Ramblings & ephemera

Word of the day: cunctative

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 [...]

Greatest 1st sentence of any blog post, ever

From Ben Jones’s “Benblog“:
In thinking through my sadness about whether or not I alone can help stave off the destruction of humanity, as important as I feel it is to ensure we do not subject future generations to endless strife, I couldn’t help seeing the aged sadness in my eyes, facing the near futility of [...]

The spirit of the real Texas Rangers

I rather like this, even if it’s probably not true:
The story goes that Captain Jack Hayes and his men, the fabled Texas Rangers, were surrounded and vastly outnumbered during one of the many skirmishes of the Mexican War. He made the following prayer, certainly one of the most colorful ever made before battle: “Oh Lord, [...]