Word of the Day for Tuesday January 24, 2006
predilection \preh-d'l-EK-shuhn; pree-\, noun: A predisposition to choose or like; an established preference.
Wilson doesn't see any inconsistency between his socialism and his predilection for the high life.
--Marina Cantacuzino, "On deadly ground," The Guardian, March 13, 2001
. . . youth's predilection for revolt.
--Terry McCarthy, "Lost Generation," Time Asia, October 23, 2000
But for him the first rule of judging was to set aside personal predilection and vote the law and the facts.
--Edwin M. Yoder Jr., "Lewis Powell a Fine Sense of Balance," Washington Post, June 29, 1987
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Predilection is literally "a liking before," from Latin prae-, "before" + diligere, "to choose; hence to prefer, to like very well."
GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)
Word of the Day for Friday January 27, 2006
wunderkind \VOON-duhr-kint\, noun; plural wunderkinder \-kin-duhr\:
1. A child prodigy. 2. One who achieves great success or acclaim at an early age.
It was even written that, at 20, his best days were behind him. He had gone from a wunderkind to an object of sympathy, a hero struggling not to be forgotten.
--"Owen shines like a beacon amid the wrecks," Times (London), May 29, 2000
In the mid-thirties, he became the youngest and best state director of FDR's National Youth Administration, a Texas wunderkind who at age twenty-eight beat several better known opponents for a south-central Texas congressional seat.
--Robert Dallek, Flawed Giant
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Wunderkind comes from German, from Wunder, "wonder" +Kind, "child."
wunderkind \VOON-duhr-kint\, noun; plural wunderkinder \-kin-duhr\:
1. A child prodigy. 2. One who achieves great success or acclaim at an early age.
It was even written that, at 20, his best days were behind him. He had gone from a wunderkind to an object of sympathy, a hero struggling not to be forgotten.
--"Owen shines like a beacon amid the wrecks," Times (London), May 29, 2000
In the mid-thirties, he became the youngest and best state director of FDR's National Youth Administration, a Texas wunderkind who at age twenty-eight beat several better known opponents for a south-central Texas congressional seat.
--Robert Dallek, Flawed Giant
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Wunderkind comes from German, from Wunder, "wonder" +Kind, "child."
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 for Monday January 30, 2006
sang-froid, also sangfroid \sang-FRWAH\, noun: Freedom from agitation or excitement of mind; coolness in trying circumstances; calmness.
The Treasury Secretary's sang-froid in moments of crisis.
--"Keeping the Boom From Busting," New York Times, July 19, 1998
Both men were mightily impressed by the calmness of the Americans on board, particularly among the women. "I had, during my sojourn in America," Beaumont said later, "a thousand occasions to see the sang-froid of the American."
--Michael Kammen, "Wrecked on the Fourth of July," New York Times, July 6, 1997
Gaviria knew Alberto as an impulsive but cordial man capable of maintaining his sangfroid under the most stressful circumstances.
--Gabriel Garcia Marquez, News of a Kidnapping
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Sang-froid is from the French; it literally means "cold blood" (sang, "blood" + froid, "cold").
sang-froid, also sangfroid \sang-FRWAH\, noun: Freedom from agitation or excitement of mind; coolness in trying circumstances; calmness.
The Treasury Secretary's sang-froid in moments of crisis.
--"Keeping the Boom From Busting," New York Times, July 19, 1998
Both men were mightily impressed by the calmness of the Americans on board, particularly among the women. "I had, during my sojourn in America," Beaumont said later, "a thousand occasions to see the sang-froid of the American."
--Michael Kammen, "Wrecked on the Fourth of July," New York Times, July 6, 1997
Gaviria knew Alberto as an impulsive but cordial man capable of maintaining his sangfroid under the most stressful circumstances.
--Gabriel Garcia Marquez, News of a Kidnapping
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Sang-froid is from the French; it literally means "cold blood" (sang, "blood" + froid, "cold").
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 for Tuesday January 31, 2006
consanguineous \kon-san(g)-GWIN-ee-us\, adjective: Of the same blood; related by birth; descended from the same parent or ancestor.
These Neolithic people practiced agriculture in a settled communal life and are widely supposed to have had consanguineous clans as their basic social grouping.
--Bruce Cumings, Korea's Place in the Sun
Am not I consanguineous? am I not of her blood?
--William Shakespeare, Twelfth-Night
Among other preliminary activities, the prospective groom's party formally inquires as to the girl's clan-name; this is a ritualization of the taboo on consanguineous marriage.
--Mark Laurent Asselin, "The Lu-school reading of 'Guanju' as preserved in an eastern Han fu," Journal of the American Oriental Society, July 1, 1997
Nowhere, not even in Holland, where the correspondence between the real aspects and the little polished canvases is so constant and so exquisite, do art and life seem so interfused and, as it were, so consanguineous.
--"Noted with Pleasure," New York Times, October 6, 1991
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Consanguineous is from Latin consanguineus, from com-, con-, "with, together" + sanguineus, from sanguis, sanguin-, "blood." The noun form is consanguinity, "relationship by blood, or close relation or connection."
consanguineous \kon-san(g)-GWIN-ee-us\, adjective: Of the same blood; related by birth; descended from the same parent or ancestor.
These Neolithic people practiced agriculture in a settled communal life and are widely supposed to have had consanguineous clans as their basic social grouping.
--Bruce Cumings, Korea's Place in the Sun
Am not I consanguineous? am I not of her blood?
--William Shakespeare, Twelfth-Night
Among other preliminary activities, the prospective groom's party formally inquires as to the girl's clan-name; this is a ritualization of the taboo on consanguineous marriage.
--Mark Laurent Asselin, "The Lu-school reading of 'Guanju' as preserved in an eastern Han fu," Journal of the American Oriental Society, July 1, 1997
Nowhere, not even in Holland, where the correspondence between the real aspects and the little polished canvases is so constant and so exquisite, do art and life seem so interfused and, as it were, so consanguineous.
--"Noted with Pleasure," New York Times, October 6, 1991
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Consanguineous is from Latin consanguineus, from com-, con-, "with, together" + sanguineus, from sanguis, sanguin-, "blood." The noun form is consanguinity, "relationship by blood, or close relation or connection."
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
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laurie
- Spelling Mistress
- Posts: 8164
- Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2004 2:52 am
- Location: The part of New York where "flurries" means 2 feet of snow to shovel
Ooh, me too, me too !Brad wrote:As long as everyone's feeling sanguine, can I have a carafe of sangria .... ?
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." -- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
"So where the hell is he?" -- Laurie
"So where the hell is he?" -- Laurie
Ahem ... "deep-friod" was a deliberate homonym-pun transposition on "deep-fried" & "sang-froid". I thought my overt use of italics was fairly clear. Perhaps our recent stint of being stuck incommunicado, and your late return to this thread, caused you to miss the verbal gag, higher up in this thread ? 
/~ Reminder - all posts, including snarky side-remarks, must include at least one obligatory WOTD reference. ~/
/~ Reminder - all posts, including snarky side-remarks, must include at least one obligatory WOTD reference. ~/
Word of the Day for Wednesday February 1, 2006
malleable \MAL-ee-uh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer, or by the pressure of rollers; -- applied to metals. 2. Capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces; easily influenced. 3. Capable of adjusting to changing circumstances; adaptable.
His image for his own imagination is the acid, the catalyst, that is mixed in to make the gold malleable, and is then wiped away.
-- "Nothing is too wonderful to be true," Times (London), June 7, 2000
The natives proved less malleable and far less innocent than the Europeans imagined, so much so that early colonial history is filled with countless stories of monks who met hideous deaths at the hands of their flocks.
-- Juan Gonzalez, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America
I think his request was just a vainglorious way of expressing the basic belief of behaviorism: that children are malleable and that it is their environment, not innate qualities such as talent or temperament, that determines their destiny.
-- Judith Rich Harris, The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do
Many current thinkers wish to abandon the idea of a continuous self; novelists have always known that selves are fleeting, malleable, porous.
-- Mary Gordon, "The Fascination Begins in the Mouth," New York Times, June 13, 1993
Those workers aged over 50 were considered too set in their ways, too expensive to keep on and not malleable enough.
-- Jill Sherman Whitehall, "Benefit costs force rethink on retirement," Times (London), April 25, 2000
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Malleable comes from Medieval Latin malleabilis, from malleare, "to hammer," from Latin malleus, "hammer."
malleable \MAL-ee-uh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer, or by the pressure of rollers; -- applied to metals. 2. Capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces; easily influenced. 3. Capable of adjusting to changing circumstances; adaptable.
His image for his own imagination is the acid, the catalyst, that is mixed in to make the gold malleable, and is then wiped away.
-- "Nothing is too wonderful to be true," Times (London), June 7, 2000
The natives proved less malleable and far less innocent than the Europeans imagined, so much so that early colonial history is filled with countless stories of monks who met hideous deaths at the hands of their flocks.
-- Juan Gonzalez, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America
I think his request was just a vainglorious way of expressing the basic belief of behaviorism: that children are malleable and that it is their environment, not innate qualities such as talent or temperament, that determines their destiny.
-- Judith Rich Harris, The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do
Many current thinkers wish to abandon the idea of a continuous self; novelists have always known that selves are fleeting, malleable, porous.
-- Mary Gordon, "The Fascination Begins in the Mouth," New York Times, June 13, 1993
Those workers aged over 50 were considered too set in their ways, too expensive to keep on and not malleable enough.
-- Jill Sherman Whitehall, "Benefit costs force rethink on retirement," Times (London), April 25, 2000
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Malleable comes from Medieval Latin malleabilis, from malleare, "to hammer," from Latin malleus, "hammer."
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 for Thursday February 2, 2006
parlous \PAR-luhs\, adjective: Attended with peril; fraught with danger; hazardous.
It was a parlous time on the Continent, when Communists and fascists vied brutally for supremacy.
-- Howard Simons, "Shots Seen Round the World," New York Times, September 22, 1985
The Crisis left Indonesia's state finances in such a parlous state that the government is now heavily exposed to future risks.
-- Penny Crisp and Jose Manuel Tesoro, "The Buck Stops Here," Asiaweek, July 7, 2000
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Parlous derives from Old French perillous, perilleus, from Latin periculosus, adjective form of periculum, "peril, danger, hazard."
parlous \PAR-luhs\, adjective: Attended with peril; fraught with danger; hazardous.
It was a parlous time on the Continent, when Communists and fascists vied brutally for supremacy.
-- Howard Simons, "Shots Seen Round the World," New York Times, September 22, 1985
The Crisis left Indonesia's state finances in such a parlous state that the government is now heavily exposed to future risks.
-- Penny Crisp and Jose Manuel Tesoro, "The Buck Stops Here," Asiaweek, July 7, 2000
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Parlous derives from Old French perillous, perilleus, from Latin periculosus, adjective form of periculum, "peril, danger, hazard."
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
The atmosphere in the WOTD thread was tense and parlous whenever The Spelling Mistress was lurking about ... especially near the end of the month, when she was typically lagging far behind on her mandatory whamming-quota.
Mindful of her presence, nervous amateur linguists, like zebra wary of a lion who hasn't eaten recently, adopted a posture of inguistic malleability ... to help minimize the dreadful damage, if her mallet were to suddenly strike from hiding.
Mindful of her presence, nervous amateur linguists, like zebra wary of a lion who hasn't eaten recently, adopted a posture of inguistic malleability ... to help minimize the dreadful damage, if her mallet were to suddenly strike from hiding.
-
laurie
- Spelling Mistress
- Posts: 8164
- Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2004 2:52 am
- Location: The part of New York where "flurries" means 2 feet of snow to shovel
BWAHAHAHAHA !!!Brad wrote:Mindful of her presence, nervous amateur linguists, like zebra wary of a lion who hasn't eaten recently, adopted a posture of inguistic malleability ... to help minimize the dreadful damage, if her mallet were to suddenly strike from hiding.
Brad
A good start on February's quota.......
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." -- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
"So where the hell is he?" -- Laurie
"So where the hell is he?" -- Laurie
Word of the Day for Friday February 3, 2006
disparate \DIS-puh-rit; dis-PAIR-it\, adjective: 1. Fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind. 2. Composed of or including markedly dissimilar elements.
Science at its best isolates a common element underlying many seemingly disparate phenomena.
-- John Horgan, The Undiscovered Mind
A Region Not Home," though it encompasses topics as seemingly disparate as Shakespeare, football, suicide, racism and Disneyland, actually has considerable thematic coherence.
-- Phillip Lopate, "Dreaming of Elsewhere," New York Times, February 27, 2000
When a poet's mind is perfectly equipped for its work, it is constantly amalgamating disparate experience; the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary.
-- T.S. Eliot, "The Metaphysical Poets"
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Disparate comes from the past participle of Latin disparare, "to separate," from dis-, "apart" + parare, "to prepare."
disparate \DIS-puh-rit; dis-PAIR-it\, adjective: 1. Fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind. 2. Composed of or including markedly dissimilar elements.
Science at its best isolates a common element underlying many seemingly disparate phenomena.
-- John Horgan, The Undiscovered Mind
A Region Not Home," though it encompasses topics as seemingly disparate as Shakespeare, football, suicide, racism and Disneyland, actually has considerable thematic coherence.
-- Phillip Lopate, "Dreaming of Elsewhere," New York Times, February 27, 2000
When a poet's mind is perfectly equipped for its work, it is constantly amalgamating disparate experience; the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary.
-- T.S. Eliot, "The Metaphysical Poets"
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Disparate comes from the past participle of Latin disparare, "to separate," from dis-, "apart" + parare, "to prepare."
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 for Monday February 6, 2006
excoriate \ek-SKOR-ee-ayt\, transitive verb: 1. To express strong disapproval of; to denounce. 2. To tear or wear off the skin of.
In his speech to Congress of May 16th -- a speech that France found very insulting -- the President's "rage almost choked his utterance," as he excoriated the French for rejecting his ambassador, urged defensive measures against French dangers from abroad, and warned about French dangers at home.
-- Richard N. Rosenfeld, American Aurora
He constantly excoriated himself for not living up to his own ideals -- for not working hard enough, loving well enough, or having motives that were pure enough.
-- Stephen O'Connor, Orphan Trains
For many months, he had excoriated historians who had "bullied their way into power positions in academia" in order to indoctrinate students with the message that "our country is inherently evil."
-- Gary B. Nash, History on Trial
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Excoriate comes from Late Latin excoriatus, past participle of excoriare, "to take the skin or hide off, to flay (literally or figuratively)," from Latin ex-, "off" + corium, "skin, hide."
excoriate \ek-SKOR-ee-ayt\, transitive verb: 1. To express strong disapproval of; to denounce. 2. To tear or wear off the skin of.
In his speech to Congress of May 16th -- a speech that France found very insulting -- the President's "rage almost choked his utterance," as he excoriated the French for rejecting his ambassador, urged defensive measures against French dangers from abroad, and warned about French dangers at home.
-- Richard N. Rosenfeld, American Aurora
He constantly excoriated himself for not living up to his own ideals -- for not working hard enough, loving well enough, or having motives that were pure enough.
-- Stephen O'Connor, Orphan Trains
For many months, he had excoriated historians who had "bullied their way into power positions in academia" in order to indoctrinate students with the message that "our country is inherently evil."
-- Gary B. Nash, History on Trial
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excoriate comes from Late Latin excoriatus, past participle of excoriare, "to take the skin or hide off, to flay (literally or figuratively)," from Latin ex-, "off" + corium, "skin, hide."
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 for Tuesday February 7, 2006
tendentious \ten-DEN-shuhs\, adjective: Marked by a strong tendency in favor of a particular point of view.
Most writing about Wagner has been like political pamphleteering--tendentious, one-sided and full of revisionist zeal.
-- Erich Leinsdorf, "The Cruel Face of Genius," New York Times, May 15, 1988
Since I believe all novels are political, I certainly believe that it is possible for a novelist to admix deliberate political purpose and aesthetics, although there is certainly the danger, in the process, of making art that is tendentious . . . and therefore not terribly artistically interesting.
-- Rick Moody, "quoted in Politics and the Novel: A Symposium," Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2000
All types of social disagreements seem to be routed almost inexorably into the tendentious jargon and intellectually impoverished categories of legal reasoning, until everyone from Alan Dershowitz to the guy fixing your radiator insists on giving you his opinion about fundamental rights, or presumptions of innocence, or probable cause, or--God help us--"what the Constitution requires."
-- Paul F. Campos, Jurismania: The Madness of American Law
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Tendentious comes from Medieval Latin tendentia, from Latin tendens, tendent-, present participle of tendere, "to stretch, to direct one's course to, to be inclined." It is related to tendency.
tendentious \ten-DEN-shuhs\, adjective: Marked by a strong tendency in favor of a particular point of view.
Most writing about Wagner has been like political pamphleteering--tendentious, one-sided and full of revisionist zeal.
-- Erich Leinsdorf, "The Cruel Face of Genius," New York Times, May 15, 1988
Since I believe all novels are political, I certainly believe that it is possible for a novelist to admix deliberate political purpose and aesthetics, although there is certainly the danger, in the process, of making art that is tendentious . . . and therefore not terribly artistically interesting.
-- Rick Moody, "quoted in Politics and the Novel: A Symposium," Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2000
All types of social disagreements seem to be routed almost inexorably into the tendentious jargon and intellectually impoverished categories of legal reasoning, until everyone from Alan Dershowitz to the guy fixing your radiator insists on giving you his opinion about fundamental rights, or presumptions of innocence, or probable cause, or--God help us--"what the Constitution requires."
-- Paul F. Campos, Jurismania: The Madness of American Law
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tendentious comes from Medieval Latin tendentia, from Latin tendens, tendent-, present participle of tendere, "to stretch, to direct one's course to, to be inclined." It is related to tendency.
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 for Wednesday February 8, 2006
milieu \meel-YUH; meel-YOO\, noun; plural milieus or milieux:
Environment; setting.
These were agricultural areas, populated with prosperous farming families and rural artisans -- a completely different milieu from the Monferrands', which was more closed, more cultured, but less affluent.
-- Antoine de Baecque and Serge Toubiana, Truffaut
Half a century later, ZacarÃas still remembers . . . how they all played together without distinctions or hierarchy, and how easily Ernesto related to people from different social and cultural milieux.
-- Jorge G. Castaneda, Compañero
They write about their milieux, about where they live and work, and it can be fabulous.
-- Leslie Schenk, "Celebrating Mavis Gallant," World Literature Today, Winter 1998
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Milieu is from French, from Old French, from mi, "middle" (from Latin medius) + lieu, "place" (from Latin locus).
milieu \meel-YUH; meel-YOO\, noun; plural milieus or milieux:
Environment; setting.
These were agricultural areas, populated with prosperous farming families and rural artisans -- a completely different milieu from the Monferrands', which was more closed, more cultured, but less affluent.
-- Antoine de Baecque and Serge Toubiana, Truffaut
Half a century later, ZacarÃas still remembers . . . how they all played together without distinctions or hierarchy, and how easily Ernesto related to people from different social and cultural milieux.
-- Jorge G. Castaneda, Compañero
They write about their milieux, about where they live and work, and it can be fabulous.
-- Leslie Schenk, "Celebrating Mavis Gallant," World Literature Today, Winter 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milieu is from French, from Old French, from mi, "middle" (from Latin medius) + lieu, "place" (from Latin locus).
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 for Thursday February 9, 2006
deus ex machina \DAY-uhs-eks-MAH-kuh-nuh; -nah; -MAK-uh-nuh\, noun: 1. In ancient Greek and Roman drama, a god introduced by means of a crane to unravel and resolve the plot. 2. Any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an apparently insoluble difficulty.
In times of affluence and peace, with technology that always seems to arrive like a deus ex machina to solve any problem, it becomes easy to believe that life is perfectible.
-- Stephanie Gutmann, The Kinder, Gentler Military
But we also need the possibility of cataclysm, so that, when situations seem hopeless, and beyond the power of any natural force to amend, we may still anticipate salvation from a messiah, a conquering hero, a deus ex machina, or some other agent with power to fracture the unsupportable and institute the unobtainable.
-- Stephen Jay Gould, Questioning the Millennium
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Deus ex machina is New Latin for "god from the machine"; it is a translation of the Greek theos ek mekhanes.
deus ex machina \DAY-uhs-eks-MAH-kuh-nuh; -nah; -MAK-uh-nuh\, noun: 1. In ancient Greek and Roman drama, a god introduced by means of a crane to unravel and resolve the plot. 2. Any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an apparently insoluble difficulty.
In times of affluence and peace, with technology that always seems to arrive like a deus ex machina to solve any problem, it becomes easy to believe that life is perfectible.
-- Stephanie Gutmann, The Kinder, Gentler Military
But we also need the possibility of cataclysm, so that, when situations seem hopeless, and beyond the power of any natural force to amend, we may still anticipate salvation from a messiah, a conquering hero, a deus ex machina, or some other agent with power to fracture the unsupportable and institute the unobtainable.
-- Stephen Jay Gould, Questioning the Millennium
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deus ex machina is New Latin for "god from the machine"; it is a translation of the Greek theos ek mekhanes.
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
-
Sean Whitton
- Legionnaire
- Posts: 3576
- Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 1:35 pm
- Location: Booktown, L-space
- Contact:
Word of the Day for Friday February 10, 2006
autodidact \aw-toh-DY-dakt\, noun: One who is self-taught.
He is our ultimate autodidact, a man who made himself from nothing into a lawyer, a legislator -- a president.
-- Kevin Baker, "Log Cabin Values," New York Times, April 2, 2000
Consider the autodidact in Sartre's Nausea, who is somewhat unbelievably working his way alphabetically through an entire library.
-- James Wood, "Human, All Too Inhuman," New Republic, July 24, 2000
Buck's prose is a lot better than you'd expect from a high-school dropout, but he turns out to be a reader and autodidact.
-- Jonathan Yardley, "review of North Star over My Shoulder: A Flying Life, by Bob Buck," Washington Post, April 7, 2002
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Autodidact is from Greek autodidaktos, "self-taught," from auto-, "self" + didaktos, "taught," from didaskein, "to teach."
autodidact \aw-toh-DY-dakt\, noun: One who is self-taught.
He is our ultimate autodidact, a man who made himself from nothing into a lawyer, a legislator -- a president.
-- Kevin Baker, "Log Cabin Values," New York Times, April 2, 2000
Consider the autodidact in Sartre's Nausea, who is somewhat unbelievably working his way alphabetically through an entire library.
-- James Wood, "Human, All Too Inhuman," New Republic, July 24, 2000
Buck's prose is a lot better than you'd expect from a high-school dropout, but he turns out to be a reader and autodidact.
-- Jonathan Yardley, "review of North Star over My Shoulder: A Flying Life, by Bob Buck," Washington Post, April 7, 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Autodidact is from Greek autodidaktos, "self-taught," from auto-, "self" + didaktos, "taught," from didaskein, "to teach."
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