From William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1 (II: 1):
First Sentinel:
Thus are poor servitors,
When others sleep upon their quiet beds,
Constrain’d to watch in darkness, rain and cold.
servitor: One that performs the duties of a servant to another; an attendant; in this case, soldiers.
[Middle English servitour, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin servītor, from servīre, to serve.]
Related posts
Talbot describes [...]
Posted on January 13th, 2007 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
From William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1 (I: 6):
CHARLES:
‘Tis Joan, not we, by whom the day is won;
For which I will divide my crown with her,
And all the priests and friars in my realm
Shall in procession sing her endless [...]
Posted on January 13th, 2007 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
From William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1 (I: 6):
CHARLES:
Divinest creature, Astraea’s daughter,
How shall I honour thee for this success?
Astraea: in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of justice; daughter of Zeus and Themis. Because of the wickedness of man, she withdrew from the earth at the end of the Golden Age and was placed among the [...]
Posted on January 13th, 2007 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
From William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1 (I: 5):
TALBOT:
My thoughts are whirled like a potter’s wheel;
I know not where I am, nor what I do;
A witch, by fear, not force, like Hannibal,
Drives back our troops and conquers as she lists:
So bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench
Are from their hives and houses driven away.
They [...]
Posted on January 13th, 2007 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: art, history, language & literature, on writing, word of the day | Comments Off
From William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1 (I: 4):
TALBOT:
Accursed tower! accursed fatal hand
That hath contrived this woful tragedy!
contrived: planned, devised
Related posts
Talbot describes his son’s valiant death
1 Henry VI: Talbot’s deer metaphor
1 Henry VI: Talbot threatens Bourdeaux with destruction unless it capitulates
1 Henry VI: Talbot says farewell to his son
1 Henry VI: subverts
Posted on January 13th, 2007 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
From William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1 (I: 4):
Master Gunner:
The prince’s espials have informed me
How the English, in the suburbs close intrench’d,
Wont, through a secret grate of iron bars
In yonder tower, to overpeer the city,
And thence discover how with most advantage
They may vex us with shot, or with assault.
espials: spies; the act of noting, observing, [...]
Posted on January 13th, 2007 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
From William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1 (I: 4):
Enter, on the walls, a Master Gunner and his Boy
Master-Gunner:
Sirrah, thou know’st how Orleans is besieged,
And how the English have the suburbs won.
sirrah: a contemptuous term of address to an inferior man or boy; often used in anger
Related posts
Talbot describes his son’s valiant death
1 Henry VI: Talbot’s [...]
Posted on January 13th, 2007 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
From William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1 (I: 3):
Mayor:
Fie, lords! that you, being supreme magistrates,
Thus contumeliously should break the peace!
contumeliously : Exhibiting contumely; rudely contemptuous; insolent; disdainful.
Related posts
Talbot describes his son’s valiant death
Scott-words #17
1 Henry VI: Talbot’s deer metaphor
1 Henry VI: Talbot threatens Bourdeaux with destruction unless it capitulates
1 Henry VI: Talbot says farewell [...]
Posted on January 13th, 2007 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
Froschmäusekrieg: Literally, “war between the frogs and the mice”, a poem attributed to Homer (Batrachomyomachia), a satire about the pointlessness of war or feuding.
Related posts
Talbot describes his son’s valiant death
1 Henry VI: Talbot’s deer metaphor
1 Henry VI: Talbot threatens Bourdeaux with destruction unless it capitulates
1 Henry VI: servitor
1 Henry VI: buckled
Posted on December 11th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: word of the day | Comments Off
From Wikipedia’s “Creative destruction” (13 July 2006):
Creative destruction, introduced by the economist Joseph Schumpeter, describes the process of industrial transformation that accompanies radical innovation. In Schumpeter’s vision of capitalism, innovative entry by entrepreneurs was the force that sustained long-term economic growth, even as it destroyed the value of established companies that enjoyed some degree of [...]
Posted on August 2nd, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: business, language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
Adapted from Wikipedia’s “Synecdoche“:
Synecdoche is a figure of speech that presents a kind of metaphor in which:
* A part of something is used for the whole (”hands” to refer to workers, “head” for cattle, “threads” for clothing, “wheels” for car, “mouths to feed” for hungry people, “The Press” for news media)
* [...]
Posted on May 17th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
Pareidolia (from Greek para- amiss, faulty, wrong + eidolon, diminutive of eidos appearance, form) is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (usually an image) being mistakenly perceived as recognizable. Common examples include images of animals or faces in clouds, seeing the man in the moon, and hearing messages on records played in [...]
Posted on May 8th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: language & literature, word of the day | Comments Off
Disemvoweling: removing the vowels from a message board troll’s posts. First performed (to my knowledge) by Teresa Nielsen Hayden at http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/001551.html#001551.
Related posts
Word of the day: Froschmäusekrieg
Why people “friend” others on social networks
What’s a socio-technical system?
The value of Group-Forming Networks
The NSA and threats to privacy
Posted on April 30th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: word of the day | Comments Off
lu·cu·bra·tion, n.
1. Laborious study or meditation.
2. Writing produced by laborious effort or study, especially pedantic or pretentious writing. Often used in the plural.
Related posts
Word of the day: cunctative
Word of the day: aposiopesis
The politics & basics of Unicode
Etymologies & the dictionary definitions of the f-word
A definition of stress
Posted on April 18th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: word of the day | Comments Off
Cunctative: Cunc’ta*tive, a. Slow; tardy; dilatory; causing delay.
Cunctator: Cunc*ta’tor, n. [L., lit., a delayer; -- applied as a surname to Q. Fabius Maximus.] One who delays or lingers.
From Wikipedia’s “Fabius Maximus“:
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus (c. 275 BC-203 BC), called Cunctator (the Delayer), was a Roman politician and soldier, born in Rome around 275 BC and [...]
Posted on April 16th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: commonplace book, history, word of the day | Comments Off
Today’s word: aposiopesis: ap.o.si.o.pe.sis n., pl. -ses [Lat. <Gk. aposiopesis <aposiopan, to become silent: apo- (intensive) + siopan, to be silent <siope, silence] A sudden breaking off of a thought in the middle of a sentence, as though the speaker were unwilling or unable to continue.
Related posts
The spirit of the real Texas Rangers
American courts and [...]
Posted on November 27th, 2005 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: commonplace book, word of the day | Comments Off
"larboard": the left side of a boat; AKA "port"
Related posts
The importance of booze to the Pilgrims
Recognizing futility
Modern piracy on the high seas
Zombie ships adrift off the shore of Africa
Word of the day: Synecdoche
Posted on May 22nd, 2005 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: word of the day | Comments Off