venus, with eternall Lines, /To tye Adonis to her love's designes.
-- John Davies of Hereford, Papers Complaint, compil'd in ruthfull Rimes Against the Paper-spoylers of these Times
Subtilize grew in popularity among practitioners of alchemy and early medical theory.
aeromancy
aeromancy \AIR-uh-man-see\, noun:
The prediction of future events from observation of weather conditions.
The wreckage of vast sundowns predicts in sulphurous aeromancy havoc to be.
-- Robert Malise and Bowyer Nichols, Fantastica: being The smile of the Sphinx, and other tales of imagination
Scrutinize the clouds for sun-dogs, gaze into the eyes of a baby or a feline, and practice the ancient divination arts of augury and aeromancy by recognizing intuitive messages received when watching birds or airplanes fly across the sky.
-- Margie Lapanja and Andrew F. Smith, Romancing the Stove: Celebrated Recipes and Delicious Fun for Every Kitchen
Aeromancy is but one sort of divination practiced in medieval times. Some other examples: augury, based on the flight of birds; cheiromancy, palm-reading; and oneiromancy, the interpretation of dreams.
The prediction of future events from observation of weather conditions.
The wreckage of vast sundowns predicts in sulphurous aeromancy havoc to be.
-- Robert Malise and Bowyer Nichols, Fantastica: being The smile of the Sphinx, and other tales of imagination
Scrutinize the clouds for sun-dogs, gaze into the eyes of a baby or a feline, and practice the ancient divination arts of augury and aeromancy by recognizing intuitive messages received when watching birds or airplanes fly across the sky.
-- Margie Lapanja and Andrew F. Smith, Romancing the Stove: Celebrated Recipes and Delicious Fun for Every Kitchen
Aeromancy is but one sort of divination practiced in medieval times. Some other examples: augury, based on the flight of birds; cheiromancy, palm-reading; and oneiromancy, the interpretation of dreams.
snuff
snuff \SNUHF\, verb:
名 烛蕊燃焦部;香味;弄熄;以鼻闻
1. To extinguish or suppress.
2. To cut off or remove the snuff of (candles, tapers, etc.).
noun:
1. The charred or partly consumed portion of a candlewick.
2. A preparation of tobacco, either powdered and taken into the nostrils by inhalation or ground and placed between the cheek and gum.
verb:
1. To draw in through the nose by inhaling.
Derek Jeter bashed Duensing's sixth pitch into the bullpen, then almost single-handedly made the run hold up with a spectacular play to snuff a second-and-third Twins threat, and the Yankees won for the 10th time in their last 11 games against the Twins.
-- Phil Miller, "Twins do everything right but win", FoxSportsNorth.com, May 2010
They augur misgovernment at a distance; and snuff the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze.
-- Edmund Burke, Second Speech on Conciliation with America
The verb form of snuff has acquired layers of meaning through time: "to cut or pinch off the burned part of a candle wick," is an adaptation from the noun snoffe, the "burned part of a candle wick." The sense "to die" stems from the 1800s, and "to kill" appears in the 1930s, as in a snuff-film.
名 烛蕊燃焦部;香味;弄熄;以鼻闻
1. To extinguish or suppress.
2. To cut off or remove the snuff of (candles, tapers, etc.).
noun:
1. The charred or partly consumed portion of a candlewick.
2. A preparation of tobacco, either powdered and taken into the nostrils by inhalation or ground and placed between the cheek and gum.
verb:
1. To draw in through the nose by inhaling.
Derek Jeter bashed Duensing's sixth pitch into the bullpen, then almost single-handedly made the run hold up with a spectacular play to snuff a second-and-third Twins threat, and the Yankees won for the 10th time in their last 11 games against the Twins.
-- Phil Miller, "Twins do everything right but win", FoxSportsNorth.com, May 2010
They augur misgovernment at a distance; and snuff the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze.
-- Edmund Burke, Second Speech on Conciliation with America
The verb form of snuff has acquired layers of meaning through time: "to cut or pinch off the burned part of a candle wick," is an adaptation from the noun snoffe, the "burned part of a candle wick." The sense "to die" stems from the 1800s, and "to kill" appears in the 1930s, as in a snuff-film.
Friday, July 9, 2010
sibylline
sibylline \SIB-uh-leen\, adjective:
1。先知;玄妙。
2。预言;玄妙。
3。神秘，难以理解。
1. Prophetic; oracular.
2. Of, resembling, or characteristic of a sibyl; prophetic; oracular.
3. Mysterious; cryptic.
OPN, an American actually called Daniel Lopatin, has been around since 2006 and already amassed a ton of loop-based otherworldly music pieces released under an array of suitably sibylline monikers.
-- Thomas Corlin, "Interview: Oneohtrix Point Never", Spoonfed.co.uk
The response, by the bye, was of the true sibylline stamp,—nonsensical in its first aspect, yet on closer study unfolding a variety of interpretations, one of which has certainly accorded with the event.
-- Nathanial Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance
Sibylline derives from the Greek Sibylla, any of several prophetesses consulted by ancient Greeks and Romans, of uncertain origin.
1。先知;玄妙。
2。预言;玄妙。
3。神秘，难以理解。
1. Prophetic; oracular.
2. Of, resembling, or characteristic of a sibyl; prophetic; oracular.
3. Mysterious; cryptic.
OPN, an American actually called Daniel Lopatin, has been around since 2006 and already amassed a ton of loop-based otherworldly music pieces released under an array of suitably sibylline monikers.
-- Thomas Corlin, "Interview: Oneohtrix Point Never", Spoonfed.co.uk
The response, by the bye, was of the true sibylline stamp,—nonsensical in its first aspect, yet on closer study unfolding a variety of interpretations, one of which has certainly accorded with the event.
-- Nathanial Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance
Sibylline derives from the Greek Sibylla, any of several prophetesses consulted by ancient Greeks and Romans, of uncertain origin.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
bijou
bijou \BEE-zhoo\, adjective:
1. Something small, delicate, and exquisitely wrought.
noun:
1. A jewel.
Adding to its appeal is the fact that the Streak is a compact and bijou five inches, compared to the iPad's relatively chunky 9.7-inches.
-- Jonathan Leggett, "Dell Streak Free on Mobile Broadband Deals", Top 10 Broadband, June 2010
This was followed by bijou slices of grilled swordfish belly swathed in a homemade sesame sauce ($5).
-- Annette Tan, "Small bites to a big meal", Singapore Today, June 2010
Bijou comes from the French Breton bizou, "ring."
1. Something small, delicate, and exquisitely wrought.
noun:
1. A jewel.
Adding to its appeal is the fact that the Streak is a compact and bijou five inches, compared to the iPad's relatively chunky 9.7-inches.
-- Jonathan Leggett, "Dell Streak Free on Mobile Broadband Deals", Top 10 Broadband, June 2010
This was followed by bijou slices of grilled swordfish belly swathed in a homemade sesame sauce ($5).
-- Annette Tan, "Small bites to a big meal", Singapore Today, June 2010
Bijou comes from the French Breton bizou, "ring."
couvade
couvade \koo-VAHD\, noun:
产翁制 http://baike.baidu.com/view/1839403.htm
A practice in certain cultures in which the husband of a woman in labor takes to his bed as though he were bearing the child.
Whether men experience couvades or not, there are plenty of other birth rituals for them to partake in: sitting through prenatal classes, going to ultrasound appointments, strapping on thirty pound lead empathy bellies, attending coed baby showers, making smalltalk during epidural sessions, photographing the birth, cutting the umbilical cord. . .
-- Tina Cassidy, Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born
Although husband involvement in the birth process is not uncommon in preindustrial societies, as we showed in Chapter 5, the emerging American practice of having the husband present at the delivery itself is almost unique in world societies. The increasing popularity of this new form of "couvade" in the United States is particularly intriguing theoretically and represents an unexplored issue in social-psychological research.
-- Karen Paige, Jeffery M. Paige, The politics of reproductive ritual
Couvade comes from the French couver, "to incubate or hatch."
产翁制 http://baike.baidu.com/view/1839403.htm
A practice in certain cultures in which the husband of a woman in labor takes to his bed as though he were bearing the child.
Whether men experience couvades or not, there are plenty of other birth rituals for them to partake in: sitting through prenatal classes, going to ultrasound appointments, strapping on thirty pound lead empathy bellies, attending coed baby showers, making smalltalk during epidural sessions, photographing the birth, cutting the umbilical cord. . .
-- Tina Cassidy, Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born
Although husband involvement in the birth process is not uncommon in preindustrial societies, as we showed in Chapter 5, the emerging American practice of having the husband present at the delivery itself is almost unique in world societies. The increasing popularity of this new form of "couvade" in the United States is particularly intriguing theoretically and represents an unexplored issue in social-psychological research.
-- Karen Paige, Jeffery M. Paige, The politics of reproductive ritual
Couvade comes from the French couver, "to incubate or hatch."
Monday, July 5, 2010
vespertine
vespertine \VES-per-tin\, adjective:
1. Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the evening.
2. Botany. Opening or expanding in the evening, as certain flowers.
3. Zoology. Becoming active in the evening, as bats and owls.
To my own ear, I sound hyperpoetic, and I don't mean to exaggerate these vespertine moods; I think that this restlessness that I am describing was really quite ordinary.
-- Peter Gadol, The Long Rain
So on we journey'd, through the evening sky / Gazing intent, far onward as our eyes, / With level view, could stretch against the bright / Vespertine ray: and lo ! by slow degrees / Gathering, a fog made towards us, dark as night.
-- Dante Alighieri, The vision, or, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise
Vespertine derives from Latin vespertīnus, "evening."
1. Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the evening.
2. Botany. Opening or expanding in the evening, as certain flowers.
3. Zoology. Becoming active in the evening, as bats and owls.
To my own ear, I sound hyperpoetic, and I don't mean to exaggerate these vespertine moods; I think that this restlessness that I am describing was really quite ordinary.
-- Peter Gadol, The Long Rain
So on we journey'd, through the evening sky / Gazing intent, far onward as our eyes, / With level view, could stretch against the bright / Vespertine ray: and lo ! by slow degrees / Gathering, a fog made towards us, dark as night.
-- Dante Alighieri, The vision, or, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise
Vespertine derives from Latin vespertīnus, "evening."
evanescence
evanescence \ev-uh-NES-ens\, noun:
1. A gradual dissappearance.
2. The state of becoming imperceptible.
This is one of the most beautiful circumstances connected with water surface, for by these means a variety of color and a grace and evanescence are introduced in the reflection otherwise impossible.
-- John Ruskin, The Works of John Ruskin: Modern painters, v.1-5
But this was an evanescence, and quickly repented of, as it were, by an immitigable look, pinching and shriveling the visage into the momentary semblance of a wrinkled walnut.
-- Herman Melville, Billy Budd, sailor: (an inside narrative)
Evanescence is from Latin evanescere, "to vanish," from e-, "from, out of" + vanescere, "to disappear," from vanus, "empty."
1. A gradual dissappearance.
2. The state of becoming imperceptible.
This is one of the most beautiful circumstances connected with water surface, for by these means a variety of color and a grace and evanescence are introduced in the reflection otherwise impossible.
-- John Ruskin, The Works of John Ruskin: Modern painters, v.1-5
But this was an evanescence, and quickly repented of, as it were, by an immitigable look, pinching and shriveling the visage into the momentary semblance of a wrinkled walnut.
-- Herman Melville, Billy Budd, sailor: (an inside narrative)
Evanescence is from Latin evanescere, "to vanish," from e-, "from, out of" + vanescere, "to disappear," from vanus, "empty."
rataplan
rataplan \rat-uh-PLAN\, verb:
1. To produce the sound as of the beating of a drum.
noun:
1. A sound of or as of the beating of a drum.
2. A tattoo, as of a drum, the hooves of a galloping horse, or machine-gun fire.
When his breath returned, he called aloud to space: "My drum ain't busted, but I can't reach t'other stick !" and then rat-tatted as best he could, sitting, hot in his own blood, there in what might have seemed the measured centre of the surely coming charge. As his one stick beat, rataplanning as best it might alone, his ghastly face, turned backward, saw the first man, rifle in hand who topped the low ridge, racing forward on two strong legs, furiously cursing the swinging, helpless left arm that dripped as he ran.
-- Clara Morris, The life of a star
They rataplanned through Abbeville. They saw four unknown riders, in uniforms of the North, trailing them. Harnden called an abrupt halt and waited till the riders came up.
-- Ivan Clyde Lake, "The badgers pursued Jefferson Davis", The Milwaukee Sentinel, 1965
Rataplan's origin is French, though its meaning is entirely imitative.
1. To produce the sound as of the beating of a drum.
noun:
1. A sound of or as of the beating of a drum.
2. A tattoo, as of a drum, the hooves of a galloping horse, or machine-gun fire.
When his breath returned, he called aloud to space: "My drum ain't busted, but I can't reach t'other stick !" and then rat-tatted as best he could, sitting, hot in his own blood, there in what might have seemed the measured centre of the surely coming charge. As his one stick beat, rataplanning as best it might alone, his ghastly face, turned backward, saw the first man, rifle in hand who topped the low ridge, racing forward on two strong legs, furiously cursing the swinging, helpless left arm that dripped as he ran.
-- Clara Morris, The life of a star
They rataplanned through Abbeville. They saw four unknown riders, in uniforms of the North, trailing them. Harnden called an abrupt halt and waited till the riders came up.
-- Ivan Clyde Lake, "The badgers pursued Jefferson Davis", The Milwaukee Sentinel, 1965
Rataplan's origin is French, though its meaning is entirely imitative.
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