He *knew* vacationing in France was a bad move, and for the umpteenth time, he kicked himself for it.
-----------
* Crabwise: R-rated pun-based explanation omitted, in deference to posting guidelines.
GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)
Arthur awoke the next morning, and immediately knew he was in deep trouble, courtesy of Felicity. Not only were his nether regions itching fiercely (proof positive that we wasn’t nearly as crabwise* as he used to be), but the polaroid negative and extortion note on the night table made it clear that holding onto his job as Solicitor General would cost him dearly.
He *knew* vacationing in France was a bad move, and for the umpteenth time, he kicked himself for it.
-----------
* Crabwise: R-rated pun-based explanation omitted, in deference to posting guidelines.
He *knew* vacationing in France was a bad move, and for the umpteenth time, he kicked himself for it.
-----------
* Crabwise: R-rated pun-based explanation omitted, in deference to posting guidelines.
Lisa grabbed the glossy 9 x 12's from the table and held them aloft in a gesture both incredulous and accusatory.
"How could you do this to me, Arthur?" she sobbed, her eyes desperately soliciting an answer. How could you do this to our family? Sweet Lord, how will I ever face the parish again?"
From his vantage point behind the large Etruscan vase bordering the living room, Arthur Jr. turned to his younger sister and whispered, "I can't believe Dad messed up like this. Look - he's still scratching down there! And all that talk of crab-wisdom to me when I hit puberty!"
Back out in the living room, Arthur mumbled something inaudible.
"Spare me your felicitous platitudes you - you HEATHEN!" Lisa shrieked. She rushed to the fireplace and swept up the iron poker in one fluid motion.
"Holy sh*t!" Arthur Jr. said. "Run, Dad, run!"
"How could you do this to me, Arthur?" she sobbed, her eyes desperately soliciting an answer. How could you do this to our family? Sweet Lord, how will I ever face the parish again?"
From his vantage point behind the large Etruscan vase bordering the living room, Arthur Jr. turned to his younger sister and whispered, "I can't believe Dad messed up like this. Look - he's still scratching down there! And all that talk of crab-wisdom to me when I hit puberty!"
Back out in the living room, Arthur mumbled something inaudible.
"Spare me your felicitous platitudes you - you HEATHEN!" Lisa shrieked. She rushed to the fireplace and swept up the iron poker in one fluid motion.
"Holy sh*t!" Arthur Jr. said. "Run, Dad, run!"
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously
And now a word from our exemplar sponsor – Mr. Boo’s “Word of the Dayâ€
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
As the rapport from the guns silenced, Henry Dunant became apalled at the suffering of the wounded at Solferino. Dunants experience and the rapport he felt with the wictims of war led to the creation of the red cross.
Though the development of more effective tactics and weapons have indeed often increased the suffering of the victims of war, the solicitous efforts of the international committee of the red cross in following their mission:
Though the development of more effective tactics and weapons have indeed often increased the suffering of the victims of war, the solicitous efforts of the international committee of the red cross in following their mission:
have indeed moved us in a crabwise motion towards a more humane way of solving our conflicts and regarding our fellow men.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance. It directs and coordinates the international relief activities conducted by the Movement in situations of conflict. It also endeavours to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles.
It is written.
Word of the Day Friday October 27, 2006
inveterate \in-VET-uhr-it\, adjective: 1. Firmly established by long persistence; deep-rooted; of long standing. 2. Fixed in habit by long persistence; confirmed; habitual.
In Montpelier, where this prison stands, the inveterate prejudice against prisoners has been swept away.
-- Morrison I. Swift, "Humanizing the Prisons", The Atlantic, August 1911
He is an inveterate nibbler, popping nuts and chocolate into his mouth as he talks, leaning forward in his chair to forage in the tins with his right hand.
-- Michael Ignatieff, Isaiah Berlin: A Life
I was an inveterate museum-goer from the age of fourteen, when I'd take the trolley to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts after school and wander the halls of Greek antiquities.
-- Jane Alexander, Command Performance
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inveterate is from the past participle of Latin inveterari, "to grow old, to endure," from in- + vetus, veter-, "old." It is related to veteran, "one who is long experienced in some activity or capacity; an old soldier of long service; one who has served in the armed forces." The noun form is inveteracy or inveterateness.
inveterate \in-VET-uhr-it\, adjective: 1. Firmly established by long persistence; deep-rooted; of long standing. 2. Fixed in habit by long persistence; confirmed; habitual.
In Montpelier, where this prison stands, the inveterate prejudice against prisoners has been swept away.
-- Morrison I. Swift, "Humanizing the Prisons", The Atlantic, August 1911
He is an inveterate nibbler, popping nuts and chocolate into his mouth as he talks, leaning forward in his chair to forage in the tins with his right hand.
-- Michael Ignatieff, Isaiah Berlin: A Life
I was an inveterate museum-goer from the age of fourteen, when I'd take the trolley to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts after school and wander the halls of Greek antiquities.
-- Jane Alexander, Command Performance
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inveterate is from the past participle of Latin inveterari, "to grow old, to endure," from in- + vetus, veter-, "old." It is related to veteran, "one who is long experienced in some activity or capacity; an old soldier of long service; one who has served in the armed forces." The noun form is inveteracy or inveterateness.
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 October 30, 2006
febrile \FEB-ruhl; FEE-bruhl; -bryl\, adjective: Of or pertaining to fever; indicating fever or derived from it; feverish.
Instead of being weakened by the consumption she contracts in a dank Yankee prison, Adair seems fired from within; she glows -- flushed, febrile and passionate.
-- Ann Prichard, "Enemy Women' joins ranks of Civil War epics", USA Today, February 28, 2002
Whether his refusal to quit stemmed from righteous stoicism or mulishness, the Governor-General became trapped in a vortex of lurid claims, political opportunism, public hysteria and febrile op-ed commentary that was sucking the life out of his tenure.
-- Tom Dusevic, "Queen's Man In Limbo", Time Pacific, May 19, 2003
Typically, febrile seizures do not cause brain injury or raise the risk of epilepsy; they are simply the brain's response to a sudden rise in temperature.
-- Judy Foreman, "On Fever: Sweat It Out Or Treat It", Boston Globe, February 29, 2000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Febrile comes from Late Latin febrilis, from Latin febris, "fever."
febrile \FEB-ruhl; FEE-bruhl; -bryl\, adjective: Of or pertaining to fever; indicating fever or derived from it; feverish.
Instead of being weakened by the consumption she contracts in a dank Yankee prison, Adair seems fired from within; she glows -- flushed, febrile and passionate.
-- Ann Prichard, "Enemy Women' joins ranks of Civil War epics", USA Today, February 28, 2002
Whether his refusal to quit stemmed from righteous stoicism or mulishness, the Governor-General became trapped in a vortex of lurid claims, political opportunism, public hysteria and febrile op-ed commentary that was sucking the life out of his tenure.
-- Tom Dusevic, "Queen's Man In Limbo", Time Pacific, May 19, 2003
Typically, febrile seizures do not cause brain injury or raise the risk of epilepsy; they are simply the brain's response to a sudden rise in temperature.
-- Judy Foreman, "On Fever: Sweat It Out Or Treat It", Boston Globe, February 29, 2000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Febrile comes from Late Latin febrilis, from Latin febris, "fever."
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 November 1, 2006
prevaricate \prih-VAIR-uh-kayt\, intransitive verb: To depart from or evade the truth; to speak with equivocation.
Journalism has a similar obligation, particularly with men and women suddenly transferred to places of great power, who are often led to exaggerate and prevaricate, all in the name of a supposedly greater good.
-- Stephen R. Graubard, "Presidents: The Power and the Mediocrity", New York Times, January 15, 1989
Larkin never prevaricates. He is unhesitant and blunt in his assessment of his contemporaries.
-- T.J. Ross, "Getting to know Philip Larkin: the life and letters", The Literary Review, January 1, 1995
The leadership's perennial obsession with secrecy led it to prevaricate about the extent of the disease in the capital for five months.
-- Roderick Macfarquhar, "Unhealthy Politics", Newsweek International, May 12, 2003
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prevaricate derives from the past participle of Latin praevaricari, "to pass in front of, or over, by straddling; to walk crookedly; to collude," from prae, "before, in front of" + varicare, "to straddle," from varicus, "straddling," from varus, "bent."
prevaricate \prih-VAIR-uh-kayt\, intransitive verb: To depart from or evade the truth; to speak with equivocation.
Journalism has a similar obligation, particularly with men and women suddenly transferred to places of great power, who are often led to exaggerate and prevaricate, all in the name of a supposedly greater good.
-- Stephen R. Graubard, "Presidents: The Power and the Mediocrity", New York Times, January 15, 1989
Larkin never prevaricates. He is unhesitant and blunt in his assessment of his contemporaries.
-- T.J. Ross, "Getting to know Philip Larkin: the life and letters", The Literary Review, January 1, 1995
The leadership's perennial obsession with secrecy led it to prevaricate about the extent of the disease in the capital for five months.
-- Roderick Macfarquhar, "Unhealthy Politics", Newsweek International, May 12, 2003
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prevaricate derives from the past participle of Latin praevaricari, "to pass in front of, or over, by straddling; to walk crookedly; to collude," from prae, "before, in front of" + varicare, "to straddle," from varicus, "straddling," from varus, "bent."
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 Thursday November 2, 2006
ostracize \OS-truh-syz\, transitive verb: 1. To banish or expel from a community or group; to cast out from social, political, or private favor. 2. [Greek Antiquity] To exile by ostracism; to banish by a popular vote, as at Athens.
As for scientists who might be tempted to pursue the theory, he says, they worry that their colleagues might ostracize them for stepping out of line and that their funding could suffer.
-- Jon Cohen, "The Hunt for the Origin of AIDS", The Atlantic, October 2000
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani called Monday on the members of the United Nations to unite in a global effort to eradicate terrorism and to ostracize countries that refuse to join.
-- Stevenson Swanson, "Giuliani asks global effort on terrorism", Chicago Tribune, October 2, 2001
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ostracize is from Greek ostrakizein, "to banish by voting with potsherds," from ostrakon, "a piece of earthenware, a potsherd." Ostracism was practiced at Athens to get rid of a citizen whose power was considered too great for the liberty of the state. Each voter wrote on a potsherd the name of a person he wished banished. The man named on the most ostraka was exiled, normally for a period of ten years.
ostracize \OS-truh-syz\, transitive verb: 1. To banish or expel from a community or group; to cast out from social, political, or private favor. 2. [Greek Antiquity] To exile by ostracism; to banish by a popular vote, as at Athens.
As for scientists who might be tempted to pursue the theory, he says, they worry that their colleagues might ostracize them for stepping out of line and that their funding could suffer.
-- Jon Cohen, "The Hunt for the Origin of AIDS", The Atlantic, October 2000
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani called Monday on the members of the United Nations to unite in a global effort to eradicate terrorism and to ostracize countries that refuse to join.
-- Stevenson Swanson, "Giuliani asks global effort on terrorism", Chicago Tribune, October 2, 2001
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ostracize is from Greek ostrakizein, "to banish by voting with potsherds," from ostrakon, "a piece of earthenware, a potsherd." Ostracism was practiced at Athens to get rid of a citizen whose power was considered too great for the liberty of the state. Each voter wrote on a potsherd the name of a person he wished banished. The man named on the most ostraka was exiled, normally for a period of ten years.
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
Genre: News Conference
REPORTER1: There’s been some rumors about some past linguistic indescretions that might endanger your appeal to the Grammatical Party. Can you comment ?
BRAD: I hereby announce, openly, and without any prevarication whatsoever, that I am an invenerate punster with an inveterate taste for invertebrates. I make no apologies for it, and if that offends certain people’s dietary sensibilities, and the linguistic sensibilities of my English speaking colleagues on the other side of the grammatical aisle ... well then tough noogies.
{collective gasps and febrile note-scratching ensues}
REPORTER4: Are you mad ? That quote alone may have just ended your linguistic career !
{Brad removes shoe, and begins banging it on the podium}
BRAD: SILENCE !!!
BRAD: Don’t even THINK about trying to ostracize me for my predilection to punning. I don’t give a rat’s a** about building rapport with the &*@# Grammatical Party ! I have a message for them: “We will raspBURY you !!!â€
REPORTER1: There’s been some rumors about some past linguistic indescretions that might endanger your appeal to the Grammatical Party. Can you comment ?
BRAD: I hereby announce, openly, and without any prevarication whatsoever, that I am an invenerate punster with an inveterate taste for invertebrates. I make no apologies for it, and if that offends certain people’s dietary sensibilities, and the linguistic sensibilities of my English speaking colleagues on the other side of the grammatical aisle ... well then tough noogies.
{collective gasps and febrile note-scratching ensues}
REPORTER4: Are you mad ? That quote alone may have just ended your linguistic career !
{Brad removes shoe, and begins banging it on the podium}
BRAD: SILENCE !!!
BRAD: Don’t even THINK about trying to ostracize me for my predilection to punning. I don’t give a rat’s a** about building rapport with the &*@# Grammatical Party ! I have a message for them: “We will raspBURY you !!!â€
Last edited by Darb on Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
And did it really occur? Some say the photo has been slightly modified; maybe in an effort to ostracize the Soviet Union from "the company of people and nations who behave in a civil manner and with whom you can strike bargains and deals, the kind that does not prevaricate at every opportunity"
(On the other hand, the soviets did a marvellous job by themselves at that banishment)
KEE
(On the other hand, the soviets did a marvellous job by themselves at that banishment)
KEE
Last edited by KeE on Fri Nov 03, 2006 2:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It is written.
Word of the Day Friday November 3, 2006
fillip \FIL-uhp\, noun: 1. A snap of the finger forced suddenly from the thumb; a smart blow. 2. Something serving to rouse or excite; a stimulus. 3. A trivial addition; an embellishment.
transitive verb: 1. To strike with the nail of the finger, first placed against the ball of the thumb, and forced from that position with a sudden spring; to snap with the finger. 2. To snap; to project quickly. 3. To urge on; to provide a stimulus, by or as if by a fillip.
If any one in Mirgorod gives him a neckerchief or underclothes, he returns thanks; if any one gives him a fillip on the nose--he returns thanks then also.
-- Nikolai Gogol, "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarrelled with Ivan Nikiforovich"
You may take your coffee of a morning in the little garden in which he wrote finis to his immortal work -- and if the coffee is good enough to administer a fillip to your fancy, perhaps you may yet hear the faint reverberation among the trees of the long, long breath with which he must have laid down his pen.
-- Henry James, Collected Travel Writings
Her raspberry cream tart is given an added fillip with bourbon and nutmeg.
-- Marian Burros, "Cooking", New York Times, June 3, 1984
The utopian and romantic -- and in the end completely unrealistic -- idea that the building should serve as a mooring post for airships led to the creation of a tower on the tower, giving a final fillip to the design.
-- Nathan Glazer, "Miracle on 34th Street", New York Times, December 3, 1995
You fillip me o' the head.
-- Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fillip is probably of imitative origin.
fillip \FIL-uhp\, noun: 1. A snap of the finger forced suddenly from the thumb; a smart blow. 2. Something serving to rouse or excite; a stimulus. 3. A trivial addition; an embellishment.
transitive verb: 1. To strike with the nail of the finger, first placed against the ball of the thumb, and forced from that position with a sudden spring; to snap with the finger. 2. To snap; to project quickly. 3. To urge on; to provide a stimulus, by or as if by a fillip.
If any one in Mirgorod gives him a neckerchief or underclothes, he returns thanks; if any one gives him a fillip on the nose--he returns thanks then also.
-- Nikolai Gogol, "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarrelled with Ivan Nikiforovich"
You may take your coffee of a morning in the little garden in which he wrote finis to his immortal work -- and if the coffee is good enough to administer a fillip to your fancy, perhaps you may yet hear the faint reverberation among the trees of the long, long breath with which he must have laid down his pen.
-- Henry James, Collected Travel Writings
Her raspberry cream tart is given an added fillip with bourbon and nutmeg.
-- Marian Burros, "Cooking", New York Times, June 3, 1984
The utopian and romantic -- and in the end completely unrealistic -- idea that the building should serve as a mooring post for airships led to the creation of a tower on the tower, giving a final fillip to the design.
-- Nathan Glazer, "Miracle on 34th Street", New York Times, December 3, 1995
You fillip me o' the head.
-- Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fillip is probably of imitative origin.
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 November 6, 2006
copse \KOPS\, noun: A thicket or grove of small trees.
A lit window shone from between the trees below them, then vanished again as the car dipped over a ditch and passed through a copse.
-- Kate Bingham, Mummy's Legs
Among the mountains, hills, streams, waterfalls, and little copses, the child rejoiced in "savouring the delights of freedom" that stimulated his boyish dreams and reveries.
-- Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins, Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet
They sang freely in the copses and thickets round Bohain, and in the ruins of the mediaeval castle where he played as a boy.
-- Hilary Spurling, The Unknown Matisse
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copse derives from Old French copeiz, "a thicket for cutting," from coper, couper, "to cut." It is related to coupon, at root "the part that is cut off."
copse \KOPS\, noun: A thicket or grove of small trees.
A lit window shone from between the trees below them, then vanished again as the car dipped over a ditch and passed through a copse.
-- Kate Bingham, Mummy's Legs
Among the mountains, hills, streams, waterfalls, and little copses, the child rejoiced in "savouring the delights of freedom" that stimulated his boyish dreams and reveries.
-- Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins, Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet
They sang freely in the copses and thickets round Bohain, and in the ruins of the mediaeval castle where he played as a boy.
-- Hilary Spurling, The Unknown Matisse
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copse derives from Old French copeiz, "a thicket for cutting," from coper, couper, "to cut." It is related to coupon, at root "the part that is cut off."
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
GENRE: Call of Cuthulu
Arthur: "Quick, Mildred - let's hide these corpses in those copses before the cops seize us !"
Mildred: "Honest to God, Arthur ... all this animal rights activist nonsense over a bunch of damn squid. If I didn't know for a fact that you were a spineless cretin who'd sell me out in a heartbeat, I'd turn you over to those damn invertebrate huggers."
Arthur: "Ja Ja Cuthulu ... Ia Shubniggaruth, the goat of the woods with a thousand young !"
Mildred: "You've been babbling that since nightfall, Arthur. Stop it. You're scaring me."
Arthur: "Quick, Mildred - let's hide these corpses in those copses before the cops seize us !"
Mildred: "Honest to God, Arthur ... all this animal rights activist nonsense over a bunch of damn squid. If I didn't know for a fact that you were a spineless cretin who'd sell me out in a heartbeat, I'd turn you over to those damn invertebrate huggers."
Arthur: "Ja Ja Cuthulu ... Ia Shubniggaruth, the goat of the woods with a thousand young !"
Mildred: "You've been babbling that since nightfall, Arthur. Stop it. You're scaring me."
Word of the Day Tuesday November 7, 2006
obfuscate \OB-fuh-skayt\, transitive verb: 1. To darken or render indistinct or dim. 2. To make obscure or difficult to understand or make sense of. 3. To confuse or bewilder.
Yet little has been written of him (he obfuscated details of his life in interviews), and his art is little recalled.
-- Gary Giddins, Visions of Jazz
One of Jack Gance's better choices is when he decides not to obfuscate his past in order to protect his success.
-- Judith Martin, "No One Stays Clean in Washington.", New York Times, January 1, 1989
It's to be expected that teams' publicity departments do a little spin-doctoring and enhance their players' performances by using numbers that appear to be impressive, so it's up to the commentators to determine if those stats have validity or are meant to obfuscate poor performances.
-- Tim McCarver with Danny Peary, Tim Mccarver's Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans
It will . . . obfuscate and mislead the public.
-- Rod Liddle, "Labour's attack on Gilligan is just nit-picking", The Guardian, August 13, 2003
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obfuscate comes from Late Latin obfuscatus, past participle of obfuscare, "to darken," from Latin ob- + fuscare, "to darken," from fuscus, "dark." The noun form is obfuscation.
obfuscate \OB-fuh-skayt\, transitive verb: 1. To darken or render indistinct or dim. 2. To make obscure or difficult to understand or make sense of. 3. To confuse or bewilder.
Yet little has been written of him (he obfuscated details of his life in interviews), and his art is little recalled.
-- Gary Giddins, Visions of Jazz
One of Jack Gance's better choices is when he decides not to obfuscate his past in order to protect his success.
-- Judith Martin, "No One Stays Clean in Washington.", New York Times, January 1, 1989
It's to be expected that teams' publicity departments do a little spin-doctoring and enhance their players' performances by using numbers that appear to be impressive, so it's up to the commentators to determine if those stats have validity or are meant to obfuscate poor performances.
-- Tim McCarver with Danny Peary, Tim Mccarver's Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans
It will . . . obfuscate and mislead the public.
-- Rod Liddle, "Labour's attack on Gilligan is just nit-picking", The Guardian, August 13, 2003
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obfuscate comes from Late Latin obfuscatus, past participle of obfuscare, "to darken," from Latin ob- + fuscare, "to darken," from fuscus, "dark." The noun form is obfuscation.
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
Genre: Call of Cuthulu Satire
{police have the elderly couple surrounded, near a small altar of black basalt}
Cop1: "Ok, hands on the altar, feet apart ... hurry it up."
Arthur: "No no no ... you can't confiscate my squid. I'm a high priest of Cuthulu, and I have a constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion. If you arrest me, I'll sue your asses so hard you'll be walking bow-legged for a month !"
Cop2: "Please don't make me mace you, Sir."
Mildred: "Oh, Aurthur, listen to the young man. We'll be treated fine."
Arthur: "No, Mildred. I've *HEARD* the stories of what these supposedly 'sane' people do to us Cuthulians ... the padded rooms, the electroshock therapy, the frontal lobotomies, the squidless atkins diet, the convenient disappearances. Freedom of religion in this country is a sham. They're going to kill us, Mildred - believe that !"
Cop1: {radio} "The perpetrator is resisting arrest, and attempting to obfuscate with a pontificating soliloquy."
Dispatch: {radio} "Apprehend immediately. Backup is on the way."
Authur: "I tried to tell you, Mildred - mixed marriages like this just don't work. Your jewish relatives understood my problems with government persecution and my status as a religious outcast, but they never accepted my reverence for Cuthulu, Azathoth, Shubniggaruth, and Nyrlathotep. We were doomed from the start, my love."
Cop3: {sprays mace}
Arthur: "AIIIEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!"
{police have the elderly couple surrounded, near a small altar of black basalt}
Cop1: "Ok, hands on the altar, feet apart ... hurry it up."
Arthur: "No no no ... you can't confiscate my squid. I'm a high priest of Cuthulu, and I have a constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion. If you arrest me, I'll sue your asses so hard you'll be walking bow-legged for a month !"
Cop2: "Please don't make me mace you, Sir."
Mildred: "Oh, Aurthur, listen to the young man. We'll be treated fine."
Arthur: "No, Mildred. I've *HEARD* the stories of what these supposedly 'sane' people do to us Cuthulians ... the padded rooms, the electroshock therapy, the frontal lobotomies, the squidless atkins diet, the convenient disappearances. Freedom of religion in this country is a sham. They're going to kill us, Mildred - believe that !"
Cop1: {radio} "The perpetrator is resisting arrest, and attempting to obfuscate with a pontificating soliloquy."
Dispatch: {radio} "Apprehend immediately. Backup is on the way."
Authur: "I tried to tell you, Mildred - mixed marriages like this just don't work. Your jewish relatives understood my problems with government persecution and my status as a religious outcast, but they never accepted my reverence for Cuthulu, Azathoth, Shubniggaruth, and Nyrlathotep. We were doomed from the start, my love."
Cop3: {sprays mace}
Arthur: "AIIIEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!"
Word of the Day Wednesday November 8, 2006
agrestic \uh-GRES-tik\, adjective: Pertaining to fields or the country; rural; rustic.
The funniest and most agrestic of all his paintings were, undoubtedly, the cows.
-- Robert Hughes, "An Outlaw Who Loved Laws", Time, July 26, 1993
Grass plants possess an agrestic simplicity that probably connects them, at some level of mind, with wholesome grain and the restorative country life.
-- George Schen, The Complete Shade Gardener
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agrestic is from agrestis, from ager, "field." It is related to agriculture
agrestic \uh-GRES-tik\, adjective: Pertaining to fields or the country; rural; rustic.
The funniest and most agrestic of all his paintings were, undoubtedly, the cows.
-- Robert Hughes, "An Outlaw Who Loved Laws", Time, July 26, 1993
Grass plants possess an agrestic simplicity that probably connects them, at some level of mind, with wholesome grain and the restorative country life.
-- George Schen, The Complete Shade Gardener
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agrestic is from agrestis, from ager, "field." It is related to agriculture
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
GENRE: Mary Shelley meets Mickey Spillane
FRANKENSTEIN: Listen, maybe you're just going about this the wrong way. Have you thought about a more pleasing dwelling? These glaciers aren't exactly the greatest Switzerland has to offer. There's lush valleys, picturesque copses, rolling fields...
MONSTER: (snorting) Ostracism, superstitious farmers, screaming women, wailing infants, agrestic aggression - come on, Vic! Get a load of this mug! Ain't gonna make the cover of Juicy Geneveses anytime soon! (cracks knuckles ominously) No - you just trot your narcissistic ass back into the cemetery and dig up some parts for my lady friend! And I want her limbs really curvy!
FRANKENSTEIN: It isn't that simple! Mismatched joints are unavoidable! And even if you're pleased with her physical appearance, emotional rapport cannot be guaranteed!
MONSTER: Don't prevaricate with me, Vicky boy. I'm ugly, not stupid. I have complete confidence in your inveterate powers of invention. (laughs derisively)
FRANKENSTEIN: But...
MONSTER: Or, if you would prefer a stronger fillip of inspiration, perhaps I'll pay a social visit to that dizzy Lizzy of yours? Tell me - is sie kleinen Frau still feelin' a little febrile?
FRANKENSTEIN: (aghast) You wouldn't dare! Besides, she's nowhere near Geneva right now!
MONSTER: (holds up small notebook) You neglected to obfuscate her current location in your little whiny journal here. I read it last night when you were still out cold. Quite a blue collar retreat for a woman of her stature, don't you think? But then, you were rushed...
FRANKENSTEIN: (leaps up, lunges at MONSTER) Gaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!
FRANKENSTEIN: Listen, maybe you're just going about this the wrong way. Have you thought about a more pleasing dwelling? These glaciers aren't exactly the greatest Switzerland has to offer. There's lush valleys, picturesque copses, rolling fields...
MONSTER: (snorting) Ostracism, superstitious farmers, screaming women, wailing infants, agrestic aggression - come on, Vic! Get a load of this mug! Ain't gonna make the cover of Juicy Geneveses anytime soon! (cracks knuckles ominously) No - you just trot your narcissistic ass back into the cemetery and dig up some parts for my lady friend! And I want her limbs really curvy!
FRANKENSTEIN: It isn't that simple! Mismatched joints are unavoidable! And even if you're pleased with her physical appearance, emotional rapport cannot be guaranteed!
MONSTER: Don't prevaricate with me, Vicky boy. I'm ugly, not stupid. I have complete confidence in your inveterate powers of invention. (laughs derisively)
FRANKENSTEIN: But...
MONSTER: Or, if you would prefer a stronger fillip of inspiration, perhaps I'll pay a social visit to that dizzy Lizzy of yours? Tell me - is sie kleinen Frau still feelin' a little febrile?
FRANKENSTEIN: (aghast) You wouldn't dare! Besides, she's nowhere near Geneva right now!
MONSTER: (holds up small notebook) You neglected to obfuscate her current location in your little whiny journal here. I read it last night when you were still out cold. Quite a blue collar retreat for a woman of her stature, don't you think? But then, you were rushed...
FRANKENSTEIN: (leaps up, lunges at MONSTER) Gaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously
tollbaby wrote:I think Brad should be grounded until he learns to spell "Cthulhu"
Spoiler: show
Word of the Day Thursday November 9, 2006
congeries \KON-juh-reez\, noun: A collection; an aggregation.
As the great French historian Fernand Braudel pointed out in his last major work, The Identity of France (1986), it was the railroad that made France into one nation and one culture. It had previously been a congeries of self-contained regions, held together only politically.
-- Peter F. Drucker, "Beyond the Information Revolution", Atlantic Monthly, October 1999
William Rothenstein described the Academie as a "congeries of studios crowded with students, the walls thick with palette scrapings, hot, airless and extremely noisy."
-- Jeffrey Meyers, Bogart: A Life in Hollywood
More important, he doesn't tell us that the Kennedy Administration was a very uneasy congeries of vastly differing types of Democrats with conflicting foreign-policy agendas.
-- James C. Thomson Jr., "Whose Side Were They On?" review of Friends and Enemies: The United States, China, and the Soviet Union, 1948-1972, by Gordon H. Chang, New York Times, July 29, 1990
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Congeries is from Latin congeries, "a heap, a mass," from congerere, "to carry together, to bring together, to collect," from com-, "with, together" + gerere, "to carry." It is related to congest, "to overfill or overcrowd," which derives from the past participle of congerere.
congeries \KON-juh-reez\, noun: A collection; an aggregation.
As the great French historian Fernand Braudel pointed out in his last major work, The Identity of France (1986), it was the railroad that made France into one nation and one culture. It had previously been a congeries of self-contained regions, held together only politically.
-- Peter F. Drucker, "Beyond the Information Revolution", Atlantic Monthly, October 1999
William Rothenstein described the Academie as a "congeries of studios crowded with students, the walls thick with palette scrapings, hot, airless and extremely noisy."
-- Jeffrey Meyers, Bogart: A Life in Hollywood
More important, he doesn't tell us that the Kennedy Administration was a very uneasy congeries of vastly differing types of Democrats with conflicting foreign-policy agendas.
-- James C. Thomson Jr., "Whose Side Were They On?" review of Friends and Enemies: The United States, China, and the Soviet Union, 1948-1972, by Gordon H. Chang, New York Times, July 29, 1990
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congeries is from Latin congeries, "a heap, a mass," from congerere, "to carry together, to bring together, to collect," from com-, "with, together" + gerere, "to carry." It is related to congest, "to overfill or overcrowd," which derives from the past participle of congerere.
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